1. ESS Standardisation DIME / ITDG steering group – Item for information
Feb 2019
Contact : Luca Gramaglia – Unit B5 - Eurostat

2. REMINDER

3. The process of ESS standardisation
Process and principles of ESS standardisation adopted by the 26th Meeting of the ESSC on 25 September 2015
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4. Roles in the process ESS Standardisation Architecture
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5. Actors - Roles in the process
ESS standardisation architecture
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6. STATE OF PLAY

7. Top down approach
Based on ex ante analysis of existing – de facto standards (ESSnet on standardisation and EG on standardisation)
First series of 10 ESS Standards approved by ESSC in 2017
The online catalogue of ESS Standards integrated in RAMON
ESS Standardisation web site on CROS
ESS Standards
Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange - SDMX - SDMX 2.0
Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange - SDMX - SDMX
Generic Statistical Business Process Model – GSBPM - GSBPM
International Standard Classification of Education – ISCED - ISCED-2011
Business registers - Recommendations manual Edition
ESS Guidelines on Seasonal Adjustment 2015 Edition
Electronic Data file Administration and Management Information System EDAMIS
ESS Handbook for Quality Reports Edition
Handbook on Precision Requirements and Variance Estimation for ESS Household Surveys Edition
Single Integrated Metadata Structure SIMS 2.0
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8. Bottom up approach
In 2017, Eurostat set a annual process, involving business/production units and WGs asking for
Need for standards
Existing and upcoming candidate standards
Planned change in existing standard
The role of EG on Standardisation is to assess these candidate standards against the ESS standardisation principles.
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9. New candidate standards
The EG on standardisation identified
ESS guidelines on temporal disaggregation (WG Methodology - TF)
Validation Handbook (ESS Vision 2020 Validation project and associated ESSnet)
Validation and Transformation Language (joint undertaking by Eurostat and SDMX secretariat)
as normative documents fulfilling the ESS standardisation principles and to be proposed to ESSC after written consultation of the DIME/ITDG
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10. State of play
Other upcoming normative documents have been withhold for future adoption ( )
Guidelines on the quality of multisource statistics (ESS VISION 2020 ADMIN and the ESSnet "Quality of Multisource Statistics")
Quality guidelines for frames of social statistics (ESS VISION 2020 ADMIN ESSnet "Quality of Multisource Statistics")
Standard quality report (ESS Vision 2020 Validation implementation)
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11. ISSUES and WAY FORWARD

12. Potential issues
2 out of the 3 standards proposed to the ESSC have received unanimous support from DIME/ITDG
VTL 2.0 (adopted by SDMX sponsors) has not reached an unanimous consensus because its implementation has not been tested by all countries (8 countries).
Eurostat left the final decision to the ESSC balancing the benefits of its timely recognition against the risks
Main benefits of timely adoption of VTL
Clear support to countries that are already investing and implementing it.
Create favourable conditions
for economy of scale through tool sharing in ESS and the breaking out validation pipelines (in Eurostat and in MS)
For greater interoperability with partner institutions like ESCB which have already adopted
In addition, given its scope of implementation (EU statistics validation) and the flexibility for its implemtation, it only marginaly impacts the NSIs production systems (in the baseline scenario only the translation from common language to national language(s) is required)
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13. Potential issues Top down approach Bottom up approach
Still few candidate without a formal status
UNECE Modern Stat Standards (GSIM, GAMSO, CSPA ,CSDA) not yet integrated in the ESS catalogue.
Bottom up approach
Limit with respect to strategic aims of standardisation (quality improvments, efficiency gains)
The need for speed in an ever changing environment (new data sources) where standards need to be quickly identified and adopted
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14. Way forward
EG on Standardisation to be more proactive with respect to external global standards (active watch)
Developing guidelines on the status (non mandatory) and the use of ESS standards at destination of NSIs, Business owners
Global mapping of ESS standardisation artefacts combining legal acts and ESS standards)
EG on standardisation working closer with WG on standards (transfer of responsibility in Eurostat)
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