FAO/PARIS21 REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON THE INTEGRATION OF
AND ACCESS
TO AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS FOR
BETTER FORMULATION AND MONITORING OF RURAL
DEVELOPMENT POLICIES
Algers, Algeria 8-9 December 2007
Back-to-back with the 20th AFCAS
AW-07-02-1-A
By
Kizito Kasozi
Director Information Technology
Uganda Bureau of Statistics
BUILDING A NATIONAL DATA ARCHIVE
UGANDA’S EXPERIENCE
FAO/PARIS21
Algiers, December 2007
Presented by
Kizito Kasozi
Director Information Technology
Uganda Bureau of Statistics
Outline
Status of the NSS
General State of Datasets
Plan for National Statistical Development (PNSD)
Data Archiving
Challenges
UGANDA NATIONAL STATISTICAL SYSTEM
• Limited coordination
- within
- across
• No statistical units
- existing ones (very) weak
• Professional staff (esp. in Ministries)
- lack skills
- not motivated
State of Existing Datasets
As a Result of a Weak and Underdeveloped NSS…..
• Fragmented statistical production
• Most datasets of very poor quality
• Inconsistent or conflicting results or reports
• Datasets with minimal or no documentation
• No standards (definitions, formats, etc.)
• Badly structured or unstructured datasets
• Datasets not properly archived/backed-up
…a lot of resources wasted in duplicated efforts
Plan for National Statistical
Development (PNSD)
• Comprehensive 5-Year Plan for National
Statistical Development (PNSD) adopted in
October 2006
- Phased development of the NSS
- critical in affirming UBOS as the driving force
- collaborative effort with priority specific sectors
(9 within government for a start)
- one of the strategic goals is to improve data
management and dissemination
- develop a National Statistical Databank (NSD)
Data Archiving
•
PNSD objective 6
•
Documentation, dissemination and
preservation of microdata
– ADP Support Framework





build capacity at UBOS and sectors
provide guidance in best practices
Promote data sharing and dissemination
help put in place proper policies
provide required technical assistance
Data Archiving
Benefits
– Increased support to evidence based
planning
•
•
•
•
Documentation and preservation of valuable data
Easier access to microdata (Sharing)
Exhaustive utility of data (broader analysis &
mining) – Value for money
Minimized duplication of effort (reduced wastage)
National Data Archive
Progress so far….
•
Conducted a national training workshop
•
9 sectors participated
•
Data Documentation Initiative (DDI) adopted
•
Documenting of Survey & Census datasets
within the UBOS
•
•
Metadata uploaded to website ()
Inventory of Datasets in partner institutions
–
•
•
IHSN standard form used
Developing a microdata access policy
Developing a National Data Archive (NADA)
National Data Archive
Challenges
• Missing or inadequate documentation
• Difficulty in getting information
– key individuals busy or absent
– delays in preparation
– not a top priority
– consultants that prepared data left
• Documentation only as hard copies
• No appreciation of importance
National Data Archive
Challenges…
• Issues regarding anonymisation
• Fear of criticism
– not very confident with the reliability of data
– exposure of poor methods
– contradictory results
• Exclusive ownership
– personalized datasets
– some data may be ‘sensitive’
National Data Archive
Challenges…
• Different data formats
– SAS, STATA, SPSS, dBase, ASCII, Excel, etc.
• Poor quality of data
– not well cleaned
– to archive or not to archive?
• Unavailable datasets
• Lack of centralized storage
– datasets in different places
• It takes time to understand datasets
National Data Archive
Challenges…
• Need for collaboration
– Statisticians perceive it as an IT issue
– seen as dull and time consuming
– ‘owner’ may not understand the data
• No guidelines, standards and policies
• No extra resources for data archiving
• Lack of skills in data management
• IT staff few and busy on many things
National Data Archive
Related Activities….
• Professionalism & Networking (AASDA)
• Building a community of practice in Africa
• Inter-country support, Rwanda, Kenya, Nigeria
Benefits


To foster and promote a network of excellence in data
service delivery
To provide opportunities for collegial exchange of
sound professional practices
Networking…
African Association of Statistical Data Archivists
Benefits
•
More applicable experiences shared
– Similarity in levels of development
»
»
Feasible and applicable solutions
More relevant experiences
• Cheaper Technical Support
– Reduced required facilitation
Networking…
African Association of Statistical Data Archivists
Benefits
•
Link to other global or regional associations
– International Association for Social Science
Information Service and Technology (IASSIST)
– East European Data Archive Network (EDAN)
Networking…
Planned Activities
•
Building the Regional community of practice
I. 1st Africa meeting of ADP supported countries
(March)
II.
Africa Representation to the IASSIST Meeting –
USA (May)
III. International Scientific Conference – June 2008
I. Theme will relate to micro data management
II. Include meeting of Heads of CSO’s within ADP
supported countries to endorse the community
of practice
Thank You
www.ubos.org