United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Statistical Division

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Statistical Division Developing our Service Abilities Strategic Challenges for Statistical Agencies Presentation prepared for the IAOS Conference, Session 3, “User demands for official statistics” Shanghai, China, 14 October 2008 Petteri Baer, Regional Adviser, UNECE

User demands – how can they be found out? v v 14. 10. 2008 Is knowing user demands important – or not? Not a simple task Which users’ voices are heard? How good is the coverage of our information sources? - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 2

More and more statistical publication takes place on the internet… v v v This is a very positive development Availability and accessibility of official statistics has grown substantially In the beginning of the year 2008 • 14. 10. 2008 > 500 Million internet hosts in the world! - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 3

How do we perceive ourselves? How do decision makers perceive our services? v v 14. 10. 2008 How important is our role in real decision making? In practical terms? How covering is our information on users? Do we know enough about our potential users, our potential customers? - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 4

User demands – the basic ones v v v v User friendly Easily accessible Understandable and clear Focused on the essentials With visual presentations Impressive Balanced 14. 10. 2008 - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 5

Basic quality demands for statistical services Q= v v v v 14. 10. 2008 Relevance Accuracy Timeliness Punctuality Accessibility Clarity and Comparability - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 6

Trade-offs almost every day v v v 14. 10. 2008 Timeliness is a must – but what about accuracy? Relevance is a must – but what about needs specific only to one or a few users? Remember: Only used statistics is useful statistics - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 7

User friendly statistical services v 14. 10. 2008 …can be established only through interaction with users • Interaction with real users • Not with solely our imagination on them • Not only governmental users • Not only the ones we by tradition are mainly used to - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 8

If we do not know our users v v v We will not know how satisfied or dissatisfied they are with the present services we provide We will not know about any unmet needs in the field of statistics It will be difficult to develop services that better fit their information needs. 14. 10. 2008 - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 9

Who bears the responsibility that communication with users works well? v v 14. 10. 2008 The future… The importance… Our place in society is at stake… Users’ judgement may well define, how of our statistical services are perceived and used - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 10

Who bears the responsibility that communication with users works well? (2) v v Is it the individual statistician, the subjectmatter expert? Program managers? Information & PR Unit? Or – Is it a challenge for the top management? • Who should bring in a systematic approach on building user relations, if it is missing? 14. 10. 2008 - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 11

Back to the basics: Who are our stakeholders? v v v Government & Ministries Parliament President The National Bank & other central gvt Regional & locaal governing bodies Is THIS the list? 14. 10. 2008 - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 12

Different user groups have different need structures v Consequently they have varying demands for statistical services Business people versus researchers • Local authorieties – comparisons with other local authorities and with the average • NGOs, lobbyists – focus on themes, relevant for their interest group • v It is not wise to serve them all with the same common approach 14. 10. 2008 - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 13

A modulated approach - basics for efficient user services v The importance of • A good information architecture • Effective databases • Metadata information available • Linking identifications exist between different data • XML helps to build electronic bridges 14. 10. 2008 - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 14

Often it is not easy, especially if different divisions work in silos and behave as that would be ideal 14. 10. 2008 - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 15

Internet has in recent years pushed for building corporate imagos v v 14. 10. 2008 It has also highlighted the often very different approaches different departments/divisions/ units may have on ways of publishing data Sometimes these differences are reflected on the web site of the NSO! - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 16

Following elements are usually found on a NSO`s web site v v v v v Statistical releases, Press releases Statistics by topics and subject matters; Key figures; Calculators Frequency of baby names service Contact us / Feedback / Privacy statement Search / Site map / Help Links to other national and international statistical agencies What’s new (on our web site)? 14. 10. 2008 - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 17

Other possibilities for service development on the web v v v v Statistics by popular themes and topics First visit service for new visitors Services made available by user group Notifying special days with statistical information materials Links to relevant Wikipedia pages Use of new web tools, Internet 2 Service pages with top actual themes: What’s hot? 14. 10. 2008 - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 18

User needs are specific – not “general” 6 7 8 9 10 No errors in basic data v Delivery on time Delays are reported v Data supplied in desired form Comparability of data Customer is taken into consideration Friendly staff Finding the right persons Accessibility of staff v Data delivered with speed Data up-to-date Information about the data/service All user needs are specific Their satisfaction should be developed in communication and cooperation with the users For this categorization and contacts are needed Data meets demand Tailored data value for money 14. 10. 2008 - UNECE Statistical Division Further processing of data sufficient 6 7 8 9 10 Slide 19

One way to categorize users v v v v Central administration Local administration Corporations and enterprises Educational institutions and public libraries Research institutions Organizations Media 14. 10. 2008 - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 20

Lithuania’s impressive Statistical literacy plan v v Promoting statistical literacy among users Targets: All main user categories When? During 2008 – 2012 Special attention to educational institutions and businesses 14. 10. 2008 - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 21

Concept of Statistical literacy in Statistics Lithuania 14. 10. 2008 - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 22

Tools assisting work for better satisfaction of user needs v Customer databases • v Information on regular and heavy users Customer Relationship Management system For good and systenmatic follow-up and planning of interaction with regular and heavy users • Example NSO: s: Canada, Finland, Estonia • v Business Intelligence systems 14. 10. 2008 - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 23

But – that’s already another story v v Thank you for your attention Remember: • A learning Customer Relationship 14. 10. 2008 v Only used statistics is useful statistics Final question – who will have the responsibility for systematic satisfaction of user needs? - UNECE Statistical Division Slide 24