Opening speech by Mr. Herwig Schlögl, Vice Secretary General of the OECD
Mayor, Vice Minister, Ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you very much for your nice words. It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you to the first
OECD World Forum on Key Indicators “Statistics, Knowledge and Policy”.
First of all, I believe that this is the very first occasion that such a large number of highly qualified
people have come together at the international level to discuss the relationship between statistics
and policy. We live in a rapidly changing, increasingly interdependent world at a pivotal moment
in history. Complex and cross-boundary responses are required to meet a wide range of daunting
issues and opportunities – ranging from economic development, climate change, terrorism,
energy, education, health care, and social exclusion.
Since its beginning, the OECD has invested significant resources towards the development of
statistics necessary to carry out its activities and to contribute to the improvement of international
statistics. Therefore, we are well aware that high quality statistics represent a fundamental pillar of
our work and of those who are interested in serious and useful scientific and policy applied
research. In the context of today’s “Information Society” an abundance of data is readily
available. New data providers play a role in the “market of information” and compete daily with
official sources to capture the attention of media, businesses, households and individuals. In some
cases, this competition is based on serious efforts to produce data not available elsewhere.
Unfortunately, in many others, surveys carried out by private institutes on few individual and/or
econometric estimates are presented, and commented on, as indisputable “facts”.
Furthermore, international comparability has become more and more of an issue of concern for all
countries. In fact, the international dimension of problems and policies, the development of
benchmarking techniques to compare the relative position of each country with other countries of
similar degrees of development, and the surveillance mechanisms developed by the international
community require comparable statistics. At the same time, individual businesses need quality
statistics to evaluate and compare the dynamics of actual and potential markets, domestic and
international prices, etc. Households and individuals require statistics to make informed decisions
regarding the education of their children, social security plans and investment choices, to name a
few.
The OECD is fully committed to contributing to this effort, and to co-operating with other
international organisations, not only to produce high quality statistics for member countries, but
also to co-operate with non-member economies to enhance statistical capacity and to improve
international comparability of data. In 2001 the OECD launched a Statistics Strategy. Since then,
several initiatives have been undertaken to raise the profile of statistics vis-à-vis OECD
stakeholders and top managers and to improve the quality of OECD statistics and the efficiency of
statistical processes.
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The Forum “Statistics, Knowledge and Policy” represents a milestone in the OECD Statistics
Strategy. It is a crucial opportunity to demonstrate the key role of statistics in today’s societies
and to discuss one of the fundamental issues both for policy makers and citizens: how can we
assess the current situation of our economies and societies? International and supranational
organisations, as well as several OECD countries, have launched initiatives to establish one or
more sets of indicators to evaluate the evolution of economic, social and environmental
phenomena, as well as the quality of policies undertaken by public authorities. Therefore, we
believe that the primary short to medium-term benefits of the Forum for the OECD member
countries and for non-member economies will be the following:
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New information sources, ideas and knowledge-building, based on a more comprehensive
understanding of how the world’s developed democracies are approaching these issues;
Accelerated national indicator system development in member countries, based on lessons
learned from other countries’ experiences;
A continued broadening of the OECD’s involvement with civil society and the
maintenance of its leadership position on issues of international information and policy
analysis;
An enhanced understanding of how information and knowledge-based systems and
cultures are developing in 21st century democracies;
The potential for a more advanced level of policy dialogue on key issues and enhanced
relationships among member countries because of the comprehensive and holistic nature
of discussions on national progress.
Involvement of key non-members countries to promote the development of high quality
and internationally comparable statistics, as well as of a culture of evidence-based
decision-making.
The second reason I am glad to be here is that this Forum is held in Italy, one of the founding
members of the OECD. From the beginning, Italy has been playing a positive and key role in the
development of the OECD. On several occasions, the Italian Government and other Italian
institutions have demonstrated the importance they attach to the work of the OECD, financing
specific projects and international conferences. In order to demonstrate the close co-operation
between Italy and the OECD, it would be enough to mention the Ministerial Meeting on Small
and Medium Enterprises held in Bologna, the Ministerial Meeting on e-government held in
Naples and the recent establishment of the OECD Centre in Trento on policies for local
development.
And in this case, the role of the Italian government and other first class Italian public institutions
and businesses has been absolutely fundamental in the organisation of this Forum. It must be
mentioned that when the OECD launched this project idea, the immediate reaction of the Italian
authorities was genuine enthusiasm - a clear sign of the country’s capacity to recognise strategic
priorities and to invest in the OECD. Especially after hearing the positive encouraging words of
the President of Italy, Mr. Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, I am proud that the OECD has organised this
important event. Therefore, on behalf of all of us at the OECD I would like to thank the Italian
Government and the other Italian institutions for their support and co-operation, without which
this Forum would never has been possible.
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Thirdly, let me say how glad I am to be here in Palermo. Palermo and Sicily have, for several
centuries, played a fundamental role in the development of the European culture and history.
Today Palermo represents a formidable bridge between Europe and other parts of the
Mediterranean Sea, addressing emerging economic, cultural and social challenges. Its ability to
integrate different cultures through arts and policy is a model for all countries who seek to find
new ways to address similar problems. But Palermo and Sicilians are also famous for their warm
hospitality. Once more the capacity of this city to be a fundamental crossroad for international cooperation has been demonstrated with this Forum: more than 600 people coming from more than
forty countries have come to this wonderful city, and one cannot deny that the attraction of
Palermo was an additional enticement to attend. The co-operation and the support provided to the
OECD by the Municipality of Palermo is something difficult to explain in only a few words. Their
offer to use this magnificent Theatre as the venue of the Forum is only a small part of the cooperation and support they have shown us. However, I am sure you will discover firsthand the
Sicilian hospitality over the next three days. Therefore, I will stop here by thanking once again the
Mayor and the other Sicilian authorities with whom it has been a pleasure to work.
Fourthly, let me thank the OECD staff who have been working to prepare this event and let me
say how proud I am for having such qualified people as colleagues. It is not easy to design and
execute an event of this proportion and we all should be grateful to them for their work and the
enthusiasm they have put towards this difficult task over the past 18 months when the idea was
first put forth. It is quite remarkable how many OECD Directorates have contributed to this event,
proposing possible speakers, preparing scientific papers, and managing the organisation of the
event and media relationships under the co-ordination of the Statistics Directorate and its Director.
Let me also thank all National Statistical Offices of OECD countries, China, Russia and Brazil
who have been extremely helpful in contacting possible speakers and delegates to make this
Forum a successful event. This Forum is an example of what can be accomplished when
interesting, stimulating projects are linked with a strong co-operation between the OECD and the
member countries.
In conclusion, let me thank all speakers, chairpersons and discussants who accepted to help us
address a very complicated, but fundamental, issue in preparing and presenting their original
scientific and policy analyses. I wish you a successful Forum and a pleasant stay in Palermo.
Thank you very much.
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