FAO/PARIS21 REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON THE INTEGRATION OF AND ACCESS TO AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS FOR BETTER FORMULATION AND MONITORING OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT POLICIES Algers, Algeria 8-9 December 2007 Back-to-back with the 20th AFCAS AW A By Kizito Kasozi Director Information Technology Uganda Bureau of Statistics

UGANDA’S EXPERIENCE BUILDING A NATIONAL DATA ARCHIVE Presented by Kizito Kasozi Director Information Technology Uganda Bureau of Statistics FAO/PARIS21 Algiers, December 2007

Outline Status of the NSS General State of Datasets Plan for National Statistical Development (PNSD) Data Archiving Challenges

UGANDA NATIONAL STATISTICAL SYSTEM Limited coordination - within - across No statistical units - existing ones (very) weak Professional staff (esp. in Ministries) - lack skills - not motivated

State of Existing Datasets As a Result of a Weak and Underdeveloped NSS….. Fragmented statistical production Most datasets of very poor quality Inconsistent or conflicting results or reports Datasets with minimal or no documentation No standards (definitions, formats, etc.) Badly structured or unstructured datasets Datasets not properly archived/backed-up …a lot of resources wasted in duplicated efforts

Plan for National Statistical Development (PNSD) Comprehensive 5-Year Plan for National Statistical Development (PNSD) adopted in October Phased development of the NSS - critical in affirming UBOS as the driving force - collaborative effort with priority specific sectors (9 within government for a start) - one of the strategic goals is to improve data management and dissemination - develop a National Statistical Databank (NSD)

Data Archiving PNSD objective 6 Documentation, dissemination and preservation of microdata –ADP Support Framework build capacity at UBOS and sectors provide guidance in best practices Promote data sharing and dissemination help put in place proper policies provide required technical assistance

Data Archiving Benefits –Increased support to evidence based planning Documentation and preservation of valuable data Easier access to microdata (Sharing) Exhaustive utility of data (broader analysis & mining) – Value for money Minimized duplication of effort (reduced wastage)

National Data Archive Progress so far…. Conducted a national training workshop 9 sectors participated Data Documentation Initiative (DDI) adopted Documenting of Survey & Census datasets within the UBOS Metadata uploaded to website () Inventory of Datasets in partner institutions –IHSN standard form used Developing a microdata access policy Developing a National Data Archive (NADA)

National Data Archive Challenges Missing or inadequate documentation Difficulty in getting information Difficulty in getting information – key individuals busy or absent – delays in preparation – not a top priority – consultants that prepared data left Documentation only as hard copies No appreciation of importance

National Data Archive Challenges… Issues regarding anonymisation Fear of criticism – not very confident with the reliability of data – exposure of poor methods – contradictory results Exclusive ownership – personalized datasets – some data may be ‘sensitive’

National Data Archive Challenges… Different data formats – SAS, STATA, SPSS, dBase, ASCII, Excel, etc. Poor quality of data – not well cleaned – to archive or not to archive? Unavailable datasets Lack of centralized storage – datasets in different places It takes time to understand datasets

National Data Archive Challenges… Need for collaboration – Statisticians perceive it as an IT issue – seen as dull and time consuming – ‘owner’ may not understand the data No guidelines, standards and policies No extra resources for data archiving Lack of skills in data management IT staff few and busy on many things

National Data Archive Related Activities…. Professionalism & Networking (AASDA) Building a community of practice in Africa Inter-country support, Rwanda, Kenya, Nigeria Benefits  To foster and promote a network of excellence in data service delivery  To provide opportunities for collegial exchange of sound professional practices

Networking… African Association of Statistical Data Archivists Benefits More applicable experiences shared –Similarity in levels of development »Feasible and applicable solutions »More relevant experiences Cheaper Technical Support –Reduced required facilitation

Networking… Benefits Link to other global or regional associations –International Association for Social Science Information Service and Technology (IASSIST) –East European Data Archive Network (EDAN) African Association of Statistical Data Archivists

Networking… Planned Activities Building the Regional community of practiceBuilding the Regional community of practice I.1 st Africa meeting of ADP supported countries (March) II.Africa Representation to the IASSIST Meeting – USA (May) III.International Scientific Conference – June 2008 I.Theme will relate to micro data management II.Include meeting of Heads of CSO’s within ADP supported countries to endorse the community of practice

Thank You