1. of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia
The role of statistics for decision making: the case of Slovene official statistics
Irena Križman
Director-General
of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia

2. Statistical information in public and political decision making
Contents
Statistical information in public and political decision making
Key issues for successful capacity building of the Slovenian statistics
Slovenian statistics in EU and Euro Area
Users about us
Lessons learnt from Slovenian case 2

3. Statistical information in public and political decision making
The “Statistics, Knowledge and Policy” chain
OECD’s Global project: measuring the progress of societies 3

4. Slovenian decision to become a full member of EU and Euro Area
Key issues for successful capacity building of the Slovenian statistics (1)
Slovenian decision to become a full member of EU and Euro Area
The forward-looking management of SORS
The support of academia and research institutes
The modern legal framework of the Slovenian national statistics from 2005 4

5. Key issues for successful capacity building of the Slovenian statistics (2)
Good co-operation with data providers, especially holders of registers and administrative records
SORS established the Statistical Advisory committees in the eighties
SORS has a long tradition in intensive relations with the media
International co-operation with Sweden, Denmark, Germany has started in the end of the sixties 5

6. Slovenian statistics in EU and Euro Area
Harmonization of statistics with international standards (high quality, EU comparable statistics)
Successful statistical capacity building process: →guarantee of non-political objectivity
→professionalism
→provision of:
legal framework
organizational position of the SORS within the government
human and financial resources
co-ordination and the programming of work 6

7. Slovenian statistics in EU and Euro Area (2)
Register-based statistics as an advantage in reducing the response burden
Access to microdata with ID numbers for statistical and research purposes requires strict confidentiality rules
Stability of resources needed for statistics is crucial
Flexibility is required in anticipating and responding to the new needs of policy makers
Microdata for research and evalution of policy proposals have become important 7

8. Users about us
Regular user satisfaction surveys → general satisfaction
Assessments by international organizations → high level of quality of the products and services
For instance: the Code of practice peer review showed particular strengths and examples of good practice in:
the legal framework
managing confidentiality
the structure and functioning of the Statistical Advisory Committees 8

9. CESifo World Economic Survey, February 2007:
Users about us (2)
CESifo World Economic Survey, February 2007:
700 economists from 80 countries responded
SORS:
1st place in Quality of Official report
2nd place in Website
Source:http// 9

10. Lessons learnt from the Slovenian case
Strong data requirements by policy makers could influence the awareness on importance of official statistics and resources to develop it
The good management and the vision of NSI’s are important
Harmonisation with international standards requires long-term, organisationally and financially sustainable efforts
Organisation of the technical assistance has important effects 10

11. Thank you very much for your attention. I wish you fruitful work.11