A Global Project on Measuring
the Progress of Societies
OECD World Forum on
Statistics, Knowledge and Policy
Jon Hall - jon.hall@oecd.org
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Overview
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Community indicators - why do we need
them?
A Statistics, Knowledge and Policy World
Forum
Measure and fostering
Measuring ^ the Progress of Societies
What’s next? – Towards a 2007 World
Conference
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Goals
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To ensure decisions are taken on the basis of
evidence, not anecdote or prejudice
To improve the way our democracies function –
so that decision-makers focus their efforts on
the things that are seen as most important
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Statistics  Knowledge  Policy
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From the Comptroller General of the USA
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"Key national indicators can help us to better
understand which programs, policies, functions, and
activities are working and which are not. When seen
in the aggregate and as part of a broader portfolio,
key national indicators can provide a fuller and fairer
view of how well a nation is doing as well as whether
and, if so, how its political leaders are planning for
the future. Such information can educate
policymakers and the public about the
appropriateness, affordability, and sustainability of a
nation’s current path.
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From the Comptroller General of the USA
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Key national indicators can help elected officials
make tough but necessary policy choices including
facilitating better targeting of government actions
while ensuring long-term fiscal, social and
environmental sustainability as well as the
intergenerational equity of existing and proposed
government policies and programs.
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From the Comptroller General of the USA
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There’s simply no substitute for understanding the big
picture — that is, the position and progress of a
nation as a whole. The challenge and the opportunity
before us is to build sophisticated information
resources and key indicator systems that yield vital
insights that transcend specific economic sectors,
public and private institutions, and national borders.
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From the Comptroller General of the USA
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There are many areas in which the stakes are high
and better knowledge is needed. In the case of the
United States, these areas include ensuring fiscal
sustainability, enhancing homeland security,
stimulating economic growth, creating productive and
fulfilling jobs, improving education and innovation,
delivering quality and affordable health care,
strengthening competitiveness, protecting the
environment, and promoting quality of life.“
David M. Walker, 2005
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What problems need to be fixed?
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Problems to be fixed
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Citizens: “people often use ideology as a
short-cut heuristic for deciding what position to
take, when properly informing oneself is
difficult“ (Blinder and Krueger, 2004)
Businesses: New economy “bubble” started
with public statements based on wrong
information about the importance of Internet
and e-commerce: “Internet traffic is doubling
every 100 days (2000); “E-commerce: a digital
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tsunami (1997)
So ….
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No longer enough to produce statistics and throw them
over the fence into the “real” world
We need to turn them into knowledge (hence policy)
And so increase the quantity and quality of evidencebased decision making
Directly – by giving policy makers the knowledge they
need
Indirectly – by giving the public the facts about how their
society is doing so holding the policy makers accountable
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Indicator Systems Can Help …
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“By adopting key indicator systems, we will be
able to generate quality information that can
help individuals, institutions and nations
accelerate progress and make better choices”
(David M. Walker)
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Indicator Systems Can Help…
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Tremendous interest around the world at all
levels of government …
… and all sectors of society
In measuring progress (or sustainability, quality
If
the
GDP
is
up,
of life, wellbeing)
why is America
To enhance democracy …
down?
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… enhance decision making …
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… and so generate progress
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… And So Can The OECD
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“International organisations, like the OECD,
have to create global networks to allow
communities to discuss, share knowledge and
identify best practices” (Donald J. Johnston)
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So…..
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We think indicator systems are worthwhile for
many reasons. But what do we want to do
about it?
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Why a World Forum?
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Much work underway, but no coordination
And new challenges confront government
Globalisation means progress requires international
co-operation if it is to be measured and fostered
Civil Society is putting pressure on governments to
change the way they work with them
No forum (as yet) to discuss all this
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Our Aims
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Use the statistics  knowledge  policy value
chain to increase the quality and quantity of
evidence based-decisions and strengthen the
nexus between statistics and policy-making
Our initial focus is around measuring the
progress of societies using key indicators
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Mission Statement
The Statistics, Knowledge, Policy World Forum exists to
foster the development of sets of key economic, social and
environmental indicators and their use to inform and
promote evidence-based decision-making within and
across the public, private and citizen sectors, at subnational, national and international levels. The Forum will
be open to all sectors of society, building both on good
practice and innovative research work, organised by the
OECD in co-operation with national and international
organisations.
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The First World Forum: Palermo 2004
Keynote speeches by
 David M. Walker, Comptroller General of
the US
 Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the
European Central Bank
 Donald J. Johnston, Secretary-General of
the OECD
 Heads of the US, Irish, Italian and
Australian Statistical Offices
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The First World Forum: Palermo 2004
540 people in attendance representing 43
countries
 Media, academia, civil society,
government, the private sector
 Followed by 5,000 people via ‘Web cast’
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The Forum addressed key issues for the
development of modern democracies:
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The transparency and accountability of public
policies;
Our capacity for understanding the characteristics
and the evolution of our economies and societies;
The role of statisticians, media, civil society, etc. in
contributing to the development of a common
facts-based knowledge among citizens;
The measurement of overall progress of a
country/region /community.
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Outcomes of the First World Forum
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Decisions are increasingly based on statistical
information
The demand for measuring progress comes
from society
There is no unique way to develop “key
indicators”, nor a unique set of indicators
The success of an initiative requires involving
various sectors of society in a co-operative effort
International comparisons are important - they
put the results in the right context and can push
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poor performers to improve
Outcomes of the first World Forum
The Forum asked the OECD to:
 launch a medium-term process on key indicators,
through electronic discussion groups, specialised
workshops, etc.;
 organise a second World Forum
To respond to this request, the OECD has:
 Developed the OECD Factbook;
 Designed an horizontal project on “Indicators for
measuring progress and indicators for policy
making”;
 Begun preparing a second World Forum.
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Want to know more?
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The Proceedings are available for free
online.
The highlights are on the Forum website at
www.oecd.org/oecdworldforum
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Bellagio:
Measuring the Progress of Societies
•March 2006 in Bellagio, Italy at the Rockefeller
Foundation Study and Conference Centre
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Who was there?
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Donald J. Johnston, Secretary-General of the OECD
Harvey Fineberg, President, Institute of Medicine, National Academies of the
US
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David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the USA
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Ken Prewitt, Professor of Public Affairs, Columbia University
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Chris Hoenig, Director of Strategy, IBM
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Simon Briscoe, Statistics Editor, Financial Times
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Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, Executive Board Member, ECB
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François Bourguigon, Chief Economist, World Bank
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Bruno Rebelle, Director, Greenpeace International
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Paul Cheung, Chief Statistician, UN
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Judith Randel, Founder, Development Initiatives
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Ignazio Visco, Central Manager for International Affairs, Bank of Italy
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Key OECD people – Jean-Philippe Cotis, John Martin, Richard Manning,
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Outcomes of the Meeting
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Able to bring various groups to a consensus –
and develop a mission statement.
Consensus to use the Forum as a place to
debate the meaning of progress.
Desire to use the Forum to replace the MDGs
which will expire in 2015.
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Towards the second World Forum
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The event is intended for people interested in:
– Making better use of the latest techniques for
measuring societal status and progress;
– Identify best practices on how to address key
national policy issues;
– Discuss global policy issues based on solid
statistical evidence.
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Towards the second World Forum
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We expect that the Forum will draw a very
diverse audience (800 participants):
– From multiple sectors and professions
– From multiple countries at various levels of
development
– With different levels of experience related to
the topic
The Forum will offer:
– Plenary sessions
– Parallel specialised sessions
– Opportunity for information sharing and
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training on development of indicators
2nd OECD World Forum in Istanbul
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27-30 June 2007
Lutfi Kirdar Convention and Exhibition Centre
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Towards the second World Forum
Goals of the Forum
 Create an “experience” that can stimulate further
interactions between participants
 Provide suggestions for future OECD work
 Promote the role of OECD as key “pathfinder”
and knowledge builder in the international arena
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Towards the second World Forum
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Speakers should include The Turkish PM, the
World Bank’s Chief Economist, European
Commissioners, the Deputy SG of the UN, the
Climate
Change,
Health,
OECD’s Secretary
General
…
Aging, the
The agenda will consider
… Brain Drain,
Biodiversity Loss,
The meaning of progress
Financial Security and
The importance of statistics, knowledge and
Stability, Globalisation,
policy
The role of international organisations in
measuring and fostering progress
And key policy issues
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Partners and sponsors
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Building a strong support base
The project is now being run officially in cooperation with the
UN, the World Bank and the European Commission
and in association with PARIS 21
Support for the project from the ABS and IBM
Support for events from the Korean National Statistics Office,
TURKSTAT and the Turkish State Planning Organisation
Seeking to expand the support base
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On the Road to Istanbul
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Via Milan
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Regional “pre-conferences”
Milan
Qatar
Istanbul
Korea
Rwanda
Colombia
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OECD horizontal project on indicators
Aims: The 3Ds
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Development: Foster the improvement of
existing sets of OECD indicators and
develop new ones;
Dissemination: Improve the dissemination
of OECD indicators and make them more
accessible;
Decision-making: make indicators more
useful for governments, businesses,
individuals;
And improve the coherence of OECD
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statistics and indicators
The horizontal project on indicators
1. Development of indicators:
 How are indicator sets developed both within the
OECD and the Member Countries? What
technical and political challenges were faced and
how were they overcome?
 How to measure overall progress/ wellbeing, or
new cross-cutting aspects thereof?
 Are there key measurement issues common to
various emerging domains (assets, etc.)?
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The horizontal project on indicators
2. Dissemination of indicators to policy makers
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and to the public:
How can new ICT tools be used to help ensure
that indicator sets reach - and have an impact on
- the chosen audience?
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The horizontal project on indicators
3. Decision making:
 Does the availability of indicators make a
difference in decision-making?
 How are indicators used by policy-makers, civil
society, or the general public for their decisionmaking?
 How can international indicators influence
national decision-making processes? e.g., can
we draw lessons about why indicators such as
PISA have had such an impact?
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For more information
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Jon Hall
jon.hall@oecd.org
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www.oecd.org/oecdworldforum
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Questions
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