23rd Voorburg Group Meeting

1
23rd Voorburg Group Meeting Aguascalientes,
Mexico New Approaches for the Voorburg
Group New Format and Focus for the Sector Papers,
and the Introduction Of the Revised Sector Papers
presented by Mark E. Wallace Chief, Service
Sector Statistics Division U.S. Census
Bureau mark.e.wallace_at_census.gov September 22-26,
2008
2
New Approaches for VG 2006, VG 2007, and VG
2008How Well are They Working?

• Much work is now being done throughout the year,
  beginning with the task force delivering the
  Content Development Framework (CDF) in December
  2005 and then the thesaurus by March 2006, the
  revised thesaurus and the general methodology
  paper and national accounts session for 2007 and
  2008, the revisited sector papers and the
  glossary of terms for 2008 and the good work done
  on the mini-presentations and country progress
  reports (we should plan again to do a lot of work
  between VG 2008 and VG 2009)
• CDF New approaches to
• New organization and format for meetings (e.g.,
  selecting 3 countries for PPI and turnover
  presentations, discussants remarks from a
  national income accounts perspective, facilitated
  group discussions of the mini-presentations and
  the discussants remarks, development of key
  points to be included in the sector paper, etc.)
• Mini-presentations
• Sector papers (introduced in 2007, revised format
  in 2008)
• Revisited sector papers (first done for 2008)
• Presented the two special sessions national
  accountants and general methodology in 2007 (and
  finalized in 2008)

3
New Approaches for VG 2006, 2007, and 2008 How
Well are They Working? (continued)

• Use of the common terminologies for PPI
  (thesaurus)
• Adjunct to the Pricing Thesaurus (e.g., average
  charge-out rate in IT in relation to offshore
  outsourcing, charge-out rates applied to Swedish
  computer consultancy services)
• Country progress reports - scorecard approach
  useful
• Strategy for covering the highest priority
  Voorburg Groupings (2007)
• Beginning in 2008, we are targeting industries
  with highest and most universal payoff
• Focus future country progress reports on activity
  levels for PPI, turnover for industry/industry
  groups to be specifically covered at upcoming
  meeting
• Sector papers and revisited sector papers should
  focus more on recommendations, less on summaries
  of the mini-presentations

4
Proposed Schedule for Industry Specific Papers
(Mini-Presentations (MP), Sector Papers (SP), and
Revisited Sector Papers (RSP)) for 2008 through
2011 (As Decided at the 2007 VG
Meeting) Industry/Industry Group MP SP RSP 2008 2
009 2010 2011 1. Wired, Wireless, Satellite, and
Telecommunications Services X X
X X 2.
Wholesale Trade X X
X X 3. IT
Services X X 4. Accounting, Bookkeeping and
Auditing Activities Tax Consultancy X X
5. Real Estate (Excluding Imputed
Rents) X X 6. Advertising and Market
Research and Public Opinion
Polling X X 7. Architectural and
Engineering Activities and Related
Technical Consultancy X X 8. Rail
Transportation X X 9. Water
Transportation X X 10. Air
Transportation X X 11. Banking and
Credit X X
X X 12. Insurance X X
X X 13.
Rental and Leasing Services X X 14. Retail
Trade X X
X X 15. Employment
Services X X 16. Investigation and Security
Services X X 17. Cleaning and Facilities
Support X X
X X
5
New Approaches for VG 2006, 2007, and 2008 Were
Really Moving Now!

• Will we be successful in accomplishing the 2008
  VG agenda?
• Consider as we go should we make any
  adjustments to improve our approach?

6
New Approaches for VG 2006, 2007, and 2008
Other Things to Think About During the Course of
This Weeks Meeting

• Assessing the cost/benefit of conceptual choices
  related to pricing and turnover/output (in
  anticipation of Friday morning session on
  methodology for determining costs associated with
  different choices of pricing methods and turnover
  detail)
• What should be the ultimate body of work produced
  by the Voorburg Group?
• Sausage Salsa (meeting the variety of needs
  with respect to the national accounts,
  regulations, business, policy, international
  comparability, etc.)

7
New Approaches for VG 2006, 2007, and 2008
Other Things to Think About During the Course of
This Weeks Meeting (continued)

• Sausage Salsa (meeting the variety of needs
  with respect to the national accounts,
  regulations, business, policy, international
  comparability, etc.)