Conference of European Statisticians 2014

High-level Group for the Modernisation of Statistical Production and Services

Pádraig DaltonCentral Statistics Office

Chair of HLG

April 10, 2014

High-level Group• Created by the CES bureau in 2010

• To oversee and coordinate international work relating to the modernisation of official statistics

• 10 heads of national and international statistical organizations

• Vision and strategy endorsed by CES in 2011/2012

• Engagement goes way beyond formal membership of HLG

• Over 40 countries involved in HLG activities

What do we do?Oversee activities that support modernisation of

statistical organisationsStimulate development of global standards and

oversee international collaboration activities“Within the official statistics community ... take a

leadership and coordination role”

HLG achievements to 2013• 2012: Generic Statistical Information

Model (GSIM)

• 2013 Paper: What does Big Data mean for official statistics

• 2013 Projects:

• Common Statistical Production Architecture

• Frameworks and Standards for Statistical Modernisation

Development of a CommonStatistical Production Architecture

Project OutcomesConceptual architecture framework for

sharable components of statistical production

Tested in practice in a “proof of concept”This showed that the CSPA approach worksIt promises increased:

interoperabilitycollaboration opportunities

CSPA Development Project

Project Outcomes

GSBPM v5.0GSIM v1.1

Mappings

Fundamental Principlesof Official Statistics

Frameworks and Standards Project

HLG activities in 2014• Implementing the Common Statistical

Production Architecture

• The use of Big Data for official statistics

• 4 Modernisation committees• Organisational frameworks and evaluation• Production and methods• Products and sources• Standards

Implementing the CSPA

Components being built1. Seasonal Adjustment – France,

Australia, New Zealand2. Confidentiality on the fly – Canada,

Australia3. Error correction – Italy4. SVG Generator – OECD5. SDMX transform – OECD6. Selecting sample from business register –

Netherlands7. Editing components – Netherlands8. Classification Editor – Norway

Architecture Working Group:Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Turkey, Eurostat

Catalogue team:Australia, Canada, Italy, Hungary, New Zealand, Romania, Turkey, Eurostat

Big Data

BackgroundHLG paper for 2013 CES Plenary Session

“What does Big Data mean for official statistics?”CES gave priority to work on:

“facilitating the use of Big Data for official statistics”

Big Data is a priority project for 2014, involving:Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Canada, Colombia, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States, Eurostat, OECD

Strategic / methodological issuesApril 2014 - key challenges identified:

The need for a quality framework for Big DataManaging privacy and data securityDeveloping partnerships with data suppliers,

processors and usersDeveloping methodology for Big DataDeveloping the skills needed to use Big Data

Currently establishing task teams to tackle these issues Volunteers welcome!

Reports / guidelines by the end of 2014

Technical issues“Sandbox” will be launched next week

Testing remote access / processing Testing standards, methods, tools“Learning by doing”

HLG Activities 2014: Wider involvement

HLG roadmap beyond 2014• Implementing common standards and

models for the official statistics “industry”

• Promoting collaboration and sharing• From the design stage, not just the outputs

• Modular systems giving increased flexibility for new sources / processes / outputs

But what is the HLG really all about?How can we unite globally to create a new model of collaboration?

Lidia Bratanova, UNECEThere is more reason to work together now than ever before

Gosse van der Veen, formerly CBS, The NetherlandsThere is a real opportunity, it’s a challenging opportunity, and its not obvious that we will succeed

Wayne Smith, Statistics CanadaThe biggest challenge is a cultural one, not only between our institutions but within our own institutions

Brian Pink, formerly Australian Bureau of Statistics

Collaboration is the key word

If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants

Isaac Newton

Collaboration: Easy to say but difficult to do…effectivelyThere are a lot of players

National and international statistical organisationsThere is a real willingness to collaborateWe need to identify mechanisms to ensure we do it

effectivelyActivities must compliment one another, not duplicate Stating the obvious…..but that’s not always a bad

thing!Awareness is the starting pointWho should coordinate these initiatives?

Resourcing HLG activitiesHLG projects are mainly resourced through

volunteer expertsOn-going need for coordination and project

management activities, funded by donationsThe UNECE Secretariat has set up a trust

fund We need $180,000 per year to support the

current level of progressHow can you help?

Discussion PointsWhat are your priorities for future work on

modernisation of statistics?

How can we collaborate more effectively and ensure maximum return from the various initiatives?

To what extent do HLG activities align with your respective modernisation programmes?

How can you get involved and support HLG activities?