Improvements to the governance and dissemination process of StatLine, at Statistics Netherlands Drs. Ran van den Boom Statistics Netherlands May 13-15, 2008

Starting-points, principles 1.All figures from Statistics Netherlands (SN) should be published on StatLine, the one- and-only database with all SN tables  Special requirements for organisation and IT 2.SN aims at everyone in The Netherlands and more  The level of visitors varies significantly  We also aim at non-visitors

Starting-points, principles 3.Budget reductions and tackling administrative burdens (red tape) makes Public Relations (PR) for SN important  One of the means for PR is StatLine, the database of all statistics of SN 4.Earlier improvements (StatLine 4) did not succeed  Complexity was too large: new process, migration of meta and data, new database format, new software for complete process, coordination of terms at a high level in 1 project

Amongst the solutions 1.StatLine CoOP –Improve quality and efficiency –Improve accessibility –Make sure software is working up to 2012 –Lessons learned from StatLine 4 2.PR through Statistics –Other visualisations –Dedicated websites

Improve quality, efficiency and accessibility StatLine CoOP programme –Achieving Coordination level 1 Improve comprehensibility and uniformity of the statistics: quality –Improving the Output (dissemination) process Redesign governance of the communication and the dissemination process along with the tools: efficiency –Improving the Presentation of statistics Revise layer around the StatLine database (StatWeb 5) to make it more user-friendly: accessibility CoOP stands for Cooperation Without it, we would not be successful

Achieving Coordination level 1 Problems Problems for understanding table explanations –Abbreviations –Officialise, difficult, solemn and old-fashioned words –Technical words –Statistical terms Quality attention and procedures were focused on paper articles, webarticles; not on StatLine tables Dissemination department served as Quality Police Quality

Coordination levels Background: Model for levels of coordination LevelMeaning 1All figures have a clear and correct label and explanation 2Equal terms = equal definitions and vice versa 3Relations between terms are defined 4Standardisation of terms, preference for these terms 5Standardisation of terms in tables, embargo on other terms 6Consistent data between different tables 7Combined tables Quality

Achieving coordination level 1 Project approach –Facilitated by Guidelines (level of audience = newsviewers) Tools Communication, newsletters each month, open meetings Overviews of parts of metadata such as titles Strong cooperation with the seven statistical departments, dissemination department, project team; bottom-up approach Awarding best effort with a pie each week –To reach level 1 was (and is) difficult: a lot of stakeholders, communication, discussions Quality

Achieving coordination level 1 Project results –900 tables for which text was reviewed, improved and placed in 6 months time –Better explanations –Hardly any abbreviations –More awareness for quality –New, supported, guidelines –Reference texts –Previewing a table before publication –Overview of meta in StatLine available Quality

Achieving coordination level 1 Goals not met –Explanations sometimes too large –Guidelines not completely applied –Some inconsistencies still remain –Some statistical departments still busy as a result of other priorities and being understaffed –Tools less successful Challenge: How to keep the focus and attention for quality? And how to improve quality? Quality

Improving the Output (dissemination) process Reasons to improve the process Data was stored in > 10 places Inconsistencies appeared Administration cumbersome Uploading data to the website sometimes took too long Problems maintaining the software in the near future Efficiency

Organisation of dissemination at SN Efficiency General Director Communication 3 Divisions 7 Statistical departments dealing with dissemination Other departments Dissemination department StatLine Website Yearbook Statistical output Int. courses PR Magazine Ext. courses

Improving the process; approach 1.Quick-wins without adapting the process Preview of the adapted or new table Easier administration Copying deltas to Internet instead of all data 2.Long term improvements New governance model New process, less steps New roles, quality checks at the beginning New and adapted tooling, only one administration and a minimum number of table storage locations Efficiency

The new process Design and build meta Announce table and meta (PR & administration) Build the table and store Preview Check, report ready Check against guidelines Final preview and check by head of department, report ready, publish automatically Efficiency Dissemination Department Statistical Departments End responsibility for quality

Challenges in implementing new governance model People, responsibilities, roles –How to help them change? Process, procedures –How to make it acceptable for all? Organisation –How to change management? Facilitating, templates, tools –How to organise without much budget, resources, time? We’re still busy, using lessons learned, Agile techniques, colour theory (De Caluwé), Prince2, and communication Efficiency

Improving the Presentation of statistics StatWeb 5 improvements –Part of the overall website –Icons, colours and layout have a modern looking web application –Improves navigation and adds more explanations for inexperienced users –Replaced the Java applet with a more commonly available JavaScript/HTML solution –Performance and scalability –And more… Accessibility

StatWeb 5 Entrance Accessibility

StatWeb 5 Example Clear what icons do Explanation Change the selection Accessibility

PR through Statistics 1.Several “special” dedicated websites: –Youth monitor (Jeugdmonitor – Dutch only) –CBS in your neighbourhood (CBS in uw buurt – Dutch only) –Under development: CBS for companies and organisations –Under investigation: StatLine maps 2.Visualisations, such as Business Cycle clock 3.Google maps 4.Google earth (English and Dutch) 5.Under investigation: banners (using webservices)

Youth monitor Currently StatWeb 3 underneath Plans to migrate to webservices and StatWeb 5

CBS in your neighbourhood Uses Google Maps

Google Earth

StatLine Coverage versus level A rough indication; Gaps to bridge? By us? Press messages Coverage of all details of all statistics Level of audience, ease of understanding Google maps Google earth Banners Links SN Website Dedicated sites Microdata

Lessons learned: Things to do Involvement of the management Involvement of the end-user Experienced team leaders Focus on most important goal Communication is two-ways Bottom-up approach Pro-active on risks Guidelines, tools ready at the beginning Improving quality and efficiency requires more than just guidelines

Thank you

Discussion, questions –Does this process and organisation fit? –Would a “Quality Police” still be required? –How to keep attention on quality? –How to increase quality? –Would the results of Achieving level 1 have been better if: –Each table was reviewed after it was improved? –The statistical departments could have been “ordered” to spend more time on quality? At what costs?