Statistics Explained: reaching new audiences Paris, UNECE Work Session on the Communication of Statistics 30 June – 2 July 2010

Paris, UNECE Workshop on the Communication of Statistics 2 The problem with publications Workflows are long and cumbersome People cannot find or use them: –Present where people no longer are (libraries) and absent where they are (forums, blogs, Facebook etc.) –Hardly picked up by Google or other searches –Limited search and navigation possibilities even in electronic form (pdf) –Outdated when finally available

30 June – 2 July 2010Paris, UNECE Workshop on the Communication of Statistics 3 The solution: Statistics Explained

30 June – 2 July 2010Paris, UNECE Workshop on the Communication of Statistics 4 Statistics Explained World first: Eurostat’s encyclopaedia of European statistics –Statistical articles analyzing & explaining data –Glossary defining all concepts and terms –Portal linking deeply to more data & metadata For the general public, not specialists Wikipedia look and structure Open-source Mediawiki software Collective updating by Eurostat staff

30 June – 2 July 2010Paris, UNECE Workshop on the Communication of Statistics 5 Current state Content: –Some 200 statistical and other articles across all statistical themes, from economy to crime –Supplemented by some 900 glossary items –Equivalent to 5000-page paper publication Almost 150 contributors (1 in 6 of Eurostat) Governance working smoothly, no incident or accident in 14 months’ operation Growing visitor numbers, high Google rankings, more bookmarks and links

30 June – 2 July 2010Paris, UNECE Workshop on the Communication of Statistics 6 Uses and users Piwik user statistics: e=1&period=year&date=yesterday#module=Dashboard&action=embeddedIndex&idSite=1&period=year &date=yesterday Search engines: main access, high rankings, Google Blogs & discussion forums – #27http:// – Social media: Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed …: limited Wikipedia and academia References:

30 June – 2 July 2010Paris, UNECE Workshop on the Communication of Statistics 7 For reflection & discussion: Will other publishers start using this approach too? Can an interlinked community develop? Will use in the social media remain marginal? Is this bad? How will the relation with Wikipedia, controlled versus free, evolve? Can the feeding of debate in blogs and forums be taken further?