The Fundamental Role of
Administrative Data
in Official Statistics
Linda Howatson-Leo, Julie Trépanier and Gabrielle Zboril
Presentation to the PRASC
January 26-28, 2016
Regional Seminar
Part 2: Acquisition of Administrative
Data
Outline
Part 2 : Acquisition of administrative data
2.1 Establishing a governance framework GAMSO 1.2
2.1.1 Legislation (E1)
2.1.2 Policies and directives
2.1.3 Organizational and governance structures (E2)
2.2 Designing data acquisition agreements GSBPM 2.3 (E3)
2.3 Developing corporate tools GAMSO 3.8, GSIM exchange
2.4 Managing strategic collaboration GAMSO 1.3
4
2.1 Establishing a governance framework
2.1.1 Legislation
The “ideal” provisions to favor access
Provide the NSO access to administrative data,
including identifiers
Provide the NSO access to administrative data from
public authorities free of charge
The NSO’s right of access applies notwithstanding
other enactments, other than those pertaining to the
protection of public order or the security of the state
5
2.1 Establishing a governance framework
2.1.1 Legislation
The “ideal” provisions to favor use
Provide the NSO with the right to use the data to
produce and support any official statistics, including
the right to match data from different sources
Compel the public authorities to consult with the
NSO when introducing, revising or extending an
administrative data system
6
2.1 Establishing a governance framework
2.1.1 Legislation
The “ideal” provisions to enforce use
Instruct the NSO to use administrative data when
possible
Mandate the NSO to coordinate the national
statistical system and to promote the avoidance of
duplication in data collection by governments
7
2.1 Establishing a governance framework
2.1.1 Legislation
The “ideal” provisions to protect data
Protection of the confidentiality of administrative
data, i.e., the principle of “one-way traffic”
Privacy rights of individuals with respect to
collection, use, disclosure, disposal, retention,
accuracy and protection of their personal
information
8
2.1 Establishing a governance framework
2.1.1 Legislation
In Canada these provisions can be found in:
Statistics Act
Privacy Act
Access to Information Act
Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act
Other acts that recognize the authority of the Statistics Act
Acts that authorize use of data available to the public
9
Exercise 1
Analysing country-specific
legislation
2.1 Establishing a governance framework
2.1.1 Legislation
11
Provisions Statistics Canada The Statistics Model Bill
i. Access to which
administrative data?
All, except data held by individuals.
Chief Statistician can delegate
his/her authority to acquire data.
Access to personal information in
accordance with the Canadian
Privacy Act and PIPEDA
All, except data held by individuals.
Subsection 9(3)
Chief Executive can delegate authority
to obtain. Subsection 9(3)
ii. Access free of
charge?
No mention No mention
2.1 Establishing a governance framework
2.1.1 Legislation
12
Provisions Statistics Canada The Statistics Model Bill
iii. Supersedes other
acts?
No mention Yes. Contains this “Notwithstanding the
provisions of any law adjoining
secrecy…in subsection 9(3)”
Also notes that the Act shall supersede
any other legislation and/or regulation
with respect to the collection of data for
statistical purposes in subsection 9(5)
2.1 Establishing a governance framework
2.1.1 Legislation
13
Provisions Statistics Canada The Statistics Model
Bill
iv. Limitations on use? Yes, only as per s.3 (mandate), s.19
(censuses) and s.22 (matters)
Yes, for statistical
purposes only as per
9(4)
v. Ability to influence administrative
data systems?
No mention No mention
2.1 Establishing a governance framework
2.1.1 Legislation
14
Provisions Statistics Canada The Statistics Model
Bill
vi. NSO to first use administrative
data?
No, but s.3(d) mentions “to avoid
duplication in the information
collected”
No mention
vii. NSO to coordinate national
statistics system and avoid
duplication
Yes, as per s.3 Only pertaining to the
country
(s.4(e)e)
2.1 Establishing a governance framework
2.1.1 Legislation
15
Provisions Statistics Canada The Statistics Model
Bill
viii. NSO to protect
administrative data?
Yes, as per s.17 and Access to
Information Act. Strict conditions under
which further disclosure is allowed.
Yes, as per s. 13.
However no mention of
disclosure of
administrative data
ix. Privacy rights of individuals
that prohibits access to data?
No, but the Canadian Privacy Act
recognizes the authority of the Statistics
Act to obtain administrative data.
No, but possible in the
country-specific
privacy legislation
2.1 Establishing a governance framework
2.1.2 Policies and directives
Purpose:
Translate legislative requirements and central government policies and
directives into requirements and responsibilities
Communicate requirements and responsibilities to NSO managers and
employees
Include provisions for non-compliance
16
2.1 Establishing a governance framework
2.1.2 Policies and directives
17
Title Objective
2.1.2.1 Policy on the use of
administrative data obtained
under the Statistics Act
OVERARCHING: To maximize the efficiency and
effectiveness of the use of administrative data in
statistical programs
Expects the NSO to:
1) Identify, influence and increasingly gain access to administrative data sources for statistical
purposes
2) Undertake new or revised data collection activity only when it is satisfied that the statistical needs
cannot be met effectively using administrative data
3) Use corporately-recognized quality assurance processes to assess the fitness for use of
administrative data in its statistical programs
4) Use administrative data in a way that achieves an overall better balance among response burden,
costs, data quality, and the relevance of statistical outputs for users
2.1 Establishing a governance framework
2.1.2 Policies and directives
18
Title Objective
2.1.2.1 Policy on the use of
administrative data obtained
under the Statistics Act (cont’d)
OVERARCHING: To maximize the efficiency and
effectiveness of the use of administrative data in
statistical programs
Expects the NSO to:
5) Take a collaborative approach to data providers and treat them consistently across programs in
regard to the application of the statistical legislation
6) Avoid arrangements to access administrative data that place undue restrictions on its statistical
use of the data (corporate resource)
7) Appropriately document the arrangements with data providers
8) Identify an administrative data custodian for each administrative data source to obtain and
manage access to the data on behalf of the NSO
2.1 Establishing a governance framework
2.1.2 Policies and directives
19
Title Objective
2.1.2.1 Policy on the use of
administrative data obtained
under the Statistics Act (cont’d)
OVERARCHING: To maximize the efficiency and
effectiveness of the use of administrative data in
statistical programs
Expects the NSO to (cont’d):
9) Document all administrative data obtained for use in a corporate inventory
10) Provide researchers with equitable, timely and secure access to identifiable administrative data
11) Communicate its statistical use of administrative data to stakeholders and the public in a
proactive, coherent and transparent manner
2.1 Establishing a governance framework
2.1.2 Policies and directives
20
Title Objective
2.1.2.1 Policy on the use of
administrative data obtained
under the Statistics Act (cont’d)
OVERARCHING: To maximize the efficiency and
effectiveness of the use of administrative data in
statistical programs
Expects the NSO to (cont’d):
12) Assess and report on the data quality and methodology of statistical outputs that use
administrative data in accordance with other NSO policies and directives
13) Use administrative data in compliance with all relevant legislation and government policy,
including the Statistics Act, the Privacy Act and the Access to Information Act.
2.1 Establishing a governance framework
2.1.2 Policies and directives
21
Title Objective
2.1.2.2 Directive on obtaining
administrative data under the
Statistics Act
ACQUISITION: To reduce its operating costs and to reduce
respondent burden, the NSO will undertake agreements
with organizations that hold administrative data that can
facilitate the fulfillment of the NSO mandate.
1. Identifies a central entity, i.e., an administrative data coordination function, as responsible for the
directive and being in charge (i.e., administrative data custodian) of complex or broad use data
acquisitions and of any other corporate strategies with administrative data
2. Requires the administrative data coordination function to maintain a corporate inventory of
administrative data with input from statistical programs
2.1 Establishing a governance framework
2.1.2 Policies and directives
22
Title Objective
2.1.2.2 Directive on obtaining
administrative data under the
Statistics Act (cont’d)
ACQUISITION: To reduce its operating costs and to reduce
respondent burden, the NSO will undertake agreements
with organizations that hold administrative data that can
facilitate the fulfillment of the NSO mandate.
3. Requires statistical programs to inform the administrative data coordination function of their
intention to negotiate new data acquisitions, and that the administrative data coordination function
assist them with corporate instruments, services and processes and avoid agreements that impose
significant restrictions or costs on the NSO (otherwise decision refers to higher governance
bodies)
2.1 Establishing a governance framework
2.1.2 Policies and directives
23
Title Objective
2.1.2.2 Directive on obtaining
administrative data under the
Statistics Act (cont’d)
ACQUISITION: To reduce its operating costs and to reduce
respondent burden, the NSO will undertake agreements
with organizations that hold administrative data that can
facilitate the fulfillment of the NSO mandate.
4. Requires the administrative data coordination function to consult across the NSO to establish
corporate-wide needs for administrative data (broadcast) before agreements are prepared and to
make a recommendation on who should be the custodian
5. Requires statistical programs to inform the central legal support service, of their intention to
negotiate, modify or terminate agreements and that legal support service assist them with advice,
templates to document agreements and prepare proper delegation of authority
2.1 Establishing a governance framework
2.1.2 Policies and directives
24
Title Objective
2.1.2.2 Directive on obtaining
administrative data under the
Statistics Act (cont’d)
ACQUISITION: To reduce its operating costs and to reduce
respondent burden, the NSO will undertake agreements
with organizations that hold administrative data that can
facilitate the fulfillment of the NSO mandate.
6. Requires legal support service to review all final formal data acquisition agreements or any other
informal documentation and store copies in a corporate registry
7. Requires statistical programs to inform the central procurement service of their intention to acquire
administrative data at a cost from a private sector organization, and that the procurement service
conduct procurement and prepare contracts as per government legislation and contracting policies
2.1 Establishing a governance framework
2.1.2 Policies and directives
25
Title Objective
2.1.2.2 Directive on obtaining
administrative data under the
Statistics Act (cont’d)
ACQUISITION: To reduce its operating costs and to reduce
respondent burden, the NSO will undertake agreements
with organizations that hold administrative data that can
facilitate the fulfillment of the NSO mandate.
8. Requires statistical programs to assess the quality of potential administrative data and the
administrative data coordination function to offer quality assessment tools to do so
9. Requires the administrative data coordination function to post summaries of the NSO’s usage of
administrative data on the NSO website
2.1 Establishing a governance framework
2.1.2 Policies and directives
26
Title Objective
2.1.2.2 Directive on obtaining
administrative data under the
Statistics Act (cont’d)
ACQUISITION: To reduce its operating costs and to reduce
respondent burden, the NSO will undertake agreements
with organizations that hold administrative data that can
facilitate the fulfillment of the NSO mandate.
10.Requires statistical programs to authorize NSO employees to access identifiable administrative
data, for which they are the administrative data custodian, based on the need-to-know principle,
and to consult as required, with the providing organization on behalf of other statistical program
managers regarding questions and concerns about the administrative data
11.Requires statistical programs to comply with the terms and conditions stated in agreements
2.1 Establishing a governance framework
2.1.2 Policies and directives
Others that relate to administrative data – will be covered in Part 3,– Use of
administrative data:
3.2.3.1 Directive on conducting privacy impact assessments
3.2.3.2 Directive on record linkage
3.2.3.3 Directive on the use of deemed employees
27
2.1 Establishing a governance framework
2.1.2 Policies and directives
Others that relate to administrative data – will be covered in Part 4, Management
of administrative data:
28
• 4.2.2 Directive on the Management of
Statistical Microdata Files
• 4.2.3 Directive on the Management of
Aggregate Statistics
• 4.3.1 Directive on Discretionary
Disclosure
• 4.3.2 Directive on Data Sharing
• 4.4.1 Policy on Informing Users on
Data Quality and Methodology
• 4.4.2 Directive on Informing Survey
Respondents
• 4.4.3 Directive on Record Linkage
• 4.1.1 Policy on Privacy and
Confidentiality
• 4.1.2 IT Security Policy
• 4.1.3 Directive on the Security of
Sensitive Statistical Information
• 4.1.4 Directive on the Transmission of
Protected Information
• 4.1.5 Information and Privacy Breach
Protocol
• 4.2.1 Policy on Information
Management
Statement of Principles (e.g., United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics)
1.Specify
Needs2.Design 3.Build 4.Collect 5.Process 6.Analyse 7.Disseminate
Governance Instruments for Admin Data and the Generic Statistical Business Process Model
Policy on the Use of Administrative Data under the Statistics Act
Conducting Privacy
Impact Assessments
Data Sharing under Section 11 and 12
Prescription for Data
Collection
Obtaining Administrative Data under the
Statistics Act
Use of Deemed Employees
Record Linkage
Informing Survey Respondents
Discretionary
Disclosure
Discretionary
Disclosure
Discretionary
Disclosure
Security of Sensitive Statistical Information
8.Evaluate
Related policies: Privacy and Confidentiality, Microdata Access, Information Management, Informing Users
of Data Quality and Methodology
Management of Statistical Microdata Files
29
Exercise 2
Identifying specific functions
within the NSO
2.1 Establishing a governance framework
2.1.3 Organizational and governance structures
Specific functions within the NSO
31
Functions Who in your NSO?
Administrative data custodian
Legal support service
Information management
Procurement service
Administrative data coordination
Administrative data operations
Statistical registers
32
Administra-
tive Data
Custodian
Legal
support
serviceInformation
manage-
ment
Procure-
ment
service
Administra-
tive data
coordination
Administra-
tive data
operations
Statistical
registers
2.1 Establishing a governance framework
2.1.3 Organizational and governance structures
The NSO should put in place the concept of administrative data custodian, i.e.,
the person who:
Liaises with the rest of the NSO to understand the NSO needs for administrative data held
by a given data provider
Negotiates access to administrative data from the same data provider, and has
delegated authority to sign and/or administer the agreement, – including
making sure the terms and conditions are respected, – and obtain metadata
associated to the administrative data
Provides access to the administrative data to others in the NSO based on
the need-to-know principle
Receives and handles questions on the administrative data and liaises with the data
provider and other stakeholders as needed33
Administra-
tive Data
Custodian
2.1 Establishing a governance framework
2.1.3 Organizational and governance structures
The NSOs should consider creating centralized functions (the same entity can
have more than one):
Legal support service and information management
Procurement service: for contracts with private sector
organizations
Administrative data coordination: for 1) the management of
corporate strategies, processes, tools; 2) the custody of
broad administrative data files or files that are
complex to acquire
34
Legal
support
service
Information
manage-
ment
Procurement
serviceAdministrative
data
coordination
2.1 Establishing a governance framework
2.1.3 Organizational and governance structures
The NSOs should consider creating centralized functions (the same entity can do
more than one) (cont’d):
Administrative data operations: for the receipt, capture,
formatting/standardization, coding and validation of all incoming administrative
data files
Statistical registers: for 1) the creation of base statistical registers and statistical
identification numbers; 2) the de-identification of administrative data file and re-
identification with statistical
identification numbers
35
Administrative
data
operations
Statistical
registers
2.1 Establishing a governance framework
2.1.3 Organizational and governance structures
The NSO should consider creating an Administrative Data Management
Committee with representatives from all areas of the NSO:
To oversee the development, implementation and adherence to corporate
strategies with respect to administrative data
To determine the custodian of broad use administrative data files or files that are
complex to acquire
To make decisions on whether to pursue acquisitions of administrative data files
that impose significant restrictions or costs on the NSO
To refer decisions to the most senior management committee of the NSO
36
2.2 Designing data acquisition agreements
The terms and conditions related to the acquisition, management, use
and disposal of administrative data by the NSO should be documented
The documentation may take the form of:
Formal data acquisition agreements such as Memorandum of
Understanding (same level of government) and Agreements
(different level of government or private sector at no cost)
Contracts (with private sector when costs are involved)
Informal written communication (if permitted by legislation)
Under the responsibility of the legal support service function
37
2.2 Designing data acquisition agreements
At a minimum, any documentation should mention:
▫ The NSO’s legal authority to obtain the administrative data
▫ The NSO’s intended uses of the administrative data, e.g.:
• “For statistical purposes only as legally permitted under the Statistics Act”
• “For uses by the Census and Social Statistics Programs”
• When the administrative data contain mainly tombstone information on individuals or businesses:
“For uses that improve the quality and efficiency of the statistical processes leading to the
production of statistical outputs in the Census and Social Statistics Programs”
• Avoid statements that limit the use to a specific survey, division or type of uses!
▫ The NSO’s legal requirements to protect the administrative data
38
Exercise 3
Designing data acquisition
agreements
2.3 Developing corporate tools
Administrative data inventory to register all incoming administrative data
files
Consultation (“broadcast”) to collect information on potential uses of
administrative data files about to be negotiated
Quality assessment tool of administrative data
when no data are at hand GSBPM 1.5
Central registry of agreements (formal or informal)
Central tool to access administrative data
40
2.3 Developing corporate tools
Administrative data inventory
Anyone in the NSO can populate and consult the inventory at any time
Maintenance and monitoring assigned to the administrative data
coordination function
41
Objectives: To provide a central repository of information on administrative data holdings
To support efficient uses (or potential new uses) of administrative data files
2.3 Developing corporate tools
Consultation (“broadcast”) to collect information on potential
uses
Consultation is conducted by the administrative data coordination
function with support from subject matter experts
43
Objectives: To ensure NSO needs for the data are well understood and that the use of the
data will be maximized
To avoid costly duplication of efforts on both the NSO and the data provider
resulting from unclear need
To reduce acquisition costs for the NSO
2.3 Developing corporate tools
Consultation (“broadcast”) to collect information on potential
uses
The consultation template includes:▫ What we know about the data provider and data product, and how it could potentially be
used
▫ A questionnaire to collect needs of your NSO colleagues
A debrief is produced after collection to:
▫ Inform managers of the results of the consultation
▫ Determine the administrative data custodian that will negotiate the acquisition
▫ List action items, e.g., creating a working group of users to further discuss the acquisition
and uses
44
Consultation template
2.3 Developing corporate tools
Quality assessment tool when no data are at hand
Assessment is conducted by the designated administrative data
custodian
The results should be centrally stored by the administrative data
coordination function
46
Objectives: To determine if the administrative data can fulfill the needs of the NSO using
metadata and information available from the organization
To provide a decision point to investigate further and acquire the administrative
data, or at least a sample or test version of the data
2.3 Developing corporate tools
Quality assessment tool when no data are at hand
The assessment at this stage focuses on:
• Institutional environment (of the data provider)
And also the following quality dimensions:
• Relevance
• Timeliness
• Accessibility
• Interpretability
• Coherence
47
2.3 Developing corporate tools
Quality assessment tool when no data are at hand
Institutional environment (of the data provider) is the organizational or
institutional factors that may have an impact on the provider’s capacity to
supply quality administrative data over time such as:
• Legislative or regulatory terms of access
• Reliability of the data provider or data source
48
2.3 Developing corporate tools
Quality assessment tool when no data are at hand
Relevance is the extent to which the administrative data meet the
agency’s statistical needs, i.e.:
▫ Alignment with the desired statistical population, both in terms of coverage and
reference period
▫ Alignment with variables needed and their reference period
▫ Any particularity of the administrative data collection and processing that may
impact relevance (and/or accuracy)
Timeliness is the period between the reference point to which the
administrative data pertains and the date on which the information
becomes available to the NSO
49
2.3 Developing corporate tools
Quality assessment tool when no data are at hand
Accessibility is the ease with which the NSO can use the administrative
data
• Format of the file or its variables
Interpretability is the availability of information and metadata needed to
interpret and use the administrative data appropriately
Coherence is the degree to which the administrative data can be used
with the statistical agency’s other data within a broad analytical
framework over time, i.e.:
• Stability of the population over time
• Stability of the content50
2.3 Developing corporate tools
Quality assessment tool when no data at hand
In addition to analysing institutional environment and quality, the NSO
should also look at the impact the use of the administrative data source
could have on:
• Costs and savings
• Human resources
• Response burden
Any dimension or element may be given a level of importance based on
the intended use of the administrative data
A final decision is made to investigate further and acquire the
administrative data (in whole or in part)51
2.3 Developing corporate tools
Central registry of agreements
53
Objectives: Ensure that the NSO meets its legal requirements and monitors the
confidentiality of the information collected under its enabling legislation
Ensure that the Chief Statistician’s authority for the activities undertaken by
the NSO are recorded and monitored on an accurate and timely basis
Communicate information to internal stakeholders who have specific
accountabilities under policy instruments associated with the NSO’s enabling
legislation and any privacy legislation that applies
2.3 Developing corporate tools
Central registry of agreements
Maintenance and monitoring assigned to the responsibility of the legal
support service function
The registry:
• Contains standardized metadata common to various legal instruments to
facilitate reporting and retrieval
• Maintains relationships between various legal instruments for cross-reference
and tracking purposes
• Includes copies of legal instruments for ease of reference
54
2.3 Developing corporate tools
Central registry of agreements
Anyone in the NSO can:
• Consult and search the contents of the registry
• View associated legal instruments
• Create and extract reports against the content of the registry
• In some cases, add content to the registry
55
2.3 Developing corporate tools
Central tool to access administrative data
Under the responsibility of information management
56
Objectives: Provide a uniform way for all users at the NSO to request and authorize
access to data
Enable workflows to move the request along to the appropriate authorization
and implementation chain
Audit and report on authorization and permissions to access data
Automatically remove access to data once permission periods expire or
responsibilities of users change
2.3 Developing corporate tools
Central tool to access administrative data
Anyone in the NSO can add a data access request form to the tool to
monitor access requests and permissions to their data
Anyone in the NSO can submit a request via the tool to obtain access to
specific data, without needing to know the appropriate authorization and
implementation chain
57
2.4 Managing Strategic Collaboration
Collaboration with data providers is key to increase the statistical use of
administrative data in a NSO
It can lead to better data, as well as better methods and processes to
use the data
The strategy is four-fold:
• Clearly communicating the NSO intention
• Finding win-win strategies to secure access to
quality data
• Partnering with other interested stakeholders
• Maintaining long-term partnerships
58
2.4 Managing Strategic Collaboration
Clearly communicating the NSO intention
Start by explaining in simple terms how the NSO plans
to use the administrative data, and the benefits for:
• the country (new statistical information)
• its citizens (saves their money and their time)
• Its businesses (saves their money and their time, provides insight for their industry)
Explain the legal authority to obtain the data
• The organization holds data about others; the organization must be able to inform them
that it legally had to provide the info to the NSO
Explain the legal obligation to protect the data and the security measures
in place in the NSO to do so59
2.4 Managing Strategic Collaboration
Finding win-win strategies to secure access to quality data
Examples:
Offering to share non-confidential results on the quality of the data with the
data provider
Proposing to the data provider ways to improve the collection and processing
of the data and its documentation
Returning the administrative data to the data provider once
cleaned (with no other confidential data added)
More globally, working with other departments on
government-wide strategies and policies that would benefit
both the statistical use and the administrative use of administrative data60
2.4 Managing Strategic Collaboration
Partnering with other interested stakeholders
Identify anyone else who could benefit from the NSO
obtaining the data, and seek their support
• Local or regional statistical offices that care about statistics
• Other organizations that will value the statistical outputs produced from the data
because it fills important gaps
• Association of businesses or citizens that would be happy to see the burden of their
members decrease
Keep privacy commissioners informed
Mention organizations that were consulted or support you in your
communication with the data provider
61
2.4 Managing Strategic Collaboration
Maintaining long-term partnerships
Establish bilateral committees with important data providers (at different levels)
to ensure no interruption in delivery, no unplanned changes to the data,
engage in constant discussion on how to improve the data and find win-win
strategies
62
Consider a committee of heads of
departments that will value data,
provide directions for its proper
management, and promote its use for
policy development and evaluation,
measurement of government program
efficiency and official statistics
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