Coordination with other Partners in the National Statistical System

1
Coordination with other Partners in the National
Statistical System

• Olav Ljones
• SADC Work Shop, Luanda 2-6 December 2006

2
Why and with whom to coordinate?

• Several government institutions will be relevant
  as partners both as data providers, producers of
  statistics and users of official statistics
• Data capture, Other government bodies that
  create, collect and store data. Example, Vital
  registration, Customs, Tax
• Production and dissemination of statistics. Other
  institutions. (Even private firms may produce
  statistics on contract with the government)
• Need formalized contact with User Groups.
• What to aim at Consistence, coherence,
  international comparability, and not to forget
  reduced response burden and a cost efficient
  statistical system.

3
Statistical tools for better coordination

• Concepts
• Units and population
• Standards and classifications
• Dissemination, Internet portals
• International coordination,

4
Cooperation with other public institutions

• .is a must for NSOs
• Is it sufficient with good intentions, good will
  and nice behavior?
• Strategic theory, thinking and practice, will
  help. Strategy, tactics, actions, counteractions,
  results,
• Our public image very important also for our
  ability to build bridges and cooperate.
• We - the NSO management - believe that NSOs are
  special (producers of a public good and
  professional independence).
• Will we meet other institutions that respect our
  integrity and behave altruistic
• Trends New Public Management (focus on core
  activities, pricing policy and incentives)

5
Some examples from cooperation

• Concepts
• Definitions and traditions for concepts and
  measurement of manpower (incl working hours) is
  not equal between, Labor Force Surveys, School
  administration, Hospitals, etc. A common set of
  definitions will not be the best solution for a
  precise measurement of labor in all sectors
• Accounts, variations in basic principles cash
  accrued, gross/net, revenues from fees paid by
  users etc

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More examples

• Dissemination. Some Directorates/Ministries will
  have as an obligation to pre inform their
  minister of major events. Example New estimates
  on emission to air, based on a tight cooperation
  with the Directorate of Environment Protection.
• Some Public Bodies will have a new regime for
  budgets and revenues and are obliged to go market
  and maximize revenues. Norway geographic
  information and maps. The Directorate want to
  sell and Stat Norway ask for information free of
  charge. Second conflict we put the same
  information as a public good on our web site

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More examples

• The understanding of differences in roles between
  NSOs and other agencies. The very important
  distinction between data collected for
  statistical purposes and data collected for
  administrative purpose. Example Income data
  collected for income statistics (For example.
  Gini coefficient) and income data collected for
  calculation of taxes to pay)
• In cooperation NSO a single purpose body while
  others will often be a multipurpose body
  (administration and statistics)

8
More examples

• Some regulations on privacy and confidentiality
  are strong and protects data even from use in
  official statistics. Example Health data
  collected by health staff and regulated by health
  staff privacy regulations
• All government bodies want to have the best web
  pages

9
The Model for Cooperation

• How to build relations?
• Advisory boards for users.
• Bilateral agreements
• Overall Advisory Council for Official Statistics
• Council for government data registers

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The Norwegian Council for Official Statistics

• Who are invited?
• The ToR/Mandate
• The experience
• Common training program
• A special Register forum for data owners

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The Council for Coordination of Official
Statistics (CCO), Mandate

• It is established by a decision of the DG
  Statistics Norway
• CCO is an advisory body to give advice to
  Statistics Norway and other producers of official
  statistics in Norway.
• The CCO shall
• contribute by coordination of production and
  dissemination of official statistics
• Contribute by establishing quality requirements,
  as regards independency, quality (relevance,
  coverage, accuracy and punctuality, coherence and
  consistence, accessibility and documentation)
  confidentiality and lowest possible response
  burden

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Mandate cont.

• Contribute to cooperation that fulfills these
  quality standards and to an (resource) efficient
  production of official statistics
• Be a Forum for exchange of best practice and
  building of competence. Spread good methods for
  data capture, production and dissemination of
  official statistics and for deliverance of data
  to the research community. This may be done by
  arranging seminars and training courses.

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Mandate cont.

• When appropriated contribute to coordination of
  international statistical cooperation.
• A yearly report
• The Council is chaired by the DG of Statistics
  Norway

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Members list

• Employment Directorate
• General Business Register Office
• Fishery Directorate
• Housing Bank,Govnm.
• Institute for Public Health
• Institute for Research on Education and Research
• Central Bank
• Data Archive for Social Sciences
• Police Directorate
• Post and Telecommunication Directorate

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Members list 2

• Social Insurance Directorate
• Central Tax Office
• Directorate for Health and social affairs
• Government Environment Inspectorate
• Geography and Map Directorate
• Agricultural Directorate
• Central Directorate for Roads
• Education Directorate
• Immigrant Directorate
• (very informal translation of names)