Implementing GSBPM in the Danish NSI

Transcription

1 EFFICIENT STATISTICAL PRODUCTION SESSION A Implementing GSBPM in the Danish NSI Rasmus Anker Kristiansen Statistics Denmark

2 Implementing GSBPM in the Danish NSI Rasmus Anker Kristiansen Statistics Denmark has in recent years been adopting the use of the GSBPM (Ge-neric Statistical Business Process Model) as an enterprise architecture tool, for documenting the work flows connected to the NSIs statistical products. The initial adoption of a business process model in 2010 was based on the 2009 version 4.0 of the GSBPM. In light of recent changes to the model from version 4.0 to version 5.0, Statistics Denmark is currently working on implementing these changes into the Danish adoption of the model. The purpose of implementing GSBPM is both to use the model as a mean to fulfil the quality related principles of the European Statistical Code of Practice, but also a strategical effort to capitalize on efficiency gains in the statistical production in the future through standardization. The long term ambition for the project is to integrate the use of the model into both IT, production of statistical products, metadata and for documentation purposes. The present paper will be based on experiences gained from implementing GSBPM in the Danish producer price indices, which are being produced under regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council (EC). With this paper we will: - Give the participants insight into our work on implementing GSBPM - Share the gained expertise on how to standardize statistical production - Share practices when implementing GSBPM standards in the NSI - Show how to improve the quality of statistical products Key words: GSBPM, process, documentation, quality

3 1. Introduction The statistical business process model in Statistics Denmark is a Danish adoption of the joint UNECE, Eurostat and OECD generic statistical business pro-cess model (GSBPM) version 5.0. The model was developed as an international standard which describes and defines a set of business processes needed to produce official statistics. It provides a standard framework and harmonized terminology to help statistical organizations modernize their production pro-cesses, as well as to share methods and components. 2. Background As stated in the 2020 Strategy for Statistics Denmark; standard solutions will be given high priority entailing that identical tasks are managed in a homogeneous manner. Great attention will be focused on our processes to deliver more and better statistics using fewer resources. The production system must be efficient, structured to meet future requirements and serve as platform for product innovation. 3. Why GSBPM? There are many reasons why we want to document statistical production processes in Statistics Denmark, which basically can be compressed into three main topics. We do it because we want to (1) improve the quality of statistics, (2) make the statistical production process more efficient and (3) create a frame for analysis and gradual improvement. 3.1 Quality Firstly, there are quality related reasons, namely that the quality of our statistical products depends on two factors; the quality of the data we receive from data providers and the quality of the processes by which we treat these data. Consistent and trans-parent production processes are therefore essential to maintain a consistent quality and for the causes of errors to be identified, assessed and eliminated. Also, documenting the statistical production processes is a cornerstone in the Eurostat Quality Assurance Framework (QAF) as an activity to facilitate the implementation of the European Statistical Code of Practice (CoP). 3.2 Efficiency Secondly, there are efficiency related reasons that brings together two core issues. The first being; to what degree are tasks in one part of the organization dependent on the availability and quality of data from other parts of the organization? This is particularly relevant in the production of the national accounts. The second issue being; if we are many who perform similar tasks, why do we all do it differently?

4 There are major efficiency gains to be had by applying best practices and using standardized datasets and uniform production procedures for similar tasks. Furthermore, these should be supported by common IT systems. There is a particularly strong incentive to implement coordinated process management in a process heavy statistical institution, as most of the products are delivered through a variety of activities that are repeated for each reference period. 3.3 A frame for analysis and gradual improvement The third reason is based on that it is difficult to improve something which is not de-scribed. Similarly, we cannot improve something if we don t have a measure of where we want to go. A process model can help us create this framework. Also, it can assist us with a common conceptual, methodological and organizational reference for describing, analysing and disseminating our statistical products. Finally, it provides a tool to ease and facilitate the training of new employees and at the same time to extract knowledge from experienced experts before it s too late. 4. Understanding the model Put simply, the eight phases in the model can be split into two parts. Phases 1 through 3 are phases which concerns the establishment of the statistic or when changes to the current setup are made. E.g. when designing the sample frame or when a new administrative data source becomes available. Phases 4 through 8 are recurring phases which are iterated when producing output every reference period i.e. the actual data collection, data processing, analysis and dissemination of output. Figure 1. The Generic Statistical Business Process Model (GSBPM)

5 4.1 Not a linear process Certain elements of the process model may be more relevant in one type of process than others, due to the data sources or the output produced. Certain elements also overlap one another, which sometimes require the process steps to be repeated, i.e., an iterative process. The process model must therefore be understood in a flexible way. It is not to be understood as a rigid framework wherein the steps are taken in a particular order. Rather it should be consid-ered a model that identifies the steps in the statistical production process and their mutual dependencies. Figure 2. GSBPM as a non-linear model 5. How GSBPM? The real challenge, when moving from theory to practice, is to create applicable tools for using the process model in practice. In Statistics Denmark we have put two initiatives in place. The first being a GSBPM folder structure in the explorer and the second being a dynamic documentation output. If you want to acknowledge people who have contributed to your work you could do so in the end of this chapter, under a separate Acknowledgments title.

6 5.1 Folder structure The first thing we ve done is ask our statisticians to organize their working documents and files etc. in a folder structure similar to the process model. That is, collected raw data in 4.3, edited and imputed data in 5.4 and so on. Figure 3. GSBPM folder structure This way we create a common foothold for where what is allocated. Also, it makes it much more intuitive for employees to find data and other relevant material. However, this is a time consuming and often non-urgent process. 5.2 Dynamic documentation The second initiative is the process documentation itself. To ensure that the documentation will not be printed, stored and forgotten in a binder, we ve opt-ed to document the output as HTML. This way, the documentation will work as a local point-and-click website for the individual statistic. First step is to figure out if there are any steps in the model which are irrelevant and exclude them from the documentation. When this consideration has been made, the next step is doing the actual documentation of the processes underneath each of the headlines. For this, we have opted to use the BPMN software Enterprise Architect. The process documentation is made with classic BPMN principles, so the final documentation is universally understandable.

7 Figure 4. Eliminating irrelevant processes Putting this together gives an overview of each process step as illustrated in the figure below. Figure 5. BPMN documentation

8 The clever thing about the HTML output is, that you can add descriptions under each icon which you can point and click similarly to a website. It is even possible to take it a step further, and use the documentation as your production system, since executable programs, websites and documents etc. can be linked directly to the documentation output. 6. Motivating the use of GSBPM One of the main challenges we meet in the implementation of GSBPM in Statis-tics Denmark is getting employees to document the processes. This is by no means a task which should be taken lightly as it is time consuming and will need several revisions before it fully reflects reality. Most will know the processes by heart meaning that describing can also seem redundant. To motivate the progress we are initiating a set of actions. Firstly, the Danish adoption of the GSBPM v. 5.0 has been updated and revised. This update is based on the changes from the GSBPM v. 4.0 to 5.0, and with input from pilot cases. Second, we are making a tailored and more user friendly version of En-terprise Architect with a limited set of icons which has been translated into Danish. This initiative should be supplemented with introductory courses and ongoing support. Lastly, going forward, a number of statistical products will be undergoing quality reviews in relation to the code of practice and the quality assurance framework. One of the preparations for these quality reviews is mandatory process documentation for the individual statistical product.