United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Statistical Division Bringing evidence and policy- makers closer together: the role of official statisticians Enrico Bisogno Workshop ‘The Role of Official statistics supporting Evidence-based policy making’ Paris, 10 June 2008

10 June 2008 Bridging the gap?  Official statistics and policy makers: it’s not a symmetric relationship!  Statistical information as one amongst many other forms of information: media, experts, peers, etc.  Data must compete in the tough information market  So bridging the gap...or fighting the information battle?

10 June 2008 A possible strategy  Improve our outputs  Identify our targets  Identify possible allies

10 June 2008 Is data evident = easy?

10 June 2008 An example: ‘new’ inflation index  In February 2008, Istat (Italy) released an additional indicators on CPI: Frequent purchases index  It covers a basket of goods that households buy at least monthly (food, transport, etc.)  The goal is to provide statistical measurement of ‘perceived inflation’

10 June 2008 Is data evident = visible?  Great attention to dissemination tools (electronic devices, internet, databases)  Data dissemination is shifting towards communication of information  For example, increasing attention to graphic tools to communicate data

10 June 2008 Should NSOs analyse data?  Increasing focus on analytical products  Not only simple description of trends/patterns  This stimulates interest and facilitates further use of data

10 June 2008 Policy cycle and data calendar  Time in politics is crucial  Statistical production should be independent from policy agenda, to safeguard independence  However, data must be relevant!

10 June Identify the ‘targets’  When we say policy-makers, we include a broad range of decision-makers: government vs. parliament central level vs. local level political nominees vs. senior civil servants

10 June Identify strategic ‘allies’  Statistics should become a pillar of public debate  For this to happen, more and more users at ease in using data  Invest on raising ‘statistical literacy’ of the media, NGOs, students

10 June 2008 To summarize  Proactive attitude  The usability of our data is the paradigm  A comprehensive strategy to ‘target’ policy makers

10 June 2008 International organizations: can they be of help?  Facilitate exchange of experiences  Set up ‘processes’ to show the value of statistics  Strengthen capacity of NSOs to communicate data ... and what else?