1. Background

The data revolution has resulted in discussions in the statistical community on the future of official statistics, see Sæbø and Hoel (2023). There is a need to maintain the quality of official statistics and highlight the value of such statistics for the users. It is at the same time important to implement new developments to improve and keep up the relevance of official statistics. Possibilities are linked to new statistics, use of new data sources and possible extended roles of the statistical institutes within coordination, collaboration, and data stewardship.

The discussion on the role of National Statistical Institutes (NSIs) as data stewards has been grounded in the need for the statistical institutes to adapt to the data driven society and exploiting their comparative advantages to the best of both official statistics and the use of data. The need for communication with other disciplines and initiatives such as the open data movement has also contributed to this.

Several working groups and meetings have had this on the agenda during the last years, and the discussions continue. A group of countries, led by Estonia, prepared a paper on this topic for the Conference of European Statistics (CES) in 2019. This paper provided an overview of issues linked to the role of NSIs in public data governance and concluded that there was a need to find out what countries were currently doing or planned to do, aiming at considering the development of generic guidelines on the role of NSIs in the new data ecosystem.

Case studies presented in a background paper for the UN Statistical Commission in March 2021, revealed a range of approaches to data stewardship with different levels of involvement from the NSIs. A UN working group has been active since then to explore the development of guidance for NSIs on approaches to data stewardship. At the same time there is an UNECE task force on the same topic.

The paper addresses the possible role as data stewards for national statistical institutes. Dilemmas in defining the roles of statistical institutes are considered. The paper includes examples from Statistics Norway.

2. What is data stewardship?

In brief, data stewardship can be defined as the responsibility to manage a data ecosystem, in cooperation with data providers, users (of data and statistics) and other stakeholders including possible other data stewards. The objective is to improve the use of data and statistics in the society.

A data ecosystem can be defined as a system in which several actors interact with each other to produce, exchange, and utilize data, statistics and analyses.

It is useful to distinguish between three types of data ecosystems in the discussion on data stewardship and the role of NSIs:

  • An internal system confined to one institution.
  • The system of data and statistics normally coordinated by the NSI, possibly in cooperation with other producers of official statistics.
  • The system of data and statistics covering the whole public sector and possible even beyond to address all data in the society.

Some of the definitions and role descriptions of data stewards apply to the institutional level. In the discussion on the NSI role these are not so relevant even if there might be useful principles that can be applied on the other levels.

Most NSIs already are responsible for managing the data ecosystem linked to the production of official statistics, which we can call the statistical data ecosystem. This comprises source data necessary to produce such statistics, including data from and on persons, businesses and organisations and data from public administrative registers. Access to such data is normally based on statistical legislation which underlines the NSIs’ responsibility to coordinate the national statistical system. In addition to using data for production of official statistics and analyses, data can be shared with the scientific community under strict conditions to ensure confidentiality.

Modern statistical legislation clarifies that the obligation to provide data for the production of official statistics includes data not only on the party with a duty to report, but also other data for which the party has a right of disposal. Access to privately held new or big data may still be a challenge. However, in conclusion the NSIs generally are data stewards for the statistical data ecosystem. The discussion should concentrate on possible extensions of this role.

Only a few NSIs are assigned the role as data stewards for the whole complete public sector, also by national legislation. In New Zealand, the Chief Executive of Statistics, the Government Statistician, is also the Government Chief Data Steward. In addition to the statistical functions, he is responsible for developing a legal framework and standards for data exchange, promoting knowledge transfer and steering the dissemination of open data by the government.

In some countries, such as Switzerland and Estonia, the NSI has some data steward roles beyond the statistical data ecosystem. However, in Switzerland the data steward is located in the Federal Statistical Office but outside the statistical domain. In Estonia, even if the NSI is the national data steward, the chief data officer is the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, see Saura, Gomez and Canovas (2022).

There are several case studies, among them also one carried out by Eurostat in 2021. While few NSIs have the full responsibility for all public data as a national data steward, many hold this role for data used for official national statistics, including access to administrative data, sharing of data, privacy protection and coordination of the national statistical system. Almost all European NSIs collaborate extensively with other government bodies on issues related to data and information management processes. This may be prescribed in the statistical legislation, but it varies between countries.

A full responsibility for an NSI to be a national data steward will probably require a basis in legislation. In many countries other institutions are assigned to this role. In Norway the national data steward is the Norwegian Digitalisation Agency, an institution Statistics Norway has a close cooperation with. For the NSIs in general to aim for taking this role in competition with other public institutions can damage the cooperative climate and thus work against its purpose. It also have risks linked to mixture of roles (see below). However, collaboration and some extensions of the NSIs traditional roles (i.e., on promoting standards, data knowledge and literacy) may be a feasible way forward.

3. The Norwegian case

The role of Statistics Norway as the central institution in the national statistical system is believed to be typical. According to the Norwegian Statistics Act, Statistics Norway shall coordinate all development, production, and dissemination of official statistics in Norway.

Important activities and coordination measures supporting a stewardship role within the frameworks of official statistics production encompass the following activities:

Coordination of the statistical system

  • Development of a multiannual national programme that defines and delimits official statistics.

-The programme is drawn up in consultation with the Committee for Official Statistics which is an advisory body consisting of producers of official statistics together with some important owners of administrative registers. This committee consists of 32 public institutions of which 15 produce official statistics in addition to Statistics Norway (who counts for about 85 percent). The first programme was valid for the period 2021 – 2023, a new programme for 2024 - 2027 (in Norwegian) was approved by the Government in 2023.

  • The members of the Committee for Official Statistics exchange experiences and develop competence on statistical matters, also through a subgroup that discusses methodological issues.
  • The coordination comprises quality control of all official statistics.
  • Use of statistical standards is promoted.

Data collection

  • Statistics Norway uses more than 100 administrative registers from about 30 public institutions as a basis for its production of official statistics.

-There are agreements of cooperation with these institutions, and structured quality reports exist for all registers used for production of statistics.

  • Statistics Norway collects all data from the municipalities to central authorities on behalf of these, using the same data for statistics on public services.

Dissemination of statistics and data

  • Official statistics are available for free at the homepage ssb.no as news, analyses and through the statistical data base (Statbank Norway).

-The Statbank includes API service with open data, classifications and code lists and is constantly further developed. All use of data is free.

  • Pseudonymized microdata are available under specific conditions:

-Microdata.no provides infrastructure for research and analyses, for extract of anonymized microdata.

-Researchers can also access microdata under specific conditions according to agreements with Statistics Norway ensuring confidentiality.

Collaboration beyond the statistical system

  • Statistics Norway collaborates actively with many other government bodies, also the national data steward (The Norwegian Digitalisation Agency) on developing digitized public services, also to the benefit of official statistics.

-One example is the “a-melding” (electronic dialogue with employers) based on a machine-to-machine solution. Statistics Norway collaborated with other public authorities to develop the solution which has simplified the employers’ communication with the different authorities.

  • Statistics Norway has the intention of extended collaboration within our role as producer of official statistics, for example on promoting numeracy and statistical literacy in the society.

4. Risks

A statistical institute is dependent on trust, both from the authorities and the public. Mixture of roles may harm trust to a statistical institute even if trust may also be an argument for extending its role as well.

Data stewardship roles involve promotion of data exchange that may go beyond their main role of producing official statistics and sharing of microdata under specific conditions. In some countries including Norway trust in the NSI is high. This regards both its role as an independent and impartial producer of facts, and its ability to respect and protect privacy by keeping data used to produce statistics confidential.

Extension of Statistics Norway’s role to exchange and disseminate data in addition to statistics involves a risk of reducing trust. A close example is the efforts to utilise privately held data on third parties for official statistics in Statistics Norway. The statistics act authorizes such access. However, in a project to use receipts from grocery stores linked to bank transaction data as a basis for a new household budget survey there has been massive protest both from data holders and the public. The Data Protection Agency has decided to forbid this because of possible privacy implications with reference to the Personal Data Act/GDPR. They mean that the data collection authority in the Statistics Act is applied too broadly for collecting such large amounts of personal data. It is a challenge to explain that data will only be used for official statistics describing groups and not individuals. The public debate focuses on surveillance.

The conflation of data and statistics is probably one of the reasons why it is challenging to explain that official statistics do not threaten privacy. An extended role for the NSI as national data steward will not make tasks like this easier.

5. Data stewardship and core values of official statistics

There has been a discussion in the international statistical community about core values for official statistics, following the 69th plenary session of the Conference of European Statisticians (CES) in 2021. The aim of selecting and communicating core values is to promote trust in official statistics.

A set of core values was endorsed by the CES session in 2022, following a proposal from a task team:

  • Relevant
  • Impartial
  • Transparent
  • Professionally independent
  • Respects confidentiality
  • Collaborative

Official statistics must be relevant. The values covering impartiality, transparency, professional independence, and protection of privacy are largely specific for official statistics, while collaborative points at the direction producers of official statistics should go.

The core values are anchored in the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics (FPOS), quality frameworks and newer statistical legislation. FPOS does not mention professional independence explicitly, but indirectly by focusing on professional and scientific principles and ethics.

The core values may anyhow serve as a summary of FPOS. The linkages of data stewardship and FPOS have also been discussed in the CES session in 2022. There seems to be no contradiction between the FPOS principles and a role as data steward for the statistical data ecosystem. An extended data stewardship role beyond the statistical system should also benefit from these principles and the core values.

The FPOS recommendations on professional standards, ethics and on prevention of misuse of statistics are also just as relevant if statistics are replaced by data. Stewards must promote data literacy to support the correct interpretation of information. However, how a data stewardship role beyond official statistics is interpreted may challenge some of the core values, such as (precisely) professional independence. In the quality frameworks such as the European Statistics Code of Practice this value is closely linked to legislation and procedures for recruitment and dismissal of the head of the statistical institute.

6. Conclusions

The NSI’s involvement with data stewardship tasks vary, though most of them hold this role for the national statistical system. “No size fits all” is an obvious observation and a possible conclusion from the international working groups or task forces discussing data stewardship roles for NSIs.

To take an active role in collaboration with other public authorities, quality assurance, data sharing, teaching, and explaining statistical literacy in the society is natural for the NSIs within the frames of their traditional role. Most of these extensions of the role of an NSI are relevant regardless of the legislative basis. However, legalisation and organisation of the public sector may delimit how far the role can be extended.

The following measures should ensure that official statistics will continue to be fit for purpose and matter in a world of data:

-Stick to core values of official statistics, based on new statistical legislation and frameworks for quality assurance of official statistics.

-Promote both continuous quality improvements (e.g., timeliness and granularity of statistics), and innovation.

-Effective coordination of the national statistical system.

-Data sharing given confidentiality and information security.

-Promote data and statistics literacy.

-Collaboration as a key linking the core values, innovation, coordination, and possible new roles of the NSIs.

 

References

Sæbø, H.V. and Hoel, M. (2023): Official statistics – Quo vadis? Statistical Journal of the IAOS, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 39-45, 2023

Saura, A. C, Gomez; Y; Canovas, A. (2022): Data stewardship: To be, or not to be, that is the question, European conference on quality in official statistics, Vilnius 7 – 9 June 2022. Available at: https://q2022.stat.gov.lt/scientific-information/papers-presentations/session-37