Standardisation in the European Statistical Systeminventory of normative documents and the standard-setting process –

results of the ESSnet on Standardisation

Session 19CCentres of Excellence and ESSnets

Mr. Csaba ÁbryMethodology Department

Hungarian Central Statistical Officee-mail: csaba.abry@ksh.hu

telephone: (+36-1) 345-6517

NTTS 2015Brussels, Belgium, 10th-12th March 2015

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Standardisation in the ESS

Development and use of common systems and tools as a key area in the European Statistical System (ESS) to enhance collaboration and harmonisation

„Efficient and robust statistical processes” as one of the five key areas to deliver the ESS Vision 2020

The implementation of the system envisaged by Vision 2020 should be based on a wide range or more precisely on a system of common tools; normative documents enabling common production, common use of integrated data and sharing common tools and infrastructure

In this regard, the standardisation process at ESS level is aimed at providing a framework for setting standards for the ESS in order to further enhance collaboration

Standards in the ESS are meant to be distinguished normative documents that are established by consensus and approved by a recognised body that provide for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines or characteristics for activities or their results, aimed at the achievement of the optimum degree of order in a given context 2

The ESSnet on Standardisation developed elements of the system of ESS standardisation, based on the framework developed by the Sponsorship on Standardisation

The system of ESS standardisation has key elements:

• Process of ESS standardisation

• Inventory of normative documents

• Impact assessment

• Supporting instruments of the standardisation process

The governance aspects of the system of ESS standardisation :

• Coordination of standardisation activities in the ESS

• Support operational day-by-day activities of standardisation in the ESS

Focus of the ESSnet on Standardisation

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Consensus: Acceptance by consensus ensures that all views are heard and the resulting standard is generally agreed to

Transparency and openness: Involvement of all stakeholders ensures transparency of the process

Balance: No one group’s interest dominates the approach

Due process: Anyone with a ‘direct and material interest’ has a right to express a position and to have that position considered

Proportionality: All standardisation activities are pertinent, but the effort put into any activity has to be proportional to the expected benefit

Standardisation principlesMain drivers of the process of ESS standardisation

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The term ’standard’ is meant to be a guarantee for the ESS members that the concerned normative documents have been set according to the standardisation principles. This goal asks for a procedure providing these guarantees. This process is the standardisation process

The idea of elaborating the process of standardisation at the ESS level goes back the time when the elaboration of a standardisation system at the ESS level started. The model is based on the so-called life cycle ESS standard-setting process model, originally proposed by the Sponsorship on Standardisation

The ESSnet on Standardisation proposes a model for ESS standardisation, ready for implementation in the ESS practice

Standard-setting process and the implementation of a standard are separated

Final document will be available after 13th March 2015 on the CROS portal:

http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/deliverable-1-detailed-description-and-final-refinement-whole-standardisation-process

Process of ESS standardisationFramework

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Process of ESS standardisationThe model

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The inventory of normative documents is a publicly available storage location of normative documents relevant for the ESS, providing detailed up-to-date information on them

The aim of the inventory is twofold: it provides information for stakeholders and users in the ESS and beyond and it is also meant to support decision-making on standard development in the ESS

The ESSnet on Standardisation provided the starting set of the inventory, publicly available on the CROS portal at: http://cros-portal.eu/content/deliverable-1-complete-inventory-quasi-standards-and-standards

The ESSnet on Standardisation concentrated on the latest editions of Eurostat handbooks (or handbooks co-published by ESTAT), on international normative documents relevant for the ESS (latest editions), on IT tools recommended at ESS level and on fundamental legal acts. In addition, only Eurostat handbooks, international handbooks co-published by Eurostat and IT tools were be assessed (a dedicated template was designed for the assessment of IT tools)

Inventory of normative documents

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As a deliverable of the ESSnet on Standardisation, 103 normative documents were assessed and attributes were provided for 197 normative documents

The result of the assessment was that 27 normative documents in the inventory already meet the criteria for being ESS standards. These results are already publicly available on the CROS portal

The inventory is connected to the process of ESS standardisation: the establishment of needs for ESS standard development is partly based on information extracted from the inventory and the status of the normative document is changed according to its current state-of-the-art in the process of standardisation

Inventory of normative documents

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The standardisation process is the generic model proposed for all standardisation activities in the ESS

The inventory of normative documents and the standards-setting process of the ESS are cornerstones of the future standardisation system in the ESS

The development of the ESS standardisation process is now complete and is ready for practical implementation

It is envisaged by the ESSnet on Standardisation that standards in the ESS are developed according to the process of standardisation and the necessary governance environment is in operation to support the day-by-day activities and the coordination related to ESS standardisation

Some elements of the system of standardisation in the ESS are still to be developed or further fine-tuned but the inventory of normative documents and the standard-setting process for the ESS are ready for use and are available for future actions

Results and next steps

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Thank you for your attention!http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/standardisation

Mr. Csaba ÁbryMethodology Department

Hungarian Central Statistical Officee-mail: csaba.abry@ksh.hu

telephone: (+36-1) 345-6517

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