Modernizing Official Statistics
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PURPOSE OF OFFICIAL STATISTICS
 The purpose of official statistics is to produce and
disseminate authoritative results
 Designed to reliably reflect economically and socially
relevant phenomena of a complex and dynamic reality in a
given country. These results have to be available to all
users, i.e. they have to be public.
 The function of these results is in a variety of uses for
monitoring developments in a country and its parts, so as to
provide basic information for decision making,
 Serving as important elements for accountability of public
bodies based on achievements.
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JUSTIFICATION OF OFFICIAL STATS
 Production of official statistics in a given area is justified by needs for:
 Accountability of governments to the public (basic information in each
 area; citizen’s right to information)
 Informed decision-making/negotiations of governments etc
 Binding international obligations/commitments (e.g. IMF SDDS or GDDS)
 Public (via media and other information tools)
 Governments/state bodies
 Economic operators (national and international)

Research community
 Educational institutions
 NGOs
 International organizations
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GUIDING 10 PRINCIPLES OF OFFICIAL STATS
 Adopted by UN statistical commission in 1994 at a global level
 Relevance , impartial and equal access to data
 Accountability and transparency
 Professional standards and ethics
 Prevention of misuse
 Sources of official statistics
 Confidentiality
 Legislation
 National coordination
 Use of international standards
 International cooperation
 These principles address good ethical and professional standard that
have to be observed by all producers of official statistics
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Modernisation of Official Statistics
Key Focus Areas
 Creation of an effective National Statistical System
 Revision of statistics act that enables StatsSA and other
producers of statistics to compile and publish official stats
 Improvement to the user and producer interface and
communication
 Improvement in the quality of data used to produce
official statistics
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Modernisation of Official Statistics
key focus areas
 Increase statistical information base by conducting
population census every five years.
 Conducting household surveys timely, effectively and
efficiently (quarterly and annually).
 Enhancement to raise the credibility of statistical products
 Improvement to the mechanism both formal and informal
by which producers of data in a country share information
and data
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Modernisation of official Statistics
 Improvement in the ICT infrastructure to support the
production and dissemination of statistics
 Improvement to the accessibility of statistical data and
publication which users use
 Reinvention of the statistical products and processes
 Adaption to an ever charging world and demands
 Smarter ways of dealing with new demands
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Modernisation of official Statistics
 Identifying new and innovative ways of communication
with statistical users
 Identifying
new and innovative ways of better
presentation of statistics to enhance interaction and
improve dialogue with the populace
 Promotion of statistical literate among the populace in the
country
 Introducing new and better ways of data collection and
processing
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Modernisation of official Statistics
 Standardization of statistical output in all areas across
the NSS
 Clear definitions and vocabulary for standardization of
concepts
 Transparency in all the methods
 Strengthening and having a sustained statistical capacity
program
 Reinforcing core competencies in support of the NSS
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Modernisation of official Statistics
Development and strengthening of :
 Intellectual capability across the NSS
 Technological capability across NSS
 Logistical and administrative capability
 Management capability
 Politically astute
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Modernisation of official Statistics
 Promotion and sharing of cost across the entire NSS
 Promotion of integrated methods of
production to
improve on the quality and cutting cost
 Life
cycle management
structures approach
`continuity
and
timeless
 Improving, promoting and harmonisation way of sharing
information across the continent and world at large
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modernization of official statistics
 On governance level, improving the effectiveness of the
organisation
 Promotion of Accountability in terms of working time and
financial management
 Producers of official statistics have to be perceived by all
users as acting impartially
 High level of Statistical confidentiality aimed at protecting
the privacy of individual units – both physical persons
and legal units
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Modernisation of official Statistics
• Standardization of data collection environment
• Standardization of processing
• Standardizing of data analysis environment
• Standardation of macro economic data analysis and
production
• Elimination of duplication across NSS
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Thank you
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