1. UN-ECE Work Session on Statistical Dissemination and Communication Warsaw, Poland, 13-15 May 2009 Ulrich Wieland, Eurostat Statistics Explained – a new way of collaboration

2. Disseminating Statistics: Internet and Publications, INE – Madrid, 27-29 April 2009 2 Statistics Explained A new way to disseminate statistical analysis and background information electronically A new way of collaboration

3. Disseminating Statistics: Internet and Publications, INE – Madrid, 27-29 April 2009 3 The problem Large amounts of value-added content available in publications Production process for publications is very cumbersome Publications do not easily reach the audience -> The Eurostat management committee asked for more effective ways of dissemination

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7. 7 The solution Using Wiki for content creation Collaborative approach Same software as Wikipedia (Mediawiki) A procedure for content validation

8. Disseminating Statistics: Internet and Publications, INE – Madrid, 27-29 April 2009 8 The governance Balance between efficient cooperative working and the need to control the content Updating by all Eurostat staff Validation of layout, language, structure, readability etc. by the dissemination unit Validation of content by the competent statistical unit All changes are traced

9. Disseminating Statistics: Internet and Publications, INE – Madrid, 27-29 April 2009 9 New workflow Somebody in Eurostat creates/changes a page Validation by dissemination unit; correction of layout, language etc. if needed Validation by the statistical unit if a major content change has been made by somebody of a different unit If ok, dissemination.

10. Disseminating Statistics: Internet and Publications, INE – Madrid, 27-29 April 2009 10 The content of Statistics Explained Statistical articles: presenting and explaining statistics Background pages: Explanations of statistical concepts or definitions in a popular way Three-layer model for users

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12. Disseminating Statistics: Internet and Publications, INE – Madrid, 27-29 April 2009 12 Current status The project has been approved by the Eurostat Management Board The content of the Eurostat yearbook and various other publications has been integrated Currently, the statistical units are checking and revising the content Opening to the public is planned before Summer Integration with the Eurostat website needs still to be done

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23. Disseminating Statistics: Internet and Publications, INE – Madrid, 27-29 April 2009 23 First experiences Most people react very positively to the new system Some concerns exist concerning the control of the content Training to end users needs to be organised, both on structural and on technical issues While text changes can be done by virtually everybody, changing tables, graphs and hyperlinks needs basic technical know-how The coherence of the overall structure need to be watched

24. Disseminating Statistics: Internet and Publications, INE – Madrid, 27-29 April 2009 24 Expectations A much faster and a more efficient way of disseminating value-added content A much better use of the analytical and contextual information available in Eurostat Better integration of all Eurostat output (data, analysis, methodology, cross-cutting topics, etc.) Over time, substantial quality improvement of all Eurostat value-added output Little development and maintenance cost

25. Disseminating Statistics: Internet and Publications, INE – Madrid, 27-29 April 2009 25 Medium term developments Future publications such as the Eurostat yearbook could be developed on the basis of the content of Statistics Explained Archiving of Eurostat content could be done by regularly converting the Statistics Explained into a pdf file

26. Disseminating Statistics: Internet and Publications, INE – Madrid, 27-29 April 2009 26 Contact Ulrich Wieland Head of Sector Publications EUROSTAT - Unit B6 BECH A3-100 European Commission L-2920 Luxembourg Tel. +352 4301 33644 E-mail: ulrich.wieland@ec.europa.eu