Disseminating statistical information on economic development UNECE Training Workshop “Short-term statistics and seasonal adjustment” Astana, 14 – 17 March 2011 Petteri Baer, Marketing Manager, Statistics Finland

March 2011 Information services usually provided on economic development Opinion surveys (e.g., business and consumer surveys, purchasing managers surveys, bank lending survey): at least monthly with a high timeliness Market data (e.g. stock market data, exchange rates, yields): at least daily, frequently “tick-by-tick” Short-term statistics (e.g. Harmonised CPI (HICP), unemployment rate, leading indicators): monthly Monetary and financial statistics (e.g. MFI (bank) balance sheets & interest rates, securities, balance of payments): monthly – mainly by central banks National accounts (e.g. GDP, sector accounts): quarterly and annually 2Petteri Baer

March 2011 Operational environment of services on economic statistics Growing demand for fresh and timely statistical information on the economic development Highlighted by the financial and economic crisis But existing in all phases of the economic cycle Strong influence of rapid communication tools Growing information overflow Importance of quality issues For the service products themselves For building up the reputation of official statistics 3Petteri Baer

March 2011 To develop better interaction with users we need to be proactive Who are our present users of economic statistics? Who are our present users of short-term economic statistics? Who are our POTENTIAL users of short-term economic statistics?

March 2011 Nota bene! Users are different: Tourists, Farmers, Miners… Courtesy to Armin Grossenbacher  We will most likely have to define different ways to approach different users, if we wish to have efficient communication 5Petteri Baer

March 2011 So – Who are in need of information on STS? (1) The easy reply Policy makers Business community Media and General public But note: Policy makers are much more than only ministries Central Bank High level advisory groups The district (oblast) level The local level Trade unions, lobbies, NGOs…

March 2011 So – Who are in need of information on STS? (2) The business community is a much broader target group than often believed Banks Insurance companies Big corporations Medium sized enterprises Chambers of commerce Branch organizations Employers organizations Foreign companies Etc.

March 2011 So – Who are in need of information on STS? (3) And numerous target groups mentioned above usually employ Business analysts, researchers, economists Or make use of Information brokers Business intelligence systems or Knowledge managements systems Do we provide sufficient information services to them? In proper forms?

March 2011 To disseminate economic statistics efficiently: Database services! We produce quite a lot of statistical information Different users have different need structures, they want information By industries, By enterprise sizes By regions Comparisons over different time periods International comparisons And numerous other aspects… PC-Axis, PX-Web… User friendly services! 9Petteri Baer

March 2011 The importance of good contact information User lists Existing customers and contacts Regular and heavy users of economical statistics Contact directories Feedback contacts  Contact / Customer database  Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

March 2011 To improve user interaction we will at least need a Customer Database For contacting For surveys on satisfaction or dissatisfaction For presenting new targeted services For other forms of interaction

March 2011 Marketing Customers Mana- gement Adminis- tration Sales Product development Development projects Customer intelligence Project intelligence Contact intelligence Lead intelligence Information retrievals Quote intelligence Campaign intelligence Customer Database Customer service Functions Information providers Information users Project groups 12Petteri Baer

March 2011 We will profit much from active feedback Having more feedback will help us to develop our services Interaction with critical customers will help us in having a positive pressure on performing better A demanding customer is like a grain of sand within the mussel. It doesn’t feel good but the result may be a beautiful pearl!

March 2011 Publicity may sometimes be tough! Statistics often tends to attract hostile media coverage… “Why does it take so long?” “My own perception is different!” “Lies, Big lies, Statistics!” Any votes for the Census? But - is there an alternative to providing better publicity?

March 2011 Questions to be raised The importance of good and timely statistical information How can resources be allocated if basic information on the economic development is based on guesses or too old information? Attracting investments, doing good business, developing economic activities needs good infrastructure – reliable official statistics is fundamental If the denominators of such as population statistics, GDP etc. are wrong, no real information is reliable 15Petteri Baer

March 2011 Take publicity seriously Develop useful statistical service products Make a good plan of what will be published Publication calendar Provide regular Media/Press releases Make use of your agency’s Press Officer Press Conferences from time to time …but not too often! Also critical media should always be invited! Cost plan and budget for publicity activities Follow up on media appearance – both quantities and attitudes 16Petteri Baer

March 2011 The media is your partner In disseminating the main results of all your hard work on statistics In making problematic issues known Help the media to be well informed!

March 2011 Statistical literacy Beyond students or school pupils Special information seminars, breakfast sessions or other kinds of light information meetings for selected target groups would be advisable The web site of the International Statistical Literacy Project of IASE could be helpful in planning 18Petteri Baer

March 2011 Presentation of statistical information on Short-term statistics KISS – Keep It Short and Simple Storytelling approach UNECE’s “Making Data Meaningful” materials Available on the web, also in Russian, so far only 1 – 2 Focus on turning points Omit accidental events and “noise” The importance of seasonal adjustment 19Petteri Baer

March 2011 Conclusions – Five items of great importance Existence of good STS services Packaging the STS services into for the different user categories relevant service products Maintaining good accessibility on the web Obtaining, updating and increasing contact information on users Meeting and discussing with and learning from main users 20Petteri Baer

March 2011 The efforts you will make will be rewarded, because… Only used statistical information is useful statistical information! Thank you for your attention!