Legal Entity Identifier
or the
utility approach
to
shared, high-quality basic micro-data
Gross, Francis
Directorate General Statistics, External Statistics Division, European Central Bank
E-mail: francis.gross@ecb.europa.eu
Francis Gross, 20 June 2013, Porto, Workshop on Integrated Management of Micro-Databases
Fit to measure a global, digital world?
•
Technology has been a dominant driver of change in the world
• The container has done more for global trade than trade agreements
• Container, bar code, IT and internet have changed whole industries
•
The world has changed structure, :
• Integration into one large global system
• Long-range, real-time economic interactions are now normal
• “Granularisation”: large structures de-integrated into networks,
swarms
•
The world’s dynamics have changed, too:
• Technology has given us speed
• Complexity has given us turbulence
•
Staying in control has become a very different game.
Has our measurement tool evolved fast enough to suit a new world?
Weaknesses apparent during the crisis show that it has fallen behind.
Francis Gross, 20 June 2013, Porto, Workshop on Integrated Management of Micro-Databases
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How far can a proven method stretch?
Case: where will an object hit the ground?
1. Rock: precise prediction through simple physics and
measurement
2. Gravel: assume gravel is a rock; apply (1)
Roughly right – some spread in space
3. Sand: assume sand is gravel, just a little finer; apply (2)
Still roughly right – more spread in space and now also in time
4. Powder: assume powder is sand, just a little finer; apply (3)
It becomes messy
5. Nanopowder: assume it is powder, just a little finer; apply (4)…
…and find out that nanopowder floats away in the air, poisons your
water, short-circuits your PC and penetrates your lungs where it causes
cancer. The system has crossed a threshold, the old assumptions can
no longer be applied, even as approximations:
We need new thinking.
Francis Gross, 20 June 2013, Porto, Workshop on Integrated Management of Micro-Databases
What has gone wrong with our data?
•
Our data is probably much better than twenty years ago, but
•
Change in the world pushed the definition of good even further
out:
•
Data that was good 15 years ago can be bad now.
•
To be good
• For use in large scale IT,
data must be standardised
• In a global system,
data must be globally standardised
• In a fast system,
data must be real time
• In a complex system,
data must be granular
Basic financial data must now be all of this at the same time
Francis Gross, 20 June 2013, Porto, Workshop on Integrated Management of Micro-Databases
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Weather: measuring a turbulent system
Weather forecasting has become much better over time. How?
•
Data is collected in very large amounts, permanently.
•
Data covers the whole relevant system, for weather the Earth.
•
Data is highly standardised.
•
Data granularity increases with each new technology generation.
•
Data collection is very cheap, through technology and scale.
•
Data sources (weather, geology, etc.) using the same geographical
coordinates combine efficiently to produce new services.
•
Data gives useful, near-time information through very large scale
IT.
•
These processes are facilitated by technically- and scientificallyminded communities that cooperate globally.
We can learn from the successes of other communities
Francis Gross, 20 June 2013, Porto, Workshop on Integrated Management of Micro-Databases
A long way begins with the first step
We must find our own way; it will be long, bring deep change for us:
•
Solutions will emerge and evolve gradually, probably over decades.
•
Solutions (or some components) must be at system scale, i.e. global.
•
Many communities must cooperate; that demands learning from all.
•
A common vision can unite all on a shared goal and guide our work.
•
First step: a bold, concrete project that benefits all in a finite time.
•
A project with transformational power to ease further progress.
PROJECT: good basic micro-data for the economy and finance in a
public-good Utility serving all sectors, public and private, worldwide.
Utopian?
No!
The Global Legal Entity Identifier System (GLEIS) is now being built!
Francis Gross, 20 June 2013, Porto, Workshop on Integrated Management of Micro-Databases
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The Legal Entity Identifier (LEI)
•
A global community united on one goal and determined to succeed
• Interdisciplinary, inter-sectoral, worldwide cooperation
•
Implementation of the LEI is well on its way
• Globally agreed G20 Charter developed within one year to 4 Nov 2012
• Basic organisational structures are in place and working:
• Regulatory Oversight Committee (ROC), now 53 members
• Committee on Evaluation and Standards (CES)
• Private Sector Preparatory Group (PSPG), around 400 volunteers
• First “Pre-Local Operating Units” launched in the USA and EU
•
Next steps towards the LEI
• Creation of the Global LEI Foundation (GLEIF), based in Switzerland
• Appointment of private-sector Board of Directors for the GLEIF
• Creation of the Central Operating Unit (COU), a GLEIF “daughter”
Francis Gross, 20 June 2013, Porto, Workshop on Integrated Management of Micro-Databases
LEI: what strategy for statisticians?
•
Statisticians have an interest in reporting becoming:
cheap, large scale, high quality, high frequency, high timeliness, highly
flexible and easily extensible
•
•
Statistics will need the LEI to deliver on the new demands
Statisticians also have useful skills to help develop the GLEIS
• Used to international cooperation
• Apt at influencing and designing legislation
•
However, Statisticians need to drive change beyond comfort zone:
• Extend their remit upstream to help industry generate better data; i.e.
• Improve measurement by helping make the world more measurable
•
Actively engage into building the LEI, don’t wait for it to come!
Is it legitimate for statisticians to influence the world we measure?
YES! Bad decisions based on bad statistics have a much worse
influence!
Francis Gross, 20 June 2013, Porto, Workshop on Integrated Management of Micro-Databases
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