DRAFT TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IN STATISTICAL CAPACITY BUILDING

Transcription

1 DRAFT TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IN STATISTICAL CAPACITY BUILDING June 1999

2 Table of contents I. Introduction 3 II. Need for Enhanced Technical Cooperation in Statistics 3 III. International Organizations Contribution to Countries Statistical Development 8 IV. DECDG s Current Statistical and Technical Assistance Activities 13 V. DECDG s New Initiative on Technical Assistance in Statistical Capacity Building Improvement of organization, management strategy, and perspective planning Fostering Knowledge on Standards and Methodologies and Their Applications - Reorientation Strengthening of Statistical Infrastructure Institution Building Modification of Data Collection and Processing Systems and Methods Rehabilitation and Modernization Installation of Information Technology and Improvement of Knowledge Management Modernization Improvements of Statistical Awareness through Better Data Dissemination and Public Relations Improvement of Human Resource Management and Development- Revitalization Training 24 Topical Technical Assistance 24 Benefits 25 Leadership and Management of the Proposed Initiative 25 Financing 26 Annex A. Charts 33 2

3 I. INTRODUCTION The advent of the Information Age has tended to generate not only more information now than before but also a growing demand for such information on a timely basis and with easy accessibility. In many countries, economic and social conditions have changed drastically due to increasing international trade, economic and financial integration, modernization and the fundamental changes in the political and economic systems of the last decade. The framework and its statistical requirements for designing and monitoring social policy for economic growth has been upset by the complexities emerging from these conditions. The statistical systems around the world are now facing the challenge to produce and disseminate meaningful, quality and timely statistical information complied from the myriad of economic transactions and social events. In the midst of these dramatic changes, national statistical systems particularly of developing and transition economies have been slow in adopting new standards, methods on data collection, processing, production and dissemination of required information to measure economic and social progress and structural changes. Decisions on social and economic policy formulation, implementation and monitoring should be based on statistical information together with the knowledge of how to use it. These statistics are collected, produced and disseminated by the national statistical systems for which broader conceptual frameworks, standards and classifications have been established by international and some regional organizations. The coverage, quality and timeliness of the statistics produced by the national statistical systems vary across countries and call for substantial improvement even restructuring in particularly developing countries. Very often the root cause of the statistical weakness is the insufficient institutional and human capacity of the national statistical systems of these countries. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the need for technical assistance in statistical capacity building in member countries, and to provide an overview of the World Bank s role on and contribution to capacity building in statistics. The paper is organized as follows. The next section discusses the need for enhanced technical cooperation in statistics. The third section provides brief information on the role of other international organizations in the improvement of statistics. The proposed initiative on Statistical Capacity Building is in the fourth section. Annex A provides three useful charts depicting: (i) Anatomy of a National knowledge based statistical system; (ii) Organizational framework of a typical National statistical office; and (iii) Users and suppliers of statistics. II. NEED FOR ENHANCED TECHNICAL COOPERATION IN STATISTICS In the next millennium, when profound transformation in society and possibly in culture arising from globalization, privatization and modernization occur, information, knowledge and technologies will become increasingly important. Then, it would not be prudent for the Bank to continue basing its international and country specific decisions on the weak statistical systems and their deteriorating data bases due to a lack of capacity and equipment in the developing countries. 3

4 Experience of the Bank economists, particularly in Africa region, demonstrated that many member countries lack the required capacity to collect, process and disseminate necessary statistical information to deal with their problems. Hence, to improve the quality of the Bank s lending and non-lending programs, CAS reports are now required to focus explicitly on strengthening the capacity of the public and private sectors. Recent CAS reports show that in many member countries there is a need for improving and strengthening their statistical capacity. An analysis of 55 CAS reports, issued since January 1996, showed that while in 52 of them (95 % of total) poverty alleviation is stated as the overriding objective of both the country and the Bank. In 40 of these reports (77 %), there are no poverty or income data. Further, some state that existing poverty data in these countries are estimates based on earlier studies in which the methodologies were deficient. In addition to ongoing and planned poverty assessment studies, many CAS reports also state that there is a need in these countries for improvement (in some cases rebuilding) of poverty monitoring, data collection, reporting, and dissemination systems. Institutional capacity building or modernization of the public sector (central, regional and local) is another major objective, discussed in 49 CAS reports. Among them, 38 refer to inferior statistical institutional capacity at the state and/or local level, and to an urgent need for statisticsrelated work in these countries. Further, 19 reports explicitly address the need for statistical institutions to be restructured or improved through technical assistance and training. The reports point out that the lack of institutional capacity in statistics means that other developmental objectives cannot be effectively addressed. Human capital development is among the major CAS objectives for 26 countries. Education reform and restoring the human resource base have been suggested as means of developing human capital. These reforms will require strategy assessments, with which the countries will need assistance. The analysis of CAS reports revealed that in many countries policy formulation, implementation and monitoring to meet developmental and sectoral objectives are seriously inhibited by extremely weak or outdated databases. Therefore, recourse is often made to guess estimates based on certain assumptions. As the mechanisms for regular and timely generation of well-defined performance indicators for these areas are not institutionalized in these countries, monitoring has proved rather difficult. Moreover, in several countries the statistical organization, infrastructure and capacity either need to be modernized or restructured to meet the challenges of the information age. Another major factor accounting for this situation is the lack of statistical awareness and missing institutional support for socio-demographic statistics development in the overall national statistical framework. Therefore, the allocation of budgetary and human resources for these programs is inadequate and manuals on standards for these statistics are lacking. Beyond the CAS reports there are other concerns as well. Promotion of privatization and private sector development in member countries, particularly in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, has increased the number of newly created small- and medium-sized private 4

5 enterprises. Many of these new enterprises are not complying with the requirement of official statistical reporting and in many cases the existing system of reporting cannot supply data of required quality for macroeconomic statistical compilation and analysis. Data on certain economic activities that are carried out in the shadow economy fail to capture or only partially cover such activities. Figure 1 Data Quality and per capita GDP relationship in ECA countries R 2 = Avr. Quality Log. (Avr. Quality) $0 $1,000 $2,000 $3,000 $4,000 $5,000 $6,000 GDP Source: TAS Team survey Recently the Technical Assistance in Statistics (TAS) Team of Development Data Group (DECDG) has carried out a survey to investigate the quality, coverage and timeliness of the data in the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region. A data quality questionnaire was sent to resident mission representatives in 27 countries, and 23 of them responded, a 85 % response rate. Although the results are preliminary, they suggest that the data produced by these countries are used to determine their social and economic policy making, and are far from being perfect, in most countries well below a satisfactory level. In addition, there is a strong correlation between average data quality (including coverage and timeliness) and per capita GDP in these countries, though it does not explain the casual relationship (Figure 1). With limited budgetary resources, many developing countries have poor statistics partly because when they are confronted with an 5

6 array of competing developmental priorities, governments of these countries decide that the expenditures on data collection, processing and dissemination are dispensable. On the other hand, these statistics and the knowledge of how to use them could help the authorities in making effective decisions among priorities and determine what alternative policies are possible. Eventually, this creates a negative circular causation feeding each other. Unless this vicious circle is broken it is very difficult, if not impossible, to sustain development in these countries. CAS reports listings and ECA indicators strongly confirm that there is obviously a need to revitalize, restructure, or rebuild statistical systems of many countries, and to train the staff and personnel of statistical departments or offices. Since poverty elimination is the number one objective of country strategies, to address this issue, the World Bank provides support to member countries contributing to the promotion of economic growth, continued progress on market-based structural reforms, and the implementation of social programs targeting at poverty eradication. The World Bank, to achieve these goals, encourages an integrated approach with the participation of all the stake-holders to the broader objectives, strategies and instruments that need to be considered together with poverty programs: economic growth strengthening fiscal and economic management establishing an enabling environment for private sector development public sector reforms infrastructure and environment reforms social sector reforms. Quality and timely information with knowledge how to use it is the main ingredient for better economic and social policy making, but many of the member countries lack them. In these countries, technical assistance in statistical capacity building becomes the necessary step because without undertaking such corrective measures further deterioration in the national statistical systems is unlikely to be arrested as they have no flexibility or resilience to face new challenges. DECDG of the Bank, in consultation and collaboration with other relevant international organizations provides such technical assistance in statistical capacity building. Figure 2 illustrates the World Bank s role in TA in statistical capacity building. As seen in this figure, the players or partners in designing and implementing an effective TA project are international organizations, the recipient government and national statistical system (NSS), financial donor or funding agency, implementing NSS or other agency on behalf of financial donor, individuals in the implementing agency and the wider community involved in the process. All these partners are involved in a complex process and each of them has different role on the planning, preparation and implementation of the overall process which can be described in the following series of aspects that should follow each other. 6

7 Figure 2 Technical Assistance in Institutional Capacity Building in Statistics OECD EUROSTAT Regional & National Org. INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES UN SNA and Social data IMF GFS, BOP, Prices, Money & Banking ILO Labor WHO Health WTO Foreign Trade UNESCO Education WORLD BANK Debt, household surveys CONCEPTS and STANDARDS Data collection guidelines Classifications Data processing methods Systems of Socio-economic indicators Dissemination standards IMPLEMENTATION GOV. Investment and TA in Institutional Capacity Building Improvement of Organization, Management and Planning Fostering Knowledge Strengthening of Statistical Infrastructure Modification of Data Collection System and Methods Installation of Information Technology Improvement of Statistical Awareness Improvement of Human Resource Management Specific Statistical Subjects WORLD BANK HIGH QUALITY DATA Financial and knowledge Only knowledge 7

8 Policy, strategy and standards: Policy in TA reflects the goals of the assistance to beneficiaries and helps deriving the conceptual plan and the contents of the actions. All partners involved in the process should participate formulating goals (objectives) possibly through user/producer workshops and statistical advisory committees. Strategies formulate a view on the entire process and integrate all relevant matters. To define the role of all participants it is important that a strategic framework is developed. Within this framework there is a need for formulation of steps that need to be taken as well as to create their realistic time table. These two aspects of TA are closely related to the implementation aspect of it. Standards provide guidelines on what, how, when, who and where. International organizations such as UN, FAO, IMF, ILO, WHO, WTO, the World Bank, and UNESCO set standards in their related areas on concepts, classifications, presentation, systems of socio-economic indicators and dissemination standards. They also provide consulting and training in these areas. The output generated through these three processes is a statistical program in which the technical assistance providers are key partners closely working towards a common goal. Implementation: This is the most important component of any TA because the success of the entire process depends on a sound implementation plan. Once objectives, strategies and standards are determined, depending on the scope and scale of the TA, various actions are planned and implemented in a conceptual framework. These actions include but not limited to organizational restructuring, managerial improvement, installation of required information technology, introduction of new methodologies and training. During the implementation phase continuous coordination and collaboration must be maintained among participating partners. At the same time, to monitor the process, the success of the steps taken are continuously evaluated and corrective measures are taken when needed. III. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS CONTRIBUTION TO THE COUNTRY STATISTICAL DEVELOPMENT The development and maintenance of economic and social statistics are obviously a responsibility of each country s authorities, although international agencies such as the United Nations Statistical Division (UNSTAT), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank have played an active role in countries where these statistics require further development. United Nations The UNSTAT has been a dominant producer in the international statistical arena. It has been an active player in the improvement of statistical systems particularly in developing countries. UNSTAT was the pioneer in giving the World the first comprehensive global data set on per capita national income, industrial production indices and foreign trade. It also provided conversion ratios for comparing gross national product between market and planned economies. The development of the 1993 SNA as a joint project of the UNSTAT, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the European Union (EU), the World Bank and the IMF was completed in

9 The 1993 SNA is designed to record all stocks and flows of transactions that are part of the economy. The SNA, initially adopted in 1953, was extended in 1968 to include input-output accounts, flow of funds account and balance sheets. Eventually, the 1993 SNA framework includes measures of production, income, saving and investment and wealth. It incorporates both domestic and foreign activities, financial and non-financial transactions. The revised SNA includes an integrated statistical framework as well as a great amount of detail, which is needed to provide sufficient guidelines to national statistical offices. Another important aspect of the revised SNA is its harmonization with the IMF s Balance of Payments Manual and the subsystems on government finance and money and banking. Although, the revised SNA has been accepted and implemented by many countries, there are still so many countries using the 1968 and even 1953 SNA. Lack of a well coordinated SNA framework in a country hinders the data collection, processing and dissemination for social and economic policy making. The UN has been pioneering in the international statistical area, the question about the quality, reliability and timeliness of the data particularly in the social sector, however, remains to be answered. Given that the independent UN direct statistical surveys or inquiries are very rare, the statistics are only as good as the statistics collected, processed and produced by national statistical offices. Inconsistency of coverage, definitions and data collection methods among reporting countries sometimes masks the easy interpretation of data published by international agencies. Being aware of such problems, in addition to standard setting and dissemination, the UN has been hosting or co-hosting workshops on improving technical co-operation in statistics, and providing training for the national statistical systems of member countries. A workshop on Improving Technical Co-operation in statistics was held in Voorburg, The Netherlands (September 8-10, 1997). The purpose of the workshop was to discuss possible recommendations for improving technical co-operation, to be discussed and adopted at the next session of the Statistical Commission in The UN Statistical Commission (UNSC), in February 1997, agreed that technical cooperation (TC) for statistics required fuller discussion than could be accommodated in the UNSC, and that such discussions should focus on crucial issues other than the amount of TC for statistics. The UN, being aware of the need for improvement in statistics, sees technical cooperation as a concept with various aspects. TC relates first of all to the relationship between the provider of knowledge and the potential user (intermediate user/the recipient organization). Second, it is related to the provider and all possible institutions (final users/users of statistics etc.) that are relevant for the process in the recipient country. Third, it relates to the contacts between the various providers involved. Finally, it relates to the contacts between the providers and the main financial donors. As a result, TC is not limited to the transfer of knowledge, but that it also relates, by definition, to improving the institutional setting of statistics in recipient countries, and to the complex institutional relations of all parties. All these partners are involved in a complex process. Hence, technical cooperation could benefit from the use of a set of guidelines, recommendations, and frameworks that would structure the process and the role of the partners involved. 9

10 The International Monetary Fund The IMF s technical assistance is centered on its main areas of expertise: balance of payments, government finance, money and banking, and price statistics (consumer and producer price indices). The main vehicles for delivery of technical assistance are short-term missions and assignments conducted by Fund staff and outside experts. These short-term efforts are supported with placement of long-term statistical consultants/advisors to a country, or, in some cases, of regional statistical advisors to provide ongoing technical assistance in specific areas of statistics to selected groups of countries. All these efforts are reinforced by training courses and seminars offered to national statisticians on statistical methodologies and their applications, offered at the IMF Institute at headquarters and at the Joint Vienna Institute. In recent years, IMF has also taken numerous steps to enhance transparency and openness of macroeconomic and financial data by establishing the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) and General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) to guide the member countries in the data dissemination issues. In establishing the SDDS in consultation with member countries in March 1996, the Fund noted that the objective of the SDDS was to guide member countries in the provision of comprehensive, timely, accessible and reliable economic and financial statistics to the public in a world of increasing economic and financial integration. Both the GDDS and the SDDS are expected to enhance the availability of timely and comprehensive statistics and therefore contribute to the pursuit of sound macroeconomic policies; the SDDS is also expected to contribute to the improved functioning of financial markets. Subscription to the SDDS was opened in early April Although subscription is voluntary, it carries a commitment by a subscribing member to observe the standard and to provide certain information to the IMF about its practices in disseminating economic and financial data. To date, there have been 46 subscriptions to the SDDS. The SDDS, in taking a comprehensive view of the dissemination of economic and financial data, identifies four dimensions of data dissemination: The data coverage, periodicity, and timeliness; access by the public; integrity of the disseminated data; and quality of the disseminated data. For each of these dimensions, the SDDS prescribes two to four monitorable elements-- good practices that can be observed, or monitored, by the users of statistics. The monitorable elements of the SDDS for access, integrity, and quality emphasize transparency in the compilation and dissemination of statistics. In recognition of differences in economic structures and institutional arrangements across countries, the SDDS provides flexibility. A transition period for the implementation of the SDDS began with the opening of subscription in early April 1996 and will end on December 31, During this period a member may subscribe to the SDDS even if its dissemination practices are not fully in line with the SDDS at that time. This period gives subscribers time to adjust their practices, according to a plan that is to be presented, to bring them into line with the standard. During the transition period, the IMF will also elaborate more fully certain operational aspects and review the content 10

11 and procedures of the SDDS with a view to making any adjustments needed in the light of experience. A subscriber is expected to submit information about its data and its dissemination practices--its metadata--to the IMF for presentation on an electronic bulletin board. The metadata are to be submitted to the IMF within three months of subscription, except those relating to summary methodologies (for which more time is provided). Subscribers' metadata are reviewed by the IMF for comprehensiveness and international comparability. The responsibility for the accuracy of the metadata, including timely updates, and for the economic and financial data underlying the metadata rests with the subscriber. In addition, the IMF Executive Board approved the establishment of the General Data Dissemination System (GDDS or General System) at its meeting of December 19, The primary focus of the GDDS is on improvement in data quality. This stands in contrast with the SDDS, where the focus is on dissemination in countries that generally already meet high data quality standards. Against this background, the GDDS is one of the most important strategic projects for the Fund in the area of statistics, where a long-standing objective has been the improvement of data and statistical practices among its members. It is hoped that the GDDS will also be a valuable resource and framework for bilateral and multilateral providers of technical assistance, and that the GDDS can provide the basis for enhanced cooperation with other providers of technical assistance. The General System's purposes are: to encourage member countries to improve data quality; to provide a framework for evaluating needs for data improvement and setting priorities in this respect; and to guide member countries in the dissemination of comprehensive, timely, accessible, and reliable economic, financial, and socio-demographic statistics. The GDDS framework takes into account, across the broad range of countries, the diversity of their economies and the developmental requirements of many of their statistical systems. The framework is built around the same four dimensions as the SDDS--data (coverage, periodicity, and timeliness), quality, access, and integrity--and is intended to provide guidance for the overall development of economic, financial, and socio-demographic data. Within this context, the GDDS is oriented to benefit three groups. First, participant countries would benefit from the process of evaluating their statistical systems and of formulating plans for improvement. Second, multilateral and bilateral providers of technical assistance would benefit from having a framework for assessing the quality of data, for helping set priorities for improvements, and for organizing technical assistance activities. Finally, the data user community would benefit from detailed information about the statistical systems and practices of participating countries. The GDDS shares several features with the SDDS, particularly the emphasis on the four dimensions. However, the GDDS differs from the SDDS in a number of respects. In addition to its primary focus on improvements in data quality, the GDDS, by including socio-demographic data dissemination has a broader scope. The GDDS is less prescriptive with regard to periodicity and timeliness of data dissemination, and it recognizes that improvements in data production and dissemination practices may only be achieved in the long run. 11

12 In addition to work with countries, the GDDS reflected extensive discussions with other international and regional agencies. There was widespread support for an initiative that focused on improvements in data quality and that recognized that a long-term time frame was necessary to achieve improvements in many areas. The specifications for data coverage, as well as the focus on access and integrity, were generally supported, and the inclusion in the GDDS of sociodemographic indicators was welcomed. A phased implementation of the GDDS will focus first on education and training and subsequently on direct work with countries. The training phase of about 18 months consists of completion of a GDDS module of the Guide to the Data Dissemination Standards and presentation of up to eight regional seminars/workshops on the GDDS. After the training phase is completed, a period of intensive country work takes place. The GDDS participation would involve submission of the national plan identifying the major shortcomings relative to the objectives of GDDS and the steps by which shortcomings would be addressed. The improvements, however, cannot be achieved in absence of considerable resources, including technical assistance, as well as the time frame for implementation. In addition to the UN and the IMF there are several more focused/specialized international organizations such as the Agriculture and Food Organization (FAO), the International Labor Office (ILO), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), World Health Organization (WHO), World Trade Organization (WTO) and regional organizations e.g., the Asian Development Bank (ADB), OECD, the European Union Statistical Office (EUROSTAT). These organizations are involved either in a certain subject e.g. agriculture statistics, labor statistics or certain number of countries, and therefore they do not deal with the improvement of statistical systems of developing countries. The World Bank Although IMF and the UN have well established statistical organizations, their involvement in the improvement of statistical systems of member countries is limited to advice, standard setting, training and dissemination of information. Underlying reason for this is the lack of budgetary and human resources to plan, prepare and implement comprehensive technical assistance programs and projects, particularly integrated large institutional capacity building projects. Therefore, the World Bank assumed major responsibilities in helping member countries to improve their statistical systems. The World Bank is aware of the fact that over the last ten years the environment of the Bank s clients has changed dramatically and all the players rely on the new capacity to share knowledge rapidly as a result of dramatic changes in technology. Hence, in recent years, the World Bank has placed greater emphasis on the importance of economic and sector work, technical assistance etc., though lending programs still constitute the larger portion of projects. As a result in March 1997, the Bank s Executive Board unanimously approved the Strategic Compact, of which building a sound knowledge base to support non-lending (as well as lending) activities is at the heart. 12

13 In the earlier years and through 1970s and 1980s, Bank-supported TA focused on engineering such as assistance in designing telecommunications systems bridges, dams and highways. This type of TA involves with easily identifiable products that are based on wellestablished technology. In recent years, however, TA increasingly has been directed at capacity building, which entails a more complex process of creating and disseminating knowledge for development purposes at all levels of society. TA for capacity building involves assisting, supporting and facilitating rather than supplanting and prescribing. It is largely culture bound and process oriented, and experience in one situation might be entirely irrelevant in another. Each country might have its own challenges, opportunities and risks. TA for capacity building is therefore costly and time consuming and particularly so when the goal is to build the lasting capacity. Technical assistance activities in statistics are basically demand driven and normally take place only in response to specific demands for professional advice that originate from countries directly or as a reaction to the data requirements of the Bank s Country Management Unit (CMU) for formulating policy, decision making and monitoring. In some cases, CMU or other relevant departments within the Bank may detect capacity problems before undertaking a project in a member country, and suggest their counterparts that they need to improve their statistical system or sub-system. Once a member country realizes that its statistical system or a given component of the system is not producing what it is supposed to in order to make accurate economic and social policies, then this country begins seeking assistance to improve the system or sub-system. Most of this work is carried out by DECDG, usually through its TAS team. These TA programs can be financed through Bank loans and grants as well as Bank administered trust funds. Depending on the scale of the program, it may be a part of a larger project or may be a stand alone program financed as an investment or TA operation or even possibly in the form of an Adaptable Program Loan, and financed accordingly. TA in institutional capacity building in statistics is time consuming and costly, and hence requires long term commitment of sizable resources. To some degree other international organizations have resources to support relatively small projects, and grants and the Bank administered trust funds are not large enough to support large scale and long term programs. The Bank has the ability to provide funding via loans, partially or entirely, for TA programs and projects in institutional capacity building in statistics, which is the distinctive characteristics of the Bank that separates it from other international organizations. IV. DECDG S CURRENT STATISTICAL AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ACTIVITIES The World Bank is made up of an unmatched repository of experience and understanding about development issues, which too often has been underused. Recently, to better utilize its experience and meet client needs more effectively the Bank has begun developing a knowledge management system with which disseminating and applying lessons of experience among clients and staff is possible. Parallel to this new orientation of the Bank, DECDG aims to become an 13

14 effective unit in the generation, application and dissemination of information on development as well as a key player in building or strengthening statistical capacity in client countries. In that sense, five strategic thrusts make contributions to varying degrees to DECDG s objectives. DECDG and its teams contribute Knowledge Generation through research, learning from client countries and other international organizations. Such knowledge is expected not to be limited to economics as discipline but also include other fields of social sciences. DECDG applies this knowledge to various projects and especially translates it into policy and practice through integration of its work with operations (both Networks and Regions) and consultation and collaboration with other international organizations. During this knowledge application process, the DECDG focuses on developing better analytical tools. DECDG disseminates the generated and tested knowledge both within and outside the Bank through training, publications and more interactive means including cross-support, as well as events (e.g. research fair). DECDG provides TA to member countries in institutional capacity building in statistics, knowledge management and other relevant areas. This is done either as a part of a larger project or as a stand alone project in consultation and collaboration with member country and relevant third parties, e.g., bilateral donors, international organizations. DECDG monitors development impact of its works to ensure the validity of the knowledge base generated, and positive outcomes of its TA to member countries. To carry out these objectives successfully, the DECDG has strengthened its interaction with external partners in order to ensure to absorb new ideas and better utilize scarce resources for greater effect. DECDG has also been taking advantage of synergies within the department and intensifying its links with Networks and Regions through joint appointments, consultation on work programs and reducing transaction costs incurred in cross-unit collaboration. In this capacity, DECDG recently completed an extensive renewal program and has evolved and organized itself into six main functional teams geared to being more agile and more service-oriented. However, the renewal process in DECDG is considered to be not a one-time exercise, but a continual process to ensure adequate and timely response to emerging issues in this changing world. Each team within DECDG has distinct expertise in their respective areas. The remaining teams and their responsibilities are (as of June 1999) as follows: 1. The Macroeconomic Data and Prices (MAC) Team is recognized as experts in delivering high quality macro-economic data and standards, and analytical advisory services to their clients within the Bank and the wider development community. The MAC team is maintaining the World Bank's Central Database. This database supplies the figures for the World Development Indicators (WDI), Global Development Finance, and other World Bank publications, and widely used by the Bank staff for operational and research purposes. National accounts and other relevant data for developing countries for which the Bank is not a primary data collection agency are collected by regional staff from national statistical 14

15 organizations by visiting and resident WB missions. The data are gathered from the regional staff through the Bank annual Unified Survey devised to update the Central Database. At each stage of data gathering and especially during the Unified Survey the data undergo numerous checks for accuracy, consistency, etc. to ensure the highest possible quality of data stored in the Central Database and used for operational and dissemination purposes. The MAC team places particular emphasis on data quality and data documentation. The coverage, quality, and timeliness of statistics produced by the national statistical offices (NSOs) vary across countries, and often call for substantial adjustments. Sometimes, when the data produced by the NSOs do not answer the required standards of quality, coverage, and timeliness, the Bank and/or other international agencies staff estimates are used, particularly for preliminary estimates. However, although that improves the quality of the data in Central Database, it is obviously only a temporary solution, since it does not change the quality of the data provided by the NSS per ce, and therefore the problem still persists. In some cases, when the data are considered to be particularly weak, it is not included in the Central Database to avoid possible misinterpretation by users. The MAC team also produces the following products: Operational Guidelines: Annual exercise where country teams calculate their Atlas $GNP per capita. The result determines IDA and IBRD loan eligibility. SAVEM: Annual report presented the results of the Unified Survey exercise. Compiled set of At-A-Glance tables. Live Database and Briefings (LDB) tools: A powerful tool for economic and social data management. RMSM-X: A macroeconomic modeling tool for facilitating the forecasting, monitoring, and analysis of financial flows of developing countries. The MAC team also provides the following TA services: Economic Statistics training: the purpose of this course is to provide understanding of major statistical concepts and the underlying indicators of the LDB system. RMSM-X training: this course provides background information as well as hands-on training on working with the RMSM-X. It provides training in the field as well as in headquarters and works together with the country officials to adapt the model to country specific characteristics and helps with the initial running of their RMSM-X model. The country officials are invited to stay in contact with the team as to receive further guidance and future upgrades. Live Database training: this valuable course allows users to apply the LDB to realistic scenarios in hands-on exercises. Macro data services: includes assistance with methodology; informal advice; one-onone training; validations. Macro modeling services. Recently the MAC team has expanded its area of coverage with the inclusion of International Comparison Program (ICP) into its activity list. In ICP, the DECDG and the MAC team provide technical and financial assistance to member countries in order to conduct price and 15

16 expenditure surveys. It also helps member countries compare their studies and learn from each other. Countries that have participated in ICP have improved their price collection and compilation processes by developing detailed specifications of items and designing standardized survey framework. The ICP procedure allows countries to generate a consistent set of data that can be used for cross regional price comparisons. Recently, the ICP initiative completed three activities: (i) update of the Bank's data base on "purchasing power of currencies" with the 1993 survey data for 61 countries in Africa, Europe and OECD; (ii) surveys in nine Middle Eastern countries, a draft report on the results and a seminar to discuss the report; and (iii) two research papers by consultants on time extrapolation and on methods of linking regional ICP results. The surveys in the Caribbean, Latin American, ESCAP and Europe Group III (Eastern Europe and Central Asia) regions are complete. The data base has been expanded and globally linked for over 120 countries. 2. The Financial Data Team (FIN) is maintaining the Debtor Reporting System (DRS), set up in 1951 to monitor statistics on the external debt, for which the World Bank is the sole repository. The FIN Team, together with the staff of the World Bank s International Economics, and with support of the MAC team, is producing one of the most important WB publications, Global Development Finance, which contains unique data on the external debt of the 136 countries that report public and publicly guaranteed debt under the DRS. The external debt data produced by the FIN team are also used in other WB publications, such as WDI, as well as for operational and research purposes. The FIN team recently completed expanding the DRS coverage. As the spectrum of financial instruments available to member borrowing countries has widened, the team has systematically evaluated the various new debt financing instruments/techniques with a view to including these items in the expanded coverage of the DRS. The Team has also evaluated the best way to capture information on the newer financial instruments, as well as show how to record the cash flows, obligations, and changes in contractual obligations of these instruments in DRS system. The FIN Team is also providing support to the clients on Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA) through data reconciliation missions, which reconcile differences between the DRS data and that of other international organizations i.e., the IMF, and special data extracts. The FIN team also provides Integrated Technical Assistance aimed at monitoring and analyzing international financial flows to member countries; debt sustainability and the management of private capital flows with advice on debt management and external financing strategies. The overall aim of the assistance is to enhance services and client-orientation, to improve the relevance of research and to increase effectiveness through a more targeted product design and dissemination strategy. 3. Client Services (CS) Team serves as the front desk of the DECDG and performs many functions in disseminating and marketing the DECDG s published and unpublished products. The CS team provides information services to external and internal clients and advertising on all DECDG products through our 800 number, fax number and address. It records all query transactions carried out in order to report on areas of greatest interest and comments and 16

17 suggestions from users. The team also assists with design and development of new and existing products, paying particular attention to user needs, and contributes quality control and other production services to the full range of products. The CS team coordinates internal dissemination and works with the Office of the Publisher to optimize worldwide marketing and dissemination efforts. 4. Information and Systems Services (ISS) and Systems Upgrade (SU) Team derives its mission from the statistical data management business process renewal effort completed in 1995 that highlighted opportunities offered by modern information technology to improve DECDG information products and services. Migration of development data into accessible and user-friendly electronic form, much improved over the earlier isolated, costly, and inconvenient mainframe systems, greatly broadens accessibility and lets non-specialists compile complex information with little support. The new systems also modernize resource-intensive data entry procedures, and have built-in quality control measures to reduce repetitive data reviews. They are used in DECDG, elsewhere in the Bank, and by borrower countries and other international organizations. The Team s systems expertise is in managing technology for three major categories of information, debt and finance, socio-economic, and trade data. These families of information are characterized by their time-series character, by their multi-dimensional relationships, and by the need to keep complicated definitional, procedural, and provenance metadata. Its staff are experts at statistical information system planning, design and development. The Team works with innovative but standardized technology now commanding dominant market-shares, including Web technology, common Microsoft packages such as Excel, Access and SQL Server; and advanced languages such as Visual Basic, VBA and C++. The SU team has completed the migration of socio-economic databases to the Development Indicators Datastore, a streamlined BESD that simplifies access and use. Initial versions of the Indicator Update Analysis and Reporting System, an adaptation and reuse of LDB technology, has been deployed in DECDG for use by the MAC Team. An initial set of Advanced Dissemination Tools components have been developed and are being packaged in a CD-ROM for the WDI Team for release shortly after the turn of the year. The Debt Sustainability Model Plus, a debt management tool redevelopment, has been completed and is currently being tested. PC TARS, a simplified access system for trade data, is under design. Redevelopment of the New External Debt Reporting System has been initiated and offshore procurement of programming assistance is contemplated. 5. World Development Indicators (WDI) Team of DECDG in collaboration and consultation with other teams produces most of the Bank's regular socio-economic statistical publications: the World Bank Atlas, World Tables, World Development Indicators. The WDI team has expanded WDI to present the World Bank's data, and that of other many international partners, in an entirely new context. The new WDI puts unprecedented emphasis on the quality and comparability of data, with technical notes integrated into the table presentation. The tables are also accompanied by charts and graphs and, in some cases, 17

18 interpretative essays. In keeping with the DECDG s commitment to partnership, the Team included a separate section featuring the logos and mission statements of international partners and "thumbnail" copies of their major statistical publications. In addition, WDI team s expertise in statistics and data is a valuable asset in identifying and mapping problem areas in member countries statistical systems. 6. Technical Assistance in Statistics (TAS) team offers technical assistance to member countries in need to create an adequate statistical base for the analysis of economic, financial and social developments necessary to guide policy making. TAS team also contributes to the creation of new information in measuring and using indicators, and to development of new methods in implementation of them by preparing and presenting papers in conferences, seminars and workshops. The work of the TAS team is basically focused on TA in institutional capacity building in statistics, but the team also works on producing new knowledge in statistics or in other words theoretical works and guidelines for applications. Recently, the TAS team of DECDG successfully completed a number of projects in the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan and Lithuania to enhance the SNA methodology and revise annual GDP figures for the period of transition. These projects, financed with World Bank IDF Grants, were very well received by the respective governments and gave way to other projects for improvement of statistical systems. Currently, the TAS team is carrying out statistical projects of different dimensions in Kyrgyz Republic, Lithuania, Moldova, Mongolia, Macedonia, Russian Federation, and Uzbekistan. New projects for Croatia, India and Ukraine are under preparation. Two of the these projects under preparation, Russia and India, entail the comprehensive development and restructuring of the State Statistical System, which covers all aspects of statistical reform, and will financed by self standing sectoral investment loans. In order to develop closer collaboration and co-operation in the field of statistics DECDG and its TAS team have made major efforts through technical contributions, advisory counsel and attendance, selectively, at international meetings, to establish sounder and more valued partnerships with other agencies and countries. These efforts have helped to reinstate the Bank's and DECDG's authority and leadership in several key statistical areas like national accounts, International Comparison Program (ICP), debt, poverty monitoring and income distribution and environmental accounting. On the whole, DECDG has a wide variety of expertise and experience both to map trouble spots in statistical systems all over the world and to assist member countries in improving their statistical capabilities. In addition to its expertise and capacity to undertake such missions, DECDG has the capacity to procure outside assistance in the form of consultants, as needed. Further, DECDG s connection and networks with other international and national statistical systems such as the IMF, EUROSTAT, OECD, UNSTAT, Census Bureau, Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the U.S., Statistics Canada, central statistical offices in European countries and Australia enhances its capabilities to help member countries 18