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I. INTRODUCTION
1. The basic functions of a statistical agency
include collection, dissemination and analysis
of statistics. In order to function efficiently
and effectively, the agency must plan, monitor
and coordinate its activities, develop survey
frames, standards, classifications, and improve
methodologies. These are some of the functions
commonly found in National Statistical Offices
(NSOs), but in some cases entities within the
national statistical systems also maintain registers
of population and vital events.
2. This paper focusses on the topic of statistical
coordination, largely drawing upon earlier
studies and the prepared and/or published material
collected from 14 members and associate members
of ESCAP 1 The following countries/areas sent
material: Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia,
Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan, Malaysia, New
Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of
Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Statistics
Division of ESCAP is grateful to these countries
for their cooperation and efforts in preparing
and making available useful material.. It discusses
the role of statistical coordination and reviews
various coordination arrangements that exist
in selected countries. The paper looks at legislative
and other mandates on coordination, organizational
structures, national coordination bodies, linkages
among various entities within the organization
and with the users of data, instruments of coordination,
and coordination on training. The Working Group
is requested to review the state of statistical
coordination arrangements in the countries/areas
of the ESCAP region and make recommendations
for improving those processes.
II. STATISTICAL
COORDINATION
3. Many national statistical services in the
Asian and Pacific region have introduced organizational
changes at one point or another - in some cases
drastic transformations have occurred as a follow
up to organizational reviews. The process of
change continues as more and more national statistical
agencies formally address the issues of identifying
their mission, defining goals and specifying
attainable objectives. In this process the need
for effective coordination of the activities
of various statistical entities has been repeatedly
stressed, especially when greater decentralization
is introduced. Coordination is critical, both
internally and externally and irrespective of
the way the national statistical service is
organized. The following are some of the objectives
which would be difficult to achieve in the absence
of effective coordination within the statistical
service:
- To ensure a maximum
of integration in the statistical process
and in its outputs
- To realize the full
potential of personnel and other resources
in providing quality services
- To promote the use
of appropriate and effective methods in the
collection and production of statistics
- To apply common standards
and best methodology
- To identify and define
statistical priorities and requirements
- To meet the demand
for statistics effectively and efficiently
- To ensure maximum cooperation
of data providers
- To take full account
of the load enquiries place on providers of
data
- To improve awareness
of the importance of statistics
- To make data available
according to the important themes and priorities
of the government and the community
- To identify gaps in
national statistics
- To promote statistical
development
4. In practice coordination involves establishment
of meaningful and effective linkages among various
entities and units within the national statistical
service and conscious contributions to the bigger
picture by all concerned. Depending on the organizational
structure, communication arrangements and coordination
mechanisms, coordination also means that the
organizational units and managers play an active
role in contributing to various processes, such
as those of priority setting, effective utilization
of common resources, harmonization and integration
of statistics and the use of common standards.
III. LEGISLATIVE AND
OTHER MANDATES AND DIRECTIVES ON COORDINATION
5. It is generally felt in the countries of
the region that effective coordination among
all units of government statistical service
requires statutory sanctions. Legislation designating
a central coordinating agency is considered
desirable as it enables the agency to exercise
a measure of influence, and even professional
control, in statistical matters over all statistical
units in other government departments. Without
such provision it would be difficult for the
statistical agency to secure cooperation from
those entities which are outside its hierarchical
control. For example, in the Republic of Korea
in June 1995 there were 97 agencies conducting
or compiling statistics from 370 surveys or
statistical operations. Another reason for a
legislative mandate on coordination may be to
ensure provision in the national budget for
adequate resources for statistical coordination
activities. After all, the exchange of information
is an important prerequisite for coordination,
requiring resources for travel, communication,
and organization of meetings and conferences.
6. In most of the countries/areas of the ESCAP
region, various aspects of official statistics
are covered through legislative provisions,
such as Ordinances or Acts. The nature and coverage
of these laws vary from country to country -
from a lone census act to comprehensive statistical
legislation. Frequently these provisions provide
authority for conducting population and housing
censuses, collecting other designated statistics,
and putting in place measures for confidentiality
protection. Also, the national statistical agency
is usually designated a statutory authority
which in many cases is directly under a Minister
or Office of the Prime Minister (such as in
Australia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand), while
in some cases the agency head reports directly
to the President (such as in Indonesia). Many
of these statistical acts and laws require the
national statistical agency, or its head, to
ensure coordination of the operations of official
bodies in the collection and compilation of
statistics (this is the case in Australia, Japan,
New Zealand and the Republic of Korea). In other
cases, for important collections, such as for
mandatory surveys in Hong Kong, the legislature
must be satisfied with the demand for information
as reasonable. In New Zealand it is mandatory
for the Department of Statistics to hold consultations
with data users, where legislation requires
a minimum level of consultation via a five-yearly
conference.
7. In Japan the Law to establish the Management
and Coordination Agency (MCA), promulgated in
1983, established MCA as an independent organization
of the Prime Minister's Office with a number
of important statistical coordinating functions,
including development of statistics and standards,
statistical research and training, dissemination
and publicity of statistical knowledge, provision
of assistance and subsidies to local statistical
units, and examination of survey plans and designs.
8. In 1986 a comprehensive review of the Philippines
Statistical System (PSS) was conducted which,
among other things, recognized the absence of
a strong coordinating mechanism which gave rise
to the problems of duplication of activities,
conflicting statistics, data gaps and undue
burden on respondents. On the recommendations
of the committee which conducted that review,
the National Statistical Coordination Board
(NSCB) was created in the Philippines under
an Executive Order giving a range of powers
and functions to NSCB, including the authority
to formulate policies on all matters relating
to government statistical operations, approve
the statistical development plan, prescribe
uniform standards and classification systems
in the government statistics, and establish
appropriate mechanisms for statistical coordination
at the regional, provincial and city levels.
IV. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
9. Although the organization of national statistical
systems is often classified as centralized or
decentralized, such characterization can only
be relative. In practice it would be difficult
to find systems that fit either extreme. National
statistical systems may have a high degree of
centralization (such as in Australia, Indonesia,
New Zealand) or be predominantly decentralized
(such as in Japan, the Republic of Korea and
Singapore), or be part centralized and part
decentralized (such as in Pakistan and the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland).
In the case of Japan, the system is decentralized
at the national level, as each ministry or agency
has a division for statistical activities. However,
a centralized statistical system is adopted
at the local level, whereby the statistical
divisions of the perfectural and municipal governments
take charge of all statistical activities.
10. Many countries favour centralization of
certain functions, particularly those concerning
coordination, integration and priority setting.
It is also considered advantageous to have some
degree of centralization in other operations
and functions - such as development of statistical
standards and classifications, database development,
information dissemination, and in setting acceptable
standards for training and recruitment.
11. An examination of the organizational charts
of various national statistical systems suggests
that usually a central unit is identified as
responsible for coordination, but the relative
importance of that unit in the system varies
according to its location in the hierarchical
setup and the significance that is accorded
to its activities under the legislation or by
the government. In Australia, there are six
divisions in the Central Office, one of which
is Coordination and Management Division. Within
the regional and state offices, there are a
number of functional units such as National
Project Centers (NPCs), Client Service/ Consultancy
Units and Statistical Units. Because there is
a need for coordinated approaches across the
different collections, more statistical units
are located in the Central Office of ABS. In
the case of the Republic of Korea, the Statistical
Coordination Division of the Statistical Planning
Bureau in the National Statistical Office is
responsible for approving the compilation of
statistics, dissemination of results and improvement
of statistics as authorized under the statistics
law.
12. In some instances, the head of the main
statistical agency is the government's chief
adviser on all statistical matters as well as
the head of the government statistical service
(GSS), such as in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom.
In the United Kingdom, the Director of the main
statistical agency, the Central Statistical
Office (CSO), also has a role as head of the
statistics profession for all government statisticians.
The recruitment of all professional statisticians
for over thirty government departments and agencies
is coordinated centrally by CSO, which enables
the Head of GSS to exercise influence to ensure
the implementation of common and high standards.
In Hong Kong, the statistical service comprises
the Census and Statistics Department (CSD) and
the statistical units established in various
government departments, all of which are functionally
supervised by the Commissioner of CSD. Within
CSD, the hierarchical structure is formed in
such a way to facilitate statistical coordination.
Given the nature of statistical work, with frequently
complicated inter-relationships amongst various
subject areas, intensive efforts of senior staff
of the Department are called for despite the
fact that the organizational structure is considered
quite optimal.
13. In the Malaysian system, which is considered
to be largely centralized but has recently initiated
decentralization of data collection and processing,
the Chief Statistician of the Department of
Statistics (DOS) is the head of the national
statistical service. All censuses and surveys
conducted on a nation-wide basis are the responsibility
of the Department of Statistics. The various
other government ministries and departments
may have their own statistical and research
units but the statistics they collect and compile
are mostly by-products of the administrative
process. Statistical cadre posts in other ministries
and departments are filled from the national
statistical service. The activities of the Department
are organized according to four sectors: common
user services sector; manpower and prices sector;
trade and industry sector; and coordination
and support sector. In addition, the Department
has 13 branches at the State level. Besides
these branches, there are also operations offices
which were established to further facilitate
the collection of information on the ground.
The activities of the branches and operations
offices are coordinated directly by the Communications
and Operations Division at the headquarters.
All divisions, branches and operations offices
have close working relationships with one another
towards fulfilling the Department's objectives
and mission.
V. NATIONAL COORDINATION
BODY
14. The review of some of the organizational
structures of the national statistical systems
suggests that for ensuring effective statistical
coordination, minimizing duplication and reducing
the reporting load, the presence of a central
coordinating agency or body is considered desirable.
As indicated above, Japan and Philippines came
to that conclusion after an organizational review.
In the Philippines the activities of NSCB are
directed by a policy-making Executive Board.
The Statistics Council in Japan, whose members
are appointed by the Prime Minister, provides
advice to MCA and contributes very significantly
to the comprehensive coordination of the government
statistical service.
15. In Australia, ABS has, as part of its
charter, a responsibility for coordinating Commonwealth
activity in statistics. With the agreement of
the State Governments, ABS also performs these
roles at the State level. The Australian Statistics
Advisory Council, established under the ABS
Act of 1975, reviews the Forward Work Programme
before it is submitted to the Minister. This
work programme, before going to the Advisory
Council, is extensively examined by the senior
management of ABS and takes into account relative
priorities and competing resource requirements.
16. In Hong Kong, a Statistics Advisory Board
is appointed by the Government, comprising statistical
scientists, economists, sociologists, trade
association personnel, entrepreneurs, senior
employees from various sectors and selected
government officials. The board advises on work
plans of the Department and, given its composition,
is able to provide opinions from the points
of view of statistics users, raw data providers,
methodology researchers and so on. Coordination
is one issue which is often addressed. A Committee
on Statistics, serviced by CSD, is also formed
comprising senior officials from various government
departments. Its purpose is to ensure that statistics
required for policy formulation and analysis
across the Government are produced and are available
in a form best suited to such needs.
17. In Malaysia two important committees,
namely the Statistics Steering Committee and
the Main Users Committee, were established in
March 1988 with the view to determining guidelines,
policy and priorities in statistical activities.
The terms of reference of the Statistics Steering
Committee are : to determine guidelines and
policy of DOS; to coordinate activities related
to the collection and dissemination of statistics
carried out by Government agencies; and to provide
guidelines towards an effective national information
system. The Main User Committee coordinates
at the technical level the collection and dissemination
of statistics by Government agencies in order
to ensure the efficient and effective utilization
of available resources; the use of standard
concepts, definitions and classifications; the
use of appropriate and effective methods in
the collection and production of statistics;
the minimization of duplication; and the production
of quality and timely data. This committee also
sets up technical working groups for specific
statistical activities. In addition, statistical
coordination committees have also been set up
in Malaysia at the state level to further enhance
the close cooperation among the government agencies.
18. In Pakistan, statistical coordination
at the national level is done by the National
Statistical Council (NSC), constituted under
the General Statistics Act, 1975. Among other
things, the functions of NSC include : to coordinate
the work of the statistics authorities in the
country, to prioritize statistical projects,
to formulate schemes for avoiding duplication
in statistical work, to ensure efficient utilization
of resources, and to promote research and training
in statistics. The work of the Council is facilitated
by a Technical Advisory Committee which is further
assisted by various working groups and panels,
while the Statistics Division functions as the
secretariat of the NSC. Similarly, in the Republic
of Korea, the Statistical Council was established
as a consultative body for the Commissioner
of the National Statistical Office on matters
of statistical development, including matters
pertaining to the approval, suspension or alteration
of surveys and compilation of statistics.
VI. LINKAGES WITHIN
THE ORGANIZATION
19. The quality of internal communication
is another important factor influencing the
efficiency and effectiveness of the activities
and functions, including coordination, of a
national statistical office. One important element
in the horizontal dimension of a statistical
agency is its committee structure, which ensures
communication and exchange of information between
different divisions and departments within it,
in order to promote coordination and integration,
stimulate cooperation, and induce a feeling
of participation. The Committee structure may
include permanent committees, ad hoc committees,
task forces and working groups, whose length
of life, composition and agenda are determined
by their terms of reference. Informal meetings
are another vehicle for communication for strengthening
horizontal linkages. For vertical communication
there are numerous choices - such as circulation
of correspondence, documents and information
bulletins. However, the key is to implement
a clear, efficient and effective policy of communication.
The modern medium of E-mail cannot be overlooked
in this respect, where instructions, common
standards and tools can be made available to
the staff through the bulletin boards.
20. Some of the means of horizontal communication
as reported by countries/areas include:
- Formation of special
committees or working groups across sections
(Hong Kong)
- Periodic meetings of
the senior management (Australia)
- Occasional inter-office
conferences (Australia)
- Review of sales performance
and use of new technology by the senior management
(Australia)
- Regular meetings and
circulation of their notes (Hong Kong)
- Issuing of general
circulars; and circulation of departmental
newsletters, reports, copies of memos/letters
and the like (Hong Kong)
- The accountability
of each Divisional Manager for managing relationships
with internal and external suppliers and customers
of data (New Zealand)
- The designation of
a specific manager or coordinator for major
projects (New Zealand)
- The use of coordinating
committees, written statements and contracts
to formalize arrangements (New Zealand).
VII. LINKAGES
WITH PLANNERS AND OTHER USERS
21. The importance of good relationships between
the national statistical agency, suppliers of
data and users of statistics is commonly appreciated
among the national statistical offices of the
region. In Australia a substantial range of
activities provides the means of maintaining
close relationships with planners, clients and
other data users:
- Australian Statistics Advisory
Council
- advisory groups
- professional associations
- rolling programme of work
and evaluations
- market research
- outposting of staff
- client managers
- nurturing of relationships
with client organizations by senior managers
- statistical and information
consultancy
- newsletters
- market signals
- joint ventures
22. In Hong Kong, planners and users become
knowledgeable about the availability of statistics
through reference to a fairly large number of
statistical publications that are easily accessible.
CSD often takes the initiative to identify potential
statistical needs which the Government Statistical
Service may have to cater for. The Statistics
Advisory Board and the Committee on Statistics
are also quite instrumental in this aspect.
In carrying out new statistical projects, CSD
conducts wide consultations with potential users
both within the Government and in the community
generally.
VIII. INSTRUMENTS
OF COORDINATION
23. In discussing instruments of coordination,
a number of ideas have already emerged or have
been implied in earlier sections, including
consultation and communication under the committee
structure; functional centralization - such
as establishment of central units for design
of sample surveys, dissemination, analysis and
model building; and regulations making it compulsory
to obtain ministerial approval, or to notify
to the head of the government statistical service,
of plans to undertake certain type of surveys
or collections. The following is a list of some
of the tools currently being employed:
- Annual Conference of
Statisticians
- Provision of consultancy
services to other departments
- Outpostings
- Statistical survey
review and clearance system for all enquiries
with sample size of at least 200 establishments
and/or 500 households.
- Joint review of new
collections by NSO and the agency involved
- State level statistics
coordinating committees
- Seminars and training
courses organized by NSO
- Measures to encourage
other government departments to use standard
classifications developed by NSO.
IX. COORDINATION
OF STATISTICAL TRAINING
24. In Australia coordination of statistical
training of the ABS staff is the responsibility
of the ABS Training and Development (T and D)
Section. The ABS coordinates with several other
actors in statistical training - universities,
professional organizations and international
organizations.
25. In Malaysia a training unit responsible
for all matters pertaining to training was set
up in the Department of Statistics with the
objective of creating a trained and knowledgeable
statistical work force. In order to enhance
the effectiveness of the training programmes,
the Department works closely with the local
universities and training institutions such
as the National Institute of Public Administration,
to draw on their expertise in consolidating
the Department's training programmes.
26. The training of all statistical personnel
in the Government Statistical Service of Hong
Kong is centrally planned by CSD. It runs courses
and also sends staff to courses operated by
other institutions. The academic and research
institutions conduct statistics training activities
fairly independently. However, senior staff
of CSD are members of some of the advisory boards
of these institutions.
27. The Pakistan Institute of Statistical
Training and Research (PISTAR) was established
in 1987 to impart in-service training to the
statistical personnel of various departments
of the Federal and Provincial Governments.
28. There is a central training unit in the
Department of Statistics of New Zealand, while
close cooperation is maintained with academic
institutions.
X. DISCUSSION
29. The earlier sections discuss the importance
of statistical coordination and provide a review
of the statistical coordination arrangements
which currently exist in several countries/areas
of the region. It shows that considerable effort
has been spent in institutionalizing and strengthening
statistical coordination. However, in many instances
the available information does not permit a
clear understanding of the effectiveness of
the mechanisms in place. For instance, the establishment
of a national coordination body sanctioned by
legislation is a step in the right direction
but no improvements can be expected unless that
body meets regularly and promotes and monitors
statistical coordination.
30. Although no direct inputs were available
from the small island developing countries on
their statistical coordination arrangements,
this topic was discussed at the pre-conference
technical meeting held in conjunction with the
tenth Regional Conference of Statisticians organized
by the South Pacific Commission in September
1995. It was felt by several small island developing
countries that a centralized approach was necessary
for their statistical systems in order to raise
the profile/status of the NSO, to seek adequate
budget allocations and to provide a better focus
to their activities. While the NSOs in these
countries /areas appreciate the usefulness of
various coordination tools, the small size of
their organization makes it difficult to adopt
approaches such as outposting of statisticians
to other departments. However, in one case the
NSO was able to strengthen coordination by providing
attachment training to the staff from other
departments. Financial constraints also discourage
many developing countries in the Pacific from
placing due emphasis on specialization and coordination.
31. Although centralization, partial or otherwise,
is considered as a virtue for coordination,
country experiences suggest that in several
circumstances the influence of this factor alone
was not very strong in fostering effective coordination
arrangements. Obviously, there are other factors
at play which need to be investigated and understood
in each national circumstance. It appears that
the lack of adequate personnel and other resources,
and the low level of goodwill among the parties
concerned are two important impediments. The
Working Group is invited to discuss and give
its recommendations on ways in which the statistical
coordination arrangements within countries may
be strengthened. |
