The 2011 data collection exercise and publication plans

Transcription

1 Doc. MedDC/2011/05 ANNUAL MEETING OF THE DIRECTORS OF THE NSIS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN ENP COUNTRIES Hilton Hotel Istanbul 13 April 2011 The 2011 data collection exercise and publication plans Eurostat (Edward Cook, Unit D-1) Point 5 on the Agenda

2 THE 2011 DATA COLLECTION EXERCISE AND PUBLICATION PLAN Official statistics play a fundamental role in today s society. Public administrations, policymakers, economic operators, markets, researchers and citizens rely on high quality statistics to describe developments in the economic, social, environmental and cultural spheres as accurately as possible. Impartial, objective, timely and easily accessible statistical information is essential in order to enable well informed decisions based on an accurate and relevant picture of society. Statistical information underpins the transparency and openness of policy decisions; official statistics are therefore a public good and a basis for the smooth functioning of democracy. 1. Introduction Walter Radermacher, Director-General of Eurostat The MEDSTAT III programme has a number of ambitious and targeted objectives concerning data collection, dissemination and publications: - the collection of updated, timely, relevant and high quality data; - the consolidation of the data exchange process; - the creation of a more user-friendly dissemination of statistics, and - a better understanding of the importance of statistics by the final users. It is against the background of these broad objectives that the work on the 2011 data collection round and Eurostat's plans for publications should be set. 2. Phases The reporting on developments reflects the traditional four phase project cycle approach applied to the last data collection round: the planning and design phase, the executing phase, the monitoring and control phase and the closing phase. A. The planning and design phase Eurostat worked on drawing up a schedule of activities for the 2011 collection of data that would fit within an annual cycle and would best fit data availability across the themes. It was largely based on the timetable that had previously been established. The new schedule was drawn up in October 2010 and was presented at each of the thematic kick-off workshops. 25 Oct Nov Nov Nov Nov.- 31 Dec Jan. 10 Feb Feb. 24 Feb March July 2011 ESTAT: preparation of files and notes for installing the system. Draft letter to the MED countries on the use of edamis. ESTAT: contact with countries by mail or by phone for remote installation. Partner countries: pre-filling begins. Partner countries: update and revision of questionnaire, resend using edamis ESTAT: cross-over validation finalising all data. Partner countries: validation replies ESTAT: upload database into test environment. ESTAT: data transfer to the free, public Eurobase. ESTAT: draft Pocketbook. 30 Sept Release finalised pocketbook 2

3 Before the first step was taken, Eurostat improved the design of the 2011 questionnaire with a view to making it more user-friendly: - coloured cells: revisions to data, deletions and new values immediately highlighted; - comment boxes: comments could be added to individual cells as well as in methodological notes; - flags: probable data errors and outliers flagged; - structure blocked to keep links to the validation rules and export functions. To help the partner countries, Eurostat drew up a manual that was posted on CIRCA as well as instructions on how to load the MIS and use edamis. The list of contact points in the partner countries for the receipt of the questionnaire was updated. Key messages from the planning and design phase: Partner countries need to plan and prepare for the data collection too. As this is an annual collection in an annual cycle, this preparation should be easier to implement. The list of key contacts needs to be kept up to date, the thematic contacts primed to meet the data requirements, communication channels between the National Co-ordinator for Information Systems and the thematic co-ordinators opened wide and lessons learnt from previous years. When the National Co-ordinator for Information Systems changes in a country all efforts should be made to transfer knowledge. As the single contact point for the questionnaires, if new staff do not know procedures, there is an immediate block in the whole process (as was twice the case in 2011). Questionnaires should not be tampered with - links to the validation rules and export functions must be kept. File names should correspond to the associated data sets. B The executing phase The questionnaires were sent out by Eurostat in line with the timetable announced. The bulk of replies to the questionnaires have been received in the first quarter of 2011, many weeks later than envisaged. The speed of replies is, therefore, something of an issue as it has a knock-on effect for all the other stages in the cycle. In particular, as the deadline for the production of the pocketbook is more or less fixed for the end of September 2011, this squeezes the time that can be allocated to its production and raises the pressure that comes with ensuring a quality publication. As in other years, there have been considerable differences in the volume of data sets sent as well as variables actually collected from the partner countries. From Table 1, it can be seen that the number of questionnaires received from the partner countries in 2011 varies significantly; at extremes, all questionnaires have been received back from one country but none from another, with most sending back between one half and two thirds of the questionnaires requested. On a thematic basis, the highest proportions of returned questionnaires have been noted for transport statistics and agriculture and the lowest for the environment. The environment is not one of the priority themes for MEDSTAT III and data are only collected intermittently but sustainable development, climate change, pollution and water use all figure highly on national political agendas, for which environmental data will be required. 3

4 Table 1: Overview of the data sets collected MEDAGRI_B1STRUC_A % MEDAGRI_B2CROP_A % MEDAGRI_B3ANIM_A % MEDAGRI_B4FISH_A % MEDAGRI_B5EAA_A % MEDBOP_JBOP_A % MEDCOMEX_BULETIN_S % MEDCUR_EXCRATE_A % MEDENV_D1AIR_A % MEDENV_D2WASTE_A % MEDENV_D3WATER_A % MEDENV_D4LAND_A % MEDENV_D5BIO_A % MEDNATAC_FNATAC_A % MEDNATAC_IPRICE_A % MEDSOC_G1POP_A % MEDSOC_G2EDU_A % MEDSOC_G3LIVCO_A % MEDSOC_G4WORK_A % MEDTOUR_ATOUR_A % MEDTRANS_H1ROAD_A % MEDTRANS_H2RAIL_A % MEDTRANS_H3AIR_A % MEDTRANS_H4SEA_A % 71% 46% 71% 54% 100% 71% 71% 63% 0% 61% The volume of questionnaires received is only part of the story. A more detailed overview of replies can be gleaned from the volume of variables collected both as a total and per theme. The total number of variables for which data have been received from the partner countries has been in decline since 2004-related data were collected. Figure 1: Number of data points collected per year from the partner countries

5 The volumes of data received for 2008 and 2009 have been markedly less than previous years, which is a worrying trend in view of the goals of the MEDSTAT programme as a whole. Table 2: Overview of the data points collected from partner countries as a whole Agriculture Balance of payments Environment External trade National Accounts Price Social statistics Tourism Transport There have been particularly strong declines recorded in the volumes of: social statistics collected, particularly for employment, unemployment, general education and population indicators; balance of payments data collected; agricultural statistics collected, particularly for crop statistics (production and harvested areas) and the economic accounts for agriculture; environmental statistics, including emissions, waste and pollution data, although these data are gathered on an infrequent basis. Key messages from the executing phase: Much faster delivery of data required. Greater volume of data variables required; it is one of the implicit objectives of the MEDSTAT programme but the tendency is one of volume reduction. This development needs to be explained and reversed particularly during the MEDSTAT III programme when technical assistance can be provided. The streamlining of the questionnaires may need to be re-examined for the design of the 2012 data collection. This would entail suggestions from both Eurostat and the partner countries. 5

6 C The monitoring and control phase Eurostat has recently completed the basic validation exercise. As a result, each partner country will be receiving a list of questions on the data, drawn up on a thematic basis. The types of question raised are typically trend specific, data source specific or refer to derived possibilities. The partner countries are asked to reply to these questions fully and quickly. Some replies will be used to improve and expand the existing metadata. As well as questions to the partner countries, the validation exercise is also an important tool for Eurostat; some rules will be adapted, others adopted and some aborted. One of the more obvious outcomes of the validation exercise is the flagging of error cells. Happily, the general trend seems to be one of decreasing numbers of errors. Key messages from the monitoring and control phase: Delays in the delivery of data have led to delays in the validation of the data. Preliminary validations have now been completed and each partner country will receive theme specific questions. You are kindly requested to oversee fast replies to these questions. A deadline of the 20 th of April has been set. The number of error flags in the data sets is in decline, in part perhaps reflecting the visibility of the automated verification checks. D The closing phase The closing phase of the 2011 data collection cycle for Eurostat looks at improving the form and means by which data are provided to users. In particular, Eurostat is: - making official statistics freely and easily available to all users; The MEDSTAT data are available for free, to download from the public dissemination database (Eurobase). The publications are also free to view online at the moment of release. - adapting its dissemination products and services to the needs and expectations of users; The product range for the ENP-South countries has been broadened: there is a database, a pocketbook of key data, country profiles, leaflets or compact guides on particular themes as well as deeper analyses of particular topics in Statistics in Focus. Regarding webpages: the dedicated ENP-South webpages on Eurostat's website are being redesigned to improve ease of use, to better direct traffic and to update details of the MEDSTAT to refer to the III programme. The new pages will 'go live' in April Regarding the database: the internal version of the database is being updated in April The public version of the MEDSTAT database will be released with the pocketbook. Regarding the pocketbook: the 2011 version is scheduled for September

7 Regarding country profiles: this is a new initiative. For each partner country, 2-page summaries of key indicators have been created on the basis of the 2010 data collection. For your interest, these are included as Annex 1 to this paper and will appear for free on Eurostat's dedicated webpages. Updates of the country profiles on the basis of the 2011 data collection will be made in the second half of Regarding leaflets: a new leaflet (compact guide as they are now termed) on demography in ENP countries as a whole is at the printer at the moment. As well as printed copies, this leaflet will also appear for free on Eurostat's dedicated webpages. Two more leaflets are scheduled for 2011 although no decision has yet been taken on the precise subject matter. Regarding SIFs: one or two in-depth analyses of a particular topic are foreseen in 2011 and will likely be produced after the pocketbook in Q4 of Not resting on its laurels, Eurostat also plans to initiate a consultation with users on data requirements for the pocketbook in This should enable us to better understand our users' needs regarding this publication. - looking to provide users with explanatory information adapted to their needs as well as raising the level of knowledge and understanding about official statistics. Better metadata are being developed and registered. Eurostat is launching a series of interactive web-based articles on the region which will be Wiki-like and appear within Eurostat's Statistics Explained. The articles will fit within the broader context of international co-operation in statistics. Descriptive background articles will address issues of what is collected, why it is collected, by whom, how often, for which purposes, how data should be understood and compared and how not, etc. Analytical articles will provide examples of how the data can be best be used and interpreted. Key messages from the closing phase: Eurostat is making a number of efforts to improve the visibility and pertinence of the data that you provide. A number of different forms of publication are produced and are accessible to everyone for free on the Eurostat website. As well as the improved dissemination of results from Eurostat, work within the MEDSTAT III should also address the need to improve the corresponding dissemination of statistics in the partner countries. 7

8 3. Conclusions and questions The tangible output of the data collection process is the publications. The quality of those publications depends largely on the data that they contain. Good advances have been made in both the quality of the data and the quality of the publications but that will suffer fast if the data become incomplete and out-of-date. Will we be able to show an up-to-date picture of the region and how it has changed over time? So, - Is the current timetable for collecting the data scheduled for the wrong time of the year? - Is the current schedule too tight for the delivery of results? - Are there organisational issues with the pre-filling of the questionnaires and their onward distribution to the thematic co-ordinators? - Can new data be supplied by the end of April for inclusion in the next report? - Is technical assistance required to enable new data to come on-stream? - Are the publications being used by you and do they meet your users needs? Annex 1 Country profiles (see separate document) 8