Modernising public statistics to better inform tomorrow's challenges

At a time of major technological and societal change, STATEC is undergoing a profound transformation: overhauling data management and governance to build a true economic intelligence ecosystem. This public statistics production chain converts the mass of available data into reliable statistics and rigorous analyses to shed light on economic, social and environmental issues.

The statistical system – both national and international – must produce high-quality, objective and relevant statistics. The growing demand for ever faster and more detailed statistics reflects the central role of public statistics in democracy, whether to ensure transparency or to inform decision-making. Challenges, such as low response rates at the international level, are accompanied by numerous opportunities, including technological progress and the increased availability of administrative and private data.

In response to these developments, STATEC's new work programme sets out a clear path: to take advantage of new data sources, develop our tools and strengthen our impact in the service of the country. These technological and organisational changes are based on three major priorities, which will increase efficiency and maintain confidence in public statistics.

1. Overhaul data management by centralising and interconnecting data to ensure the quality, value, security and accessibility of statistical information.

2. Modernising processes and governance to increase efficiency and resilience, and to strengthen collaboration and agility within our organisation.

3. Amplifying our capacity for analysis and decision support by capitalising on multi-source statistics and analyses and the continuous development of methods and models to assess the impact of measures taken or to be taken.

To achieve these priorities, we are investing in our infrastructure and our ability to transform data into strategic information. This integrated ecosystem of platforms dedicated to data processing, exchange, interconnection, versioning and modelling enhances the consistency and reliability of statistical production. It forms the basis for secure, modern and collaborative management of statistical data.

STATEC Director Tom Haas adds to this ambition: ‘These innovations are not only technological or organisational: they are also human. Everyone can grow, evolve and seize new opportunities for development while contributing to a new collective momentum. More than ever, our mission is to transform data into knowledge that is accessible to all. It is a true economic intelligence system to which everyone contributes, in the general interest.’

An ambitious vision for modern public statistics

The way in which STATEC produces, analyses and disseminates statistical information will undergo a profound transformation. At the same time, collaboration with national and international partners will be intensified in order to stimulate innovation, create synergies and promote the reuse of administrative data for statistical purposes.

The reuse of data will help to reduce the burden on households and businesses, while requiring methodological upgrades to ensure the quality of administrative data. Investment in the development of multi-source statistics – combining administrative data and surveys – will enable the production of more granular, faster and better quality information.

STATEC will coordinate this collective effort within the Public Statistics Committee, drawing on the best practices of its international network – global and European bodies, as well as member countries – which work to improve standards, methodological innovation and the comparability of statistics.

Innovation at the heart of the organisation and our teams

Within STATEC, the ‘Analysis Committee’ and the ‘Data Committee’ now complement the Management Committee. These bodies distribute responsibilities, monitor technology and current events, and ensure maximum responsiveness: they enable STATEC to be more agile, innovative and proactive.

This strengthened governance is accompanied by the creation of the ‘Data Laboratory’, which currently comprises three new departments: administrative data, methodology and quality, and centralised statistics management. This laboratory is the practical application of the strategic vision: it innovates in data and metadata management, standardises and automates processes, and provides support to producers and users of data and statistics. Each project aims to make the best use of data, modernise production chains and develop information relevant to public debate.