1 Conference of European Statisticians 11 June 2007 Jan Plovsing National Statistician Director General June 2007 Effectiveness of Statistical Programs

2 Defining our Theme Effectiveness means the degree to which the statistical programs achieve their purposes. The users are the judges.

3 A Treasure of Information

4 The Papers Deal with 3 Important Topics How may we identify user needs? How do we match increasing needs with limited resources? How can we measure the outcome? Are we meeting user needs?

5 Effectiveness of Statistical Programs 1 Main question:The statistical program: What statistics to produce?Planning the products DEMAND Identifying user needs Quality framework International users EU/ECB Advisory committees Consultations Market mechanism RESOURCES Managing the costs Priority setting Reallocation Response burden Institute capacity

6 Effectiveness of Statistical Programs 2 Effectiveness of the program: Meeting user needs How can we know? Evaluations etc. User surveys Customer satisfaction surveys Indicators of use The Statistical Program Feedback Production and Dissemination

7 The Statistical Program Planning Many/most statistics are enshrined in legislation and other statutory instruments –75 pct. in Canada –More than 100 federal laws in Germany –European regulations cover in general 60 – 80 pct. of the programs in member countries –EU member countries may in addition also have national laws Conclusion: Planning is a process of adjustments

8 First Topic: Mechanisms for Identifying User Needs A quality framework. Planning is about improvements in relevance accuracy, timeliness etc. A method to identify the usefulness (CAN) International users: SDDS of IMF (GER) EU/ECB. One example: The 19 Principle European Economic Indicators (GER) Advisory committees (CAN, GER, EUR) Consultations with Government, Provinces etc. (CAN) Market mechanisms (CAN)

9 Second topic: Managing the Costs Priority setting –The product portfolio (classification). A matrix with cells defined by the size of the costs and the size of the benefits such as high data quality, reduced burden on respondents, higher efficiency, improved image etc. (GER) –A cost benefit analysis of all statistical fields in the EU statistical program 2008 – 2012 (EUR) –Cost estimates for all changes in the program (CAN) Reallocation: 1 pct. efficiency tax from all programs (CAN) Response burden: A major political issue in Europe (EUR,GER) –Measured by the net/standard cost model Institute capacity (CAN)

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11 Third topic: Are we Meeting User Needs? How can we know? Evaluations –IMF: ROSC missions (GER) –EU: European Statistics Code of Practice (EUR) User surveys (GER, CAN) Customer satisfaction surveys (GER) Indicators of use (Mentioned in the introductory note from Latvia)

12 Researchers Using Statistics Denmark’s Research Facilities 1986: 2 researchers 1997: 71 researchers 2002: 151 researchers 2004: 250 researchers 2005: 300 researchers 2006: 565 researchers 2007: 615 researchers (estimate)

13 External Data Extracts from StatBank Denmark *

14 Statistics Denmark’s Press Coverage

15 Questions to Statistics Canada Statistics Canada has a very advanced planning system. Could it be improved? If yes: In what direction? Is the response burden on businesses not a very important political issue in Canada? Why is the efficiency tax on all program budgets fixed at (only) 1% a year? Is it because the planning process implies further (2%?) selective savings?

16 Questions to DESTATIS The content of the statistical program is in general defined by federal laws. Does this imply that new EU legislation (almost) automatically results in a new German statistical law? What percentage of the costs entailed by new EU legislation will in general have to be borne by DESTATIS present budget? The product portfolio is a very advanced planning tool. Could you explain what concrete results you expect to achieve by developing the system further?

17 Questions to Eurostat Political bodies at national and European level are calling for simplification and priority setting (page 3) Will there be statistical areas where Eurostat’s program can lead to a reduction in concrete statistics in 2008 or 2009? Which statistics? Public support for the EU has declined (page 2). Does it really effect the purpose of Eurostat’s statistical programme? In what way? Which users are considered the most important for Eurostat?

18 Questions for General Discussion We have good planning systems but weak measures of whether we really meet users needs. Am I right? Could you mention other examples of indicators of use, i.e. effectiveness of the statistical programme? Is it possible/meaningful to measure the outcome of statistical information in terms of political and economic actions? Are there any examples of such measures?