Modernising Statistical Production: Modernising Statistical Production: Main recommendations from global assessments 7 th SPECA PWG on Statistics August 2012, Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Statistical Division

UNECE Statistical Division Slide 2 Challenges for official statistics + Increasing demand for internationally comparable, reliable and timely statistics to monitor economic, monetary, social and environmental policies + Development of information and communication technologies - Economic and financial crises with additional budget constraints for national administrations and official statistics - Pressure to further reduce response burden ______________________________________________________ ⇒ Streamlining production of official statistics

UNECE Statistical Division Slide 3 What Does Streamlining Mean?  Effective: Adequate to accomplish a purpose; producing the intended or expected result: an effective decision  Efficient: Performing or functioning in the best possible manner with the least waste of time and resources (technical, human and financial) Streamlining can be defined as adapting the business processes in order to produce and communicate statistical information that meets user’s requirements in a more effective and efficient way.

UNECE Statistical Division Slide 4 From Products to Processes  Focuses not only on statistical products and services but also on the means to achieve them (resource allocation and management)  Evaluate to which extend processes ensure that products and services are fit for their purpose and meet their specification (effectiveness)  Assess the operational coordination of the National Statistical System and the organisation of the production process from the data collection to the dissemination (efficiency) Global Assessment is a unique tool in building a statistical system that meets user’s requirements in a more effective and efficient way.

UNECE Statistical Division Slide 5 Data warehouse Statistical registers Editing and processing (quality control) Sectoral statistics SBS – CPI – ETS – LFS – HBS … SNA BoP - GFS Data collection Administrative data – Surveys – Censuses Integrated Efficient Effective Legal / institutional / organizational framework International standards / nomenclatures / guidelines Production processes Feedback

UNECE Statistical Division Slide 6 Production Processes in SPECA Countries Main recommendations from global assessments /1 Coordination of the National Statistical System:  The boundary of the National Statistical System (NSS) should be clearly defined in the Law on State Statistics (LSS)  The LSS should apply to all producers of official statistics  The LSS should empower the National Statistical Office/Committee (NSO) as the coordinator of the NSS  Statistical Council should be revitalised and in some cases established

UNECE Statistical Division Slide 7 Production Processes in SPECA Countries Main recommendations from global assessments /2 Structure and resources:  Adequate human, financial and IT resources should be allocated to the NSO and other producers of official statistics  Territorial and functional organisation of the NSO could be gradually simplified in the light of new ICT and data collection techniques  Information and communication technologies (ICT) and infrastructure should be further developed along with the modernisation of business processes and the structure of the NSO  Horizontal organisational units dealing with quality, processes and methodology should be established

UNECE Statistical Division Slide 8 Production Processes in SPECA Countries Main recommendations from global assessments /3 Data collection, processing and registers (economic statistics):  To adopt gradually an integrated production model based on common and standardised processes, transforming a combination of primary data into statistical products  To extend collection of primary data from administrative sources (when available and of good quality) and/or through sample surveys  Data processing, quality check, storage and compilation of national and regional aggregates should be carried out centrally and simultaneously  Developing and maintaining centrally a statistical business register for all economic units, independently of their economic activities and legal forms

UNECE Statistical Division Slide 9 Production Processes in SPECA Countries Main recommendations from global assessments /4 Dissemination and communication:  Improving communication with users outside the government: media, business, researchers, academia, civil society …  Making statistics more attractive and interesting by complementing tables with metadata, short comments, and visual presentations (graphs, charts and maps)  Developing and maintaining a free, up-to-date, on-line dissemination database that allows users to select, extract and generate tailor made tables, charts and maps (PC-Axis)

UNECE Statistical Division Slide 10 Thank you for your attention.