Transforming how we produce statistics
– an inside perspective
Michelle Feyen
Statistics New Zealand
October 2014

Outline
Statistics 2020
Micro-Economic Platform
Standardising
Automation
Culture
Collaborative team
Benefits
Challenges
Ongoing work
2

Statistics 2020 – Te Kāpehu Whetū
Organisation-wide business transformation programme
Increase our relevance to government and public
Reduce the cost of producing statistical outputs
3

Micro-Economic Platform
Progamme of work
• IT system - BESt
• Migration of surveys to platform
• Support of surveys already on platform
• Development of platform
Store and process data on the same system
Integrated data warehouse
Standard statistical analysis tools
Reports
4

Timeline
2009
-IR10 Tax
2010
-GST Tax
2011
-Overseas
Trade
2012
Manufacturing
Wholesale
2013
-Agriculture
-Annual
Enterprise
2014
-Business Register
-Update Surveys
-Buildings
-Retail Trade
5

Standardising
Set of standard tools
• BANFF – Statistics Canada
• Quality Stage
Generic Edit and Imputation Workflow
• Standard set of steps to follow
• Configuration visible to analysts
6

7

Configuration
8

Automation
Increased efficiency
Understand structure and relationships of data
Analysts can focus on more complex issues
Consistent, repeatable processes
9

Example – Annual Enterprise Survey
10

Culture
Transforming the way we work
New system is a powerful driver for change
Environment that allows for innovation
Culture change initiative
11

Collaborative team
Key to successful migrations
Platform team
• Configuration experts
• Methodologists
• Business analysts
• Developers
• Testers
• Subject matter experts
Co-location
12

Benefits
More automation
Analysts doing less processing
Only one system to learn
Standard set of tools
Shared functionality between collections
Efficiency gains
Easy to build new configurations, transparent
13

Challenges
Standardising very different collections
Matching old system results with new system
Fully understanding current business processes
14

Challenges
Constructively engaging with survey teams
Achieving expected efficiencies
Changing the way analysts view the data
15

Timeline – ongoing work
2011
-Overseas
Trade
2012
Manufacturing
Wholesale
2013
-Agriculture
-Annual
Enterprise
2014
-Business Register
-Update Surveys
-Buildings
-Retail Trade
2015
-Accommodation
-Statistical
Architecture for
Economic
Statistics
16

Thank you
IAOS
IOS Press
Michelle.Feyen@stats.govt.nz
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