Terms of Reference for the Statistical
Information Systems Sharing Advisory Board
(Approved by the CES Bureau June 2010)
I.
BACKGROUND
1.
The 2008 meeting on the Management of Statistical Information Systems (MSIS) identified a
strong requirement to explore existing and potential mechanisms for the sharing of software and
components between statistical organisations, with a view to further formalize existing practices and to
encourage joint development work. The MSIS Steering Group convened an informal sub-group to report
on this topic.
2.
The February 2009 Bureau meeting was informed of the work in progress during an agenda item
on challenges in managing information and communication technologies in statistical organisations. It
requested that formal terms of reference for the proposed Sharing Advisory Board (SAB) should be
submitted for approval, if this approach was endorsed by the May 2009 MSIS meeting. The following
terms of reference were approved by the Bureau in June 2010.
II.
MISSION
3.
The mission of the SAB is to discuss and seek to influence international work on the convergence
of statistical business architectures, as a means of promoting favourable conditions for the sharing and
joint development of software tools and components amongst national and international statistical
organisations.
III.
MANDATE AND OBJECTIVES
4.
The SAB will report to the Conference of European Statisticians (CES). It will therefore derive its
legitimacy and mandate from this body. It will produce an annual report and work programme for
approval by the CES Bureau, and will inform the annual MSIS work sessions on progress. The work of
the SAB will be overseen by the High Level Group for Strategic Developments in Business Architecture
in Statistics (HLG-BAS), which will act as an advisory group for activities related to the organisation of
the statistical production process. The SAB will cooperate and coordinate its work with other relevant
bodies, particularly the European Union "ESSnet" projects on related topics, and the CES Steering Group
on Statistical Metadata. The scope of sharing and collaboration to be achieved is limited to software,
tools and components made or tailored by statistical organisations, which are vital to the statistical
production process, and of which they have ownership. The mandate of the SAB will be reviewed every
year by the CES Bureau, to ensure continuing relevance.
5.
The objectives of the SAB are:
(a) To advise on opportunities to promote harmonization of business and information systems
architectures as a means of enhancing the interoperability and the potential to share components within
those architectures;
(b) To provide governance models for the development and enhancement of statistical software in an
environment of collaboration between statistical organisations;
(c) To provide guidelines and tools to assess new statistical software tools and components, and report
to MSIS Work Sessions on the availability of these tools and components for sharing, as well as suitable
governance mechanisms for ensuring the future development of recommended tools and components;
(d) To ensure that tools and components recommended for sharing are made available to all statistical
organisations via a suitable portal, and with sufficient documentation and support mechanisms;
(e) To assist in the improvement of the technical statistical infrastructure of countries both within and
outside the UNECE region as required.
IV.
OPERATING PROCEDURES
6.
The SAB will comprise seven or eight members, who are representatives of national or
international statistical organisations. The members of the SAB undertake to devote the necessary time to
adequately discharge of their duties. To the extent possible, consideration is given to ensuring an
appropriate geographical balance in the membership of the SAB.
7.
The initial membership of the SAB is:
Marton Vucsan (Netherlands) (Chair);
Antonio Consoli (Eurostat);
Karen Doherty (Canada);
Trevor Fletcher (OECD);
Rune Gloersen (Norway);
Brian Studman (Australia);
Valentin Todorov (United Nations Industrial Development Organisation);
Carlo Vaccari (Italy).
8.
The members of the SAB will be appointed by the CES Bureau, and will select from amongst
themselves a Chairperson and, if deemed necessary, a Vice-Chairperson. If a member leaves the SAB, a
new member may be co-opted until the time of the next review by the CES Bureau , when a new member
is formally appointed.
9.
Members of the SAB, with the support of the secretariat, will undertake the substantive work
agreed in the annual work plan, within the strategic guidelines agreed by the Bureau of the CES and the
HLG-BAS, and will contribute to the preparation of the annual report to the CES Bureau.
10. The SAB will develop proposals related to software sharing and identify opportunities for the
harmonization of information systems architectures. Strategic issues will be referred to the HLG-BAS for
guidance or approval. This ensures sufficient technical knowledge for thorough preparation of proposals
and enough decision power to ensure implementation. The Sharing Advisory Board will then oversee the
implementation and report back to the CES Bureau.
11. The SAB will prepare a progress report to inform and solicit comments from the annual MSIS
Work Sessions. The SAB will submit, via the HLG-BAS, a more strategically-focused report for
approval by the CES Bureau each year, with a request to either extend its mandate for an additional year,
or to dissolve it.
12. The SAB will work mainly via electronic communication and telephone or video conferencing,
however it will meet physically at least once per year, usually in conjunction with the annual MSIS Work
Session. Other physical meetings will be arranged as necessary.
13. The SAB may also make the results of its work public, and arrange for any project or study that
may be required to further its objectives to be carried out by a subsidiary group or a third party.
14.
The UNECE secretariat will:
(a) Support the SAB, providing assistance in the scheduling of meetings and other activities for
adoption by the group, organizing missions, workshops, seminars and training sessions as necessary;
(b) Assist in preparing the annual report to the CES Bureau;
(c) Record the decisions of the SAB and ensure these are effectively communicated.
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