5.5 What do these strategies involve in practice?#
Active or pro-active engagement with the national data ecosystem implies the NSO taking on new roles and responsibilities in addition to the core function of producing official statistics. These roles are many and varied, but some of the more common examples are:
Legal and regulatory frameworks
The NSO takes an active role in modernizing the existing frameworks (see Chapter 4.2.2 – Legal frameworks, obligations, and restrictions) to adapt to the needs of the evolving data ecosystem.
Quality assurance
The NSO leverages its knowledge and experience on data quality to support other players in the ecosystem. This can include setting quality standards, developing quality assurance frameworks for different types of non-statistical data, or even taking on some sort of quality audit function (see Reister (🔗))
Standards and guidelines
The NSO seeks wider adoption of international or national statistical standards (particularly classifications (see Chapter 12.9.2 – Standard concepts, variables and classifications)) within the national data ecosystem. Where this is not possible, the NSO seeks to influence evolving standards to minimise the work that would be needed to use data that complies with these standards for statistical purposes. Establishing strategic partnerships with national standards-setting bodies can often be helpful in this respect.
Collaboration/partnerships
Building and managing strategic partnerships requires resources and specific skills, for example in communication and negotiation, which might not be sufficiently present or developed in some NSOs. A dedicated team may be needed to manage stakeholder relations and agreements.
Practical use of new data sources, methods, and tools
By exploring new data sources, methods, and tools for specific use cases (see Chapter 9.3 – Administrative sources, Chapter 9.4 – Geospatial data, Chapter 9.5 – Big Data), NSOs can gain practical insights into potential hurdles and identify innovative approaches to meet the increasing demand for data.
Capacity development
Encouraging other actors in the national data ecosystem to use statistical standards and classifications may require investment in training and tools. For example, a standard coding tool for classifications such as occupation or economic activity, will help to improve data coherence, but such tools need to be maintained and updated periodically, and new users need to be trained.
Sometimes, other players in the national data ecosystem may need incentives to engage with the NSO. These incentives can range from the abstract notion of benefiting society by contributing data for the collective good, to more tangible incentives such as training on statistical methods, or services like the classification of textual variables such as descriptions of occupation, industry, or education.