Data integration methods New Techniques and Technologies for Statistics Brussels, 12 March 2019 Data integration methods and tools in the ESBRs Razvan Cristian IONESCU – Eurostat G1

The ESBRs project ESBRs = European system of interoperable Statistical Business Registers A VIP project in the ESS to address 3 main shortcomings in business statistics Inconsistencies and different practices as concerns the use and role of national business registers Lack of globalized approach to business statistics for describing cross-border phenomena Inefficiencies in data handling and duplication of work due to a lack of common approaches, tools and remote access facilities

Data Integration in the ESBRs Business statistics from different sources national Statistical Business Registers (EU+EFTA) Commercial data providers (mainly non-EU) Interactive Profiling Tool (selected groups) Each separate view alone is incomplete Data integration is the solution for achieving the complete view on the structure and activities of multinational groups operating in the EU

The Business Architecture approach Holistic approach answering data integration challenges (lack of harmonisation, low level of interoperability) Main aspects of data integration: Authentic source: information stored only once, can be change only by one role Unique identification: use of unique identifier (LEID), no duplicates Single flow: consistent data integration process over time Interoperability: data harmonisation and standardisation Workability: limitation to what is needed to achieve the objectives, in respect of subsidiarity and proportionality principles

The EuroGroups Register The EuroGroups Register (EGR) is a statistical business register of multinational enterprise groups in the EU Member States and in the EFTA countries EGR frame population 127K global enterprise groups almost 800K enterprises over 1M. legal units

ESBRs tools – EGR applications EGR Identification Service (EGR IS) Application supporting the EGR users in identifying legal units. EGR Core application (EGR CORE) The 'heart' of EGR 2.0 system, it stores, transforms and consolidates input data of different sources and generates the EGR frames. EGR Interactive Module (EGR IM) Interactive web interface to browse and validate data in the consolidation area of EGR CORE. EGR FATS online interface (EGR FATS) Application providing users with a FATS statistics oriented web interface to browse and download EGR data.

ESBRs tools - Interactive Profiling Tool (IPT) Common tool to support European profiling In production since April 2016 (3 cycles completed) Growing number of countries participating 291 global groups profiled in IPT Easier data exchange between countries participating in a profiling process Faster responses within a profiling workflow Better visualization of profiling process and its results

Commercial Data Providers Data integration flows in the ESBRs Eurostat Commercial Data Providers NSIs Identification service Legal units identification EGR NSI data: Legal Units Relations Enterprises Commercial data: Legal Units Relations Data processing FINAL FRAME Preliminary frame update European Profiling Interactive Profiling Tool 8

The ESBRs interoperability pilots 1/2 Practical aspects Focus on testing interoperability aspects and creating best practices Execution calendar: Jan 2018 - Jun 2019 20 participating countries working on 12 topics Based on ESBRs deliverables (tools & methodology) Use of other projects’ deliverables (TESTA network, SDMX tools) 3 test environments created for the pilots

The ESBRs interoperability pilots 2/2 Areas of interest A: Data Exchange: standardization & automation B: Collaboration and Governance: collaboration using interactive tools C: Calendar/Timing: Adaptability to (and shortening of) yearly cycle Interaction with national processes D: Quality improvement input data improvement output data assessment

CONCLUSIONS Many sources are needed to achieve the global picture Using many sources has important shortcomings Data integration is the solution In the ESBRs, the data integration is addressed by the Business Architecture approach and using the ESBRs tools (EGR and IPT) ESBRs can be viewed as an ecosystem where the information is continuously improved at all network nodes

Thank you for your attention! Contact: Razvan-Cristian.Ionescu@ec.europa.eu Unit G1, Eurostat