1. Heli Mikkelä Statistics Finland (heli.mikkela@stat.fi)
Findicator: Internet service with hundred indicators measuring progress
Heli Mikkelä
Statistics Finland

2. The Findicator
Joint project between the Prime Minister’s Office and Statistics Finland
Provides information on the social development in Finland
Improves the availability and accessibility of indicator-like information
Supports evidence-based decision-making. PMO: ”to strengthen the evidence-based policy-making culture within the Finnish Government”
The Findicator is not only about indicators — IT-technology, frequent updates, and links to further sources of information are equally important
Target group: Members of the parliament and their assistants, press officers, journalists
Heli Mikkelä
16 April 2010

3. Presentation Background and planning of the service Project 2008-2009
Introduction to the service
Technical solutions
Future
Heli Mikkelä
16 April 2010

4. Feasibility study: questions
What is your current information use like?
Do you use statistics/indicators in your work?
Are you satisfied with the current indicators? Any problems?
Can you give me an example of your latest search for indicator-like information?
Which of the current presentation methods of indicators are most useful for you?
Is there a need in Finland for a new indicator service? What should it be like?
Heli Mikkelä
16 April 2010

5. Feasibility study: 20 interviews in spring 2008
Members of the parliament
Assistants of the MPs
Civil servants
Journalists
Teachers
Researchers
Regional decision-makers
Consultants
Press officers
Heli Mikkelä
16 April 2010

6. Five central problems in using information according to users
”There is a lot information, but I can’t find it”
”The information is too old”
”The information is too complicated”
”The information is not policy relevant”
”Information does not match the user needs”
Heli Mikkelä
16 April 2010

7. ”Information does not match the user needs”
Users wanted
* numbers
* metadata
* detailed information about upcoming updates
* ready-to-use graphics
* links to further information
Heli Mikkelä
16 April 2010

8. The Joint Project Oct 2008 - Dec 2009
Launched by the top management of the Prime Minister’s Office and Statistics Finland
The PMO
Selecting (policy-relevant) indicators
Contacts with other data providers: to get other agencies to provide the data
Co-operation with the interministerial working group
Promotion of the service
Statistics Finland
System and information architecture
The updating system and methods
Setting up the web-site
Maintaining the database
The main data provider
.. in practice the work was carried out jointly in close cooperation
Heli Mikkelä
16 April 2010

9. Already there… The project team
Cooperation network within the statistical service
The portal of official statistics
The new XML-based publishing
Standardised PX-tools
Long expertice in indicators
The project team
About 15 persons (IT- and information departments)
Indicator development
Informatics
Database management
Internet coding
Graphic design
Heli Mikkelä
16 April 2010

10. The service - opened 14 Oct 2009
The set of indicators
a total of ca 100 indicators
information provided by 17 organisations
grouped by themes (12) and government programme policies (10)
Each indicator
Graph
Analysis
Description
Table
Database
Links
=> Updated automatically from available information. => Updated at the same time as the statistics is released.
Heli Mikkelä
16 April 2010

11. Latest Themes updates & Topics grouped by grouped by Indicator lists
previous week
Heli Mikkelä
16 April 2010

12. Producing organisation
Last updated,
the next release date
Producing organisation
Indicators under the topic
Links to the data table and the graph
Ingress/ summary of the latest release
Links to further information
Description of the indicator
Heli Mikkelä
16 April 2010

13. Architecture/ Statistics Finland
StatFin: Production Database
Statistical publication: FastWeb: - CoSSI-XML - Office
VERTI Publishing system
PX-Web
Publishing system PX
Graphs, tables, Excel
statistics PX
Administration
Indicator maintenance:
Text, Links, Information retrieval system
Statistical release: Analysis, metadata.
StatFin: Statistical database
PX-Web
Heli Mikkelä
16 April 2010

14. Text, PX, links, release time
Architecture: Other agencies
Source data
Web-form
Text, PX, links, release time t
Statistics Finland
SAS-macro
SAS
Publishing
system of SF PX
Excel
PX-Edit PX
CSV etc.
StatFin: Statistical database
StatFin: production database
PX-Web
Text,
links
PX-Web
Administration
Graphs,
tables
VERTI Publishing
system
Harri Lehtinen

15. Achievements new tools and solutions for web publishing
closer cooperation with the information users
closer cooperation within the national statistical service and other information producers
posivite publicity
launched by the prime minister of Finland
OECD-recognition for the best indicator service using new technology
reasonably steady usage
Heli Mikkelä
16 April 2010

16. In the future cooperation to be continued
to be supplemented by new indicators as necessary
English and Swedish versions under consideration
currently, introduction and lists of indicators available in English and Swedish
Heli Mikkelä
16 April 2010

17. Contacts for further information
Technical solutions: Hans Baumgartner Harri Lehtinen
The contents and general questions: Laura Mäkelä Kim Huuhko
Heli Mikkelä
16 April 2010