1. International experience in economic statistics programmes
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs/ Statistics Division (UNSD)
International experience in economic statistics programmes
Regional Workshop for African Countries on the Compilation of Basic Economic Statistics
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,
16 – 19 October 2007
Presenter: Len Cook, UNSD Consultant

2. Vision - Forum on Africa Statistical Development
  “Our vision…………..
as core producers of statistics in Africa
is the installation of a statistical infrastructure,
through enhanced partner-ship among stakeholders at all levels,
capable of providing and promoting the effective management and utilization of quality data, and
information for evidence-based policy and decision-making,
monitoring development programmes and
democratic accountability.”
Statistical Development in Africa: A Strategic framework
Defines scope of role - inclusive and exclusive
Focus on investment
Recognition of wide stakeholder group and potential resource base
Expectation as investor in quality information sources
Knowing the purpose in detail enables precision in what is done
Extend to reporting on specific programmes rather than summarise impacts
Defines place within system of government

3. Decision-making in economic statistics
Global accumulation of knowledge of decisions and s/understanding needed in societies
National accumulation of knowledge
Statistical Frameworks national/international
Statistical processes
Statistical practice
Statistical methods
Surveying
Statistical measures
Country decisions/ understanding

4. Decision-making in economic statistics
Global accumulation of knowledge of decisions and s/understanding needed in societies
National accumulation of knowledge
Statistical Frameworks national/international
Statistical processes
Statistical practice
Statistical methods
Surveying
Statistical measures
Country decisions/ understanding

5. Decision-making in economic statistics
Global accumulation of knowledge of decisions and s/understanding needed in societies
National accumulation of knowledge
Statistical Frameworks national/international
Statistical processes
Statistical practice
Statistical methods
Surveying
Statistical measures
Country decisions/ understanding

6. Assumptions critical to economic statistics
Assumptions of closed economy and equilibria irrelevant
Unpredictable change in economic system
Public institutions do not manage relevant transactions
Limitations in classification and valuation

7. Assumptions critical to economic statistics
Assumptions of closed economy and equilibria irrelevant
Unpredictable change in economic system
Public institutions do not manage relevant transactions
Limitations in classification and valuation

8. Development path for NSI Planning
Anticipate change in direction of statistical sources and statistical measures
High
Continuity of
Government
Funding to
NSI
low
Capacity to change the scope and quality of statistics
Capacity to extend statistical activities and maintain regular activity
Capacity to repeat annual and monthly operations
Capacity to repeat annual and monthly operations
Capacity to extend statistical activities and maintain regular activity
Capacity to change the scope and quality of statistics
Anticipate change in direction of statistical sources and statistical measures
Publish timetable in advance to release repeated annual and sub-annual operations
Make advance commitments for release of new statistics, and
Meet timetable published in advance to release repeated operations
Provide users with expanded access, integration and control of services
Contribute to international statistical thinking. Infrastructure shifts to enable large scale changes within short periods
Incremental change series by series
Co-ordinate expansion of statistics as new sources are available
Enable infrastructure changes that gradually integrate processes across types of statistical sources, and enable common access services
Policy review or international standards can set new direction for fields of statistics
Competence in individual statistics
Leadership of National Statistical institute
Leadership of National Statistical System
Lead field of statistics
Potential for very high achievement
Manage obsolescence
Leadership of field of statistics
Application office wide of common standards
Low User commitment high

9. Integrating elements COMMON QUALITY MEASURES FOR SURVEY EVENTS COMMON
ORGANISATION OF DATA ARRAYS
INTEGRATION THROUGH
COMMON
METHODOLOGY
AND PRACTICE
REAL-TIME
PROCESSES OF STATISTICAL
FRAMEWORKS
& SYSTEMS
MATCHING
BY COMMON
STATISTICAL
SURVEY
FRAMES, AND
IDENTIFIERS
REAL TIME SURVEY PROCESS INFORMATION
REPLACEABLE
COMMON TOOLS, AND SYSTEMS
COMMON DATA MANAGEMENT (ORACLE)
USERS DETERMINE WHOLE SYSTEM
CROSS CUTTING VARIABLES
META DATA

10. Managing obsolescence in statistical process
Development project scale
18 months
15 months
One year
9 months
6 months
3 months
Sources
Information Management
Meta
data
Methods and
survey tools
Presentation and
extraction tools
Investment Life-span
Cycle times
Cost structure
Integration
Competitiveness
Innovation
Responsiveness
Coherence
Knowledge base
Geographic base
Best practice
Reliability

11. Pillars of Official Statistics NSI FOCUSED CAPABILITIES
Core capabilities of National Statistics
Fundamental
Pillars of Official Statistics
PERFORMANCE I N T E G R A O
RELEVANCE T R U S
EXPERT
NSI FOCUSED CAPABILITIES
STATISTICAL SYSTEM
FOCUSED CAPABILITIES
GLOBAL NETWORKS
Statistical Legislation
Statistical Standards
Statistical Frameworks
Training
Knowledge of methodologies
International co-operation
Statistical Organisation
Privacy Legislation
Code of Practice
Advisory Bodies
National Information Policy
Regional Collaboration
Information Technology
Market Infrastructures
Accreditation of quality
UN Principles of Official Statistics
UNSNA
Beijing (Women)
Rio (Environment)
Voorburg (Services)
Ottawa (Prices)
IMF SDDS