United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Statistical Division

WHAT MAKES AN EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT STATISTICAL SYSTEM

Lidia Bratanova, Statistical Division, UNECE, Geneva

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

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