WHAT MAKES AN EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT STATISTICAL SYSTEM

1
WHAT MAKES AN EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT STATISTICAL
SYSTEM

• Lidia Bratanova,
• Statistical Division, UNECE, Geneva

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Effectiveness and efficiency

• From Oxford dictionary
• Effective having an intended or expected effect
  able to accomplish a purpose actual usable
• Efficient being effective without wasting time
  or effort or expense productive with minimum
  waste of effort

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Characteristics of an effective statistical system

• From Fellegi, 1995
• such an information system is characterized
• by its ability to illuminate issues, not just to
  monitor them,
• by its ability to evolve in response to needs
  indeed by its great ability to be aware of
  priority information needs and by its capability
  to set priorities.
• Such a system must have a high level of public
  credibility, since few in society can verify
  national statistics and therefore most have to
  rely on the public reputation of the agency
  providing the statistics. As part of this
  credibility, the system must be free from undue
  political interference.

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Conference of European Statisticians (CES)

• 1999
• 2004 seminar on National statistical systems
• 2007 seminar on Increasing the efficiency and
  productivity of statistical offices
• 2009 seminar on Balancing principles of
  professional autonomy and accountability with the
  mandate to produce policy relevant data.
• http//www.unece.org/stats/archive/00.02.e.htm

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Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics

• Adopted
• by UNECE in 1992,
• at global level by UNSC in 1994
• UNECE involved in conducting global assessments
  in countries of UNECE region

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Characteristics of an efficient statistical
system

• 3 main questions
• How effectively does the system meet the priority
  information needs of its users? How adaptable is
  the system in adjusting its products to evolving
  needs?
• How effective is the system in exploiting
  existing resources and data to meet client needs?
  
• How credible is the system in terms of the
  statistical quality of its outputs and its
  nonpolitical objectivity?

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Elements of efficient statistical system

• Role of NSO in coordination of the statistical
  system
• Assess and balance priorities
• Client orientation and relations with statistical
  offices
• Measuring the performance of the statistical
  systems

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Importance of strategic planning

• Statistical programmes as a tool for planning
• Take into account long-term perspective
• Consider role of respondents
• Interact with different user communities to
  identify user needs
• Prioritize to match increasing needs with limited
  resources
• Build in flexibility to be able to address new
  needs
• Use measurement tools to assess the outcomes and
  effectiveness (user surveys, coverage by media,
  direct feedback and interaction with users, etc.)

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Efficiency of statistical offices

• Optimise data collection
• Use of administrative data
• But consider the related problems and costs
• Standardise business processes
• Right skills and competencies of staff
• Organizational and methodological approaches
• Decisions at each stage of statistical processing
  cycle

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Aim of global assessments

• Provide a picture of the state of development of
  official statistics in a country
• Enable NSO to better plan the long-term
  development of statistics
• Enable international donors to better plan the
  technical assistance
• Focus on 3 levels
• Legal and institutional aspects of the system
• Technical and organisational capacity to produce
  official statistics in all relevant areas
• Compliance with international standards, norms
  and recommendations

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Role of global assessments

• Address all elements of efficient statistical
  systems
• Use international expertise and best practice
• Evaluate the level of conformity vis-à-vis the
  accepted international and European standards
• Translate the Fundamental Principles and EU Code
  of Practice into operational terms in a national
  context

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Other benefits

• Advice from international experts on strategic
  and managerial issues
• Analyse in practical country situation how to
  implement the FP and EU Code of Practice
• Support the NSO when implementing the FP (e.g.
  concerning confidentiality, simultaneous access
  to all users, professional autonomy, coordinating
  the statistical system)
• Provide an innocent outsider viewpoint