Jump to first page (o ns) Modernising Statistical Systems to improve Quality The experiences of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Presented by Emma Heath & Debby Osman

Jump to first page (o ns) Introduction & Background

Jump to first page (o ns) Reasons for change u Wide variety of computer systems u Large quantity and variety of software & licenses u A number of legacy applications u Many statistical tools

Jump to first page (o ns) Modernisation starting point Creation of: u Statistical Infrastructure Development Programme (SIDP) u Information Management Programme (IMP)

Jump to first page (o ns) Leading to... u Structural re-organisation u Production of a more responsive and high quality analysis service

Jump to first page (o ns) Assisted by... u The allocation of £75 million u Visiting other National Institutes - assessing technologies and tools used

Jump to first page (o ns) u Use of contract staff u Internal staff trained in new technology u Working with ONS’ Methodology Group and Policy and Quality Division and...

Jump to first page (o ns) Progress so far... u Development of a Demonstrator system u Creation of Statistical Value Chain (SVC) u SVC aided implementation of Statistical Infrastructure Projects (SIPs)

Jump to first page (o ns) and... u Commission of 4 Re-engineering Projects (REPs) - The pathfinders being: n Labour Market Statistics n National Accounts

Jump to first page (o ns) plus... u Creation of a modern website n new ‘look & feel’ n new content based on metadata n new search facilities u Creation of a metadata system n Classifications (May 2004) n Administrative and Survey Data Management System (July 2004) n Question Library (future component)

Jump to first page (o ns) ONS Metadata u Categorised into 4 groups: n Statistical n Discovery n Control n Technical u Supports data ONS collects and produces

Jump to first page (o ns) The Metadata System will.. u Browser based u Enable users to drill down u Varying views via ‘actor roles’ u Tools to analyse, create and change metadata u Tools for integration with REPs and SIPs (post Phase 1)

Jump to first page (o ns) Metadata System progress u Classifications n designed and built - testing imminent n test plans being developed n classifications prepared for loading n migration plan developed u ASDMS (phase 1) n 130+ metadata items agreed n specification ready for design n registry of variables being developed n migration plan developed

Jump to first page (o ns) The Metadata System Classifications ASDMS (Phased system) Question Library Detailed Methodological Notes SIPs SVC (work- flow) Registry of variables

Jump to first page (o ns) The Metadata System

Jump to first page (o ns) Achieving Quality u Introduction of single corporate system/repository u Work within standards set by Government Statistical Service and e-GMS u Introduction of: n controlled vocabularies n metadata standards u Harmonisation of methods for surveys and data collection - use of Question Library u Audit of metadata - to be conducted by Policy and Quality Division

Jump to first page (o ns) The future for ONS u An ambitious programme of work n establish a new ONS Corporate Toolbox and system n continue maintaining ONS business continuity u Research and implementation of established tools

Jump to first page (o ns) End results for ONS u Better equipped to develop and produce statistics u Improved performance and services for customers including: n increased speed of access to data n improved metadata to support data n data/metadata held on robust systems

Jump to first page (o ns) Questions or comments ?

Jump to first page (o ns) THE STATISTICAL VALUE CHAIN Decision to undertake a collection or analysis Collection Design Accessing Admin Data Sample Design Implementing Design Implementing Collection Editing & Validation Derivation & Coding Weighting & Estimation Analysis of Primary outputs Index number Construction Time Series Analysis Further Analysis (across datasets/time/more specialist Confidentiality & Disclosure Dissemination of Data & Metadata Data Archiving & Ongoing Management METADATA

Jump to first page (o ns) THE STATISTICAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS - SIPs Time Series Analysis Tools Index Number Construction Tools Metadata Editing & Imputation Disclosure & Confidentiality Classification Coding Tools Quality Measures Tools Estimation, Weighting & Standard Error Calculation Tabulation Packages