1. Enrico Giovannini President of the Italian Statistical Institute Maximising the Effectiveness of National Statistical Offices: What Does It Mean? New York, February 2010

2. Roma, 17 novembre 2009 2 The Istat mission To serve the society through the production and communication of high-quality statistical information and analyses, produced in full authonomy using rigourous ethical and professional principles and the most advanced statistical standards, in order to develop an in-depth knowledge of environmental, economic and social conditions of Italy, at different territorial levels, and to foster decision-making processes of all components of the society (citizens, policy makers, etc.)

3. Roma, 17 novembre 2009 3 The Istat vision Istat intends to be an innovative administration, committed to serve the society fostering the professionalism and the integrity of its staff, establishing appropriate working conditions and minimising its impact on the environment. Istat respects the privacy of respondents, protects the confidentiality of data collected and carries out its work in a transparent and independent manner. Istat is committed to achieve the maximum effectiveness and efficiency in the use of available resources and to foster the development of the National Statistical System and the collaboration with other public administrations, research institutes and civil society, also to improve statistical literacy. Istat is part of the European Statistical System and cooperates with the other members of the international statistical system.

4. Roma, 17 novembre 2009 4 The output of official statistics A recent carried out on 28 countries indicates that the most frequently used output indicators include: onumber of publications (or number of releases); onumber of publication copies sent to subscribers; onumber of visits to the Internet page; onumber of indicators accessible in the Internet databases; onumber of tables viewed in the Internet databases; onumber of presentations at conferences and seminars; number of media quotations. Many NSOs also try to measure the quality of output with quantitative indicators (punctuality of releases, revisions in statistical database, etc.) or user’s satisfaction surveys

5. Roma, 17 novembre 2009 5 How to measure the output of official statistics According to the International Standard Industry Classification (ISIC Rev.1), the production of official statistics is a non-market service  Part of Section L, Division 75 “Public Administration and Defence”  Group 7511 “Administration of the State and the economic and social policy of the community”, which includes: oadministration and operation of overall economic and social planning and statistical services at the various levels of government

6. Roma, 17 novembre 2009 6 How to measure the output of official statistics According to the SNA93, services are the result of a production activity that changes the conditions of the consuming units The changes that consumers of services engage the producers to bring about can take a variety of different forms such as: (a) changes in the condition of the consumer’s goods (b) changes in the physical condition of persons (c) changes in the mental condition of persons

7. Roma, 17 novembre 2009 7 How to measure the output of official statistics According to the Atkinson’s Report “the output of the government sector should in principle be measured in a way that is adjusted for quality, taking into account of the attributable incremental contribution of the service to the outcome” So, what is the outcome of the consumption of statistics? Knowledge

8. Roma, 17 novembre 2009 8 How to measure the output of official statistics N VAS =  (QSA * MFi * RSi * TSi * NLi) – CS i = 1 VAS = value added of official statistics QSA = official statistical information produced MFi = role played by media to disseminate QSA to the user RSi = relevance of QSA to the user TSi = trust in official statistics NLi = user’s numeracy CS = cost of producing official statistics

9. Roma, 17 novembre 2009 9 Empirical evidence  69% of Europeans think that it is necessary to know economic key data  53% of Europeans are not able even to guess the GDP growth rate in their country. 8% know the right figure  45% of Europeans do not trust official statistics  In the US the five main TV channels report GDP figures only in the 46% of cases, the 27 main newspapers in the 39% of cases  40% of Americans never heard of official GDP data or the source agency

10. Roma, 17 novembre 2009 10 Statistical information produced (QSA)  More information available than ever oNew domains, new breakdowns oLongitudinal studies and microdata oIndicators o...  Competition with the private sector oOpinion polls oAdministrative data o…  Growing users’ needs oGlobalisation oTimeliness o… MAIN MESSAGE: resources are the constraint

11. Roma, 17 novembre 2009 11 Role of media (MFi)  New channels oInternet oYouTube o...  New tools oVisualisation and videos oWikis, blogs, twitter,... o...  New information brokers oSpecialised websites oPeople o... MAIN MESSAGE: be proactive and innovative

12. Roma, 17 novembre 2009 12 Relevance for each and every user (RSi)  New formats of releases oRedesign press releases, websites and datawarehouses oEstablish links to other content (tagging, wordclouds, etc.) o...  Engage users in designing products oStatistical tables and charts oWikis and blogs o...  Change the language oUse layman’s language oEngage young generations and “prosumers” o... MAIN MESSAGE: harness the power of new technologies and of “collective intelligence”

13. Roma, 17 novembre 2009 13 Role of Trust (TSi)  Measure trust and evaluate the “corporate image” oOpinion surveys oFocus groups o...  Be transparent oAdmit mistakes and manage revisions oEngage users in regular quality evaluations o...  Be authoritative oImplement the IV fundamental principle in a balanced way oEstablish a continuous dialogue with media o... MAIN MESSAGE: do not take trust for granted

14. Roma, 17 novembre 2009 14 Role of numeracy (NLi)  Invest in statistical literacy oStatistics at school oTraining courses for journalists and policy makers o...  Establish partnerships oGovernmental and non-governamental organisations oScientific associations o...  Engage parliaments at national and local levels oProvide dedicated services oEstablish a continuous dialogue with parlamentarians o... MAIN MESSAGE: enhancing numeracy is part of statistical offices’ mandate

15. Roma, 17 novembre 2009 15 Cost of producing statistics (CS)  Develop an effective system for planning oContinuous evaluation of positive and negative priorities oBuild medium term scenarios o...  Establish a quality framework oRolling reviews to identify and share best practices oCreate a conducive environment for innovation o...  Engage external experts and reviewers oExploit new developments in ICT oEngage academics and research institutes to test new ideas o... MAIN MESSAGE: exploit all opportunities and be ready to implement both minor and radical changes