Workshop on the modernisation of statistical production and services Annual report of the UNECE High Level Group on Modernisation of Statistical Production and Services Pádraig Dalton June 16, 2015

What am I going to talk about? Environmental context Modernisation – broad perspective Collaboration Modernisation activities Modernisation challenges

Environmental context Only constant - change Pace of change Increased user demand Emergence of global user Digital age – technology, sources, strategic alliances? Skills: Re-profiling, outsource? Availability of skills? Politicisation – crisis, targets and indicators

Modernisation – Broad perspective Common perception - Technology, Big Data, CSPA, Visualisation – but its more than that! “Modernisation” is a relative term Needed to broaden our understanding of what modernisation means Also need to broaden our minds about what it will take to modernise

Modernisation - Collaboration Many active participants on modernisation front NSI’s, UNECE, Eurostat, UNSD, OECD etc…. Individually we can develop our own strategies and reactions to the challenges But really to meet the challenges we must work together At a global level one of the best examples is HLG MOS “Collaboration of the willing”

UNECE HLG MOS Created by the CES bureau in 2010 Strategic vision endorsed by CES in 2011/2012 To oversee and coordinate international work relating to the modernisation of official statistics 10 heads of national and international statistical organizations (Australia, Canada, Italy, Netherlands, Republic of Korea, Slovenia, Ireland, Eurostat, OECD, UNECE) Engagement goes way beyond formal membership of MOS Over 40 countries involved in HLG MOS activities

HLG Activities 2014: Wider involvement

HLG modernisation activities: Achievements Generic Activity Model for Statistical organisations (GAMSO) Guidelines on privacy, partnership and quality issues related to Big Data Generic skills profile for data scientists Valuable experience and learning from sandbox experiments 8 new CSPA-compliant services CSPA service catalogue (hosted by Eurostat)

HLG modernisation activities: Plans Sandbox: Produce and release a set of internationally comparable statistics from one or more Big Data sources Sustainable model for future sandbox-type shared working environments (sprint in Cork) More CSPA services Enhanced catalogue Sharing of investment plans: based on capability enhancements Modernisation Maturity Model: roadmap for modernisation

HLG modernisation activities – Sustainability Becoming victims of our own success This is a positive thing!! Has implications - structures, governance and perhaps even shared agreements What might the future look like Recent meetings in New York and Canberra surfaced some thoughts

“Blue Skies” in New York (!!) and Canberra Branding for HLG products and services to be developed Establishing a “Statistical Modernisation Community” Formalising “more or less” what already exists Open to all Collaboration of the willing Statement of intent for subscribers Identify expectations for those wanting to engage Provide mechanism for deeper engagement on specific issues through agreed “manifests” (e.g. CSPA, Big Data)

Modernisation Challenges Existence of an appropriate institutional setting Standards based modernisation  Development for development sake  Proliferation of actors  How can we collaborate to influence modernisation relevant standards

Modernisation Challenges Exploitation of secondary data sources - access, technology, skill-sets, quality, partnerships Privacy & Data Protection  Linking secondary and primary data sources  Possibility of strategic alliances  Privacy & efficiency debate  Ensuring public trust in this new environment  Perception is the challenge

Modernisation Challenges Behavioural – not all about technical challenges Leadership, openness to change “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” Influencing – but who do we need to influence Communications - One voice

Challenges – Not all are technical “Progress is a nice word. But change is its motivator. And change has its enemies” Robert Kennedy We need to be focussed and relentless and yet see, and address, not just the hard/technical/tangible challenges but also the soft/behavioural/intangible challenges

Want to get involved? All outputs on the HLG Website 4 Modernisation Committees

Conclusions Modernisation means different things to different people Are challenges and opportunities Nature of the challenges are varied Culture Collaboration Change Influence

The Conference is asked to: Approve the annual report of the High Level group Take note of the formalisation of the “Statistical Modernisation Community” and express your views Express views on how we can continue to develop coordination and collaboration