ECLAC Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

1 FOR PARTICIPANTS ONLY REFERENCE DOCUMENT DDR/2 22 June 2012 ENGLISH ORIGINAL: SPANISH ECLAC Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean Eleventh meeting of the Executive Committee of the Statistical Conference of the Americas of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean Quito, 2-4 July 2012 REPORT ON STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES AND IMPROVEMENT ACTIONS FOUND IN THE SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONNAIRE MEASURED AGAINST THE PRINCIPLES OF THE REGIONAL CODE OF PRACTICE IN STATISTICS FOR LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN 2012-540

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION... 1 1. CONSOLIDATION OF STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES AND PROPOSED IMPROVEMENT INITIATIVES TO ECLAC... 4 1.1. Principle 2. Coordination of the national statistical system... 4 1.2. Principle 8. Cooperation and international participation... 6 1.3. Principle 9. Sound methodology... 8 1.4. Principle 12. Cost-effectiveness... 9 1.5. Principle 13. Relevance... 15 1.6. Principle 14. Accuracy and reliability... 17 1.7. Principle 15.Timeliness and punctuality... 18 1.8. Principle 16. Coherence y comparability... 20 2. PROPOSED ACTIVITIES... 22 2.1. Principle 2. Coordination of the national statistical system... 22 2.2. Principle 10. Appropriate statistical procedures... 23 2.3. Principle 12. Cost-effectiveness... 25 2.4. Principle 13.Relevance... 26 2.5. Principle 14. Accuracy and reliability... 26 2.6. Principle 15. Timeliness and punctuality... 27 2

INTRODUCTION The sixth meeting of the Statistical Conference of the Americas of the ECLAC in 2011, it was agreed that the Institutional Strengthening Working Group will continue its implementation activities of principles and good practices in the statistical activities of the region, since the approval of the Regional Code of Good Practices on statistics for Latin America and the Caribbean. The National administrative department of Statistics - DANE of Colombia, as coordinator of the working group for the periods 2010-2011 and 2012-2013, has carried out activities to verify compliance with each of the principles and criteria identified as best practices in the process of generating statistics. Therefore, the group elaborated the self-assessment questionnaire for ten (10) principles of the Code, in order to inquire about the current status, strengths, weaknesses and improvement actions against institutional environment and coordination, statistical processes and statistical outputs in the National Statistical Offices-NSO in the region. In order to carry out this activity, were invited to forty-three (43) members of the Conference of the Americas: nineteen (19) from Latin America and twenty four (24) from the Caribbean, of which fourteen (14) filled out the instrument as follows: Dominican Republic, Chile, Peru, Honduras, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Mexico, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Brazil, Paraguay, Bahamas, Panama and Colombia. The results of the current situation of the offices in terms of code compliance, was presented at the Sixth Session of the Conference. In this report, the group made a summary of the strengths, weaknesses and improvement proposals mentioned by the different offices with relation to compliance with the principles assessed. The report shows the proposed activities to the Conference of the Americas and the members, according to strengths the weaknesses found in offices in the region. 3

1. CONSOLIDATION OF STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES AND PROPOSED IMPROVEMENT INITIATIVES TO ECLAC The following information was made to consolidate the strengths, weaknesses and improvement initiatives proposals set out by each of the offices, this was based on the information supplied by National Statistical Offices through the form used in 2011. Below is listed information and the number at the end refers the number of offices that mentioned the issue over the total respondents offices. 1.1. Principle 2. Coordination of the national statistical system This will enable the statistics producing entities to plan and implement national statistical activity in a participatory manner, maintain close contact and work jointly to improve the quality, comparability and consistency of official statistics. a. Strengths 1. The national statistical offices have a framework legislation that coordinates the statistical activities of the country and is responsible for governing the National Statistical System. 6/14 2. The national statistical offices work in partnership with the advisory committees and inter-institutional meetings on issues related to coordination of National Statistical System. 5/14 3. The national statistical offices are regarded as experience and credibility institutions in the production of statistics. 5/14 4. The national statistical offices in the region have an organizational structure for coordinating statistical activities in the National Statistical. 2/14 5. The national statistical offices have highly skilled human resources in the areas of coordination of national statistical system. 2/14 6. The national statistical offices have a national strategic plan for prioritization of statistical production. 2/14 7. The national statistical offices have a specific unit responsible for directing and coordinating the national statistical system. 2/14 4

8. The National Statistical Office have strength in the use of nomenclatures and classifications, and in the process of integration of statistics in national infrastructure designed for that purpose. 1/14 b. Weaknesses 1. The national statistical offices have budget constraints that prevent extending the support to members of the national statistical system. 5/14 2. The national statistical offices have weaknesses to consolidate the national statistical system and the inter-institutional coordination. 3/14 3. The national statistical offices do not have a consistent legal framework to organize the national statistical system. 2/14 4. The national statistical offices do not have a national statistical plan that prioritizes the production of statistics according to the user information needs. 2/14 5. The national statistical offices do not have a specific unit responsible for coordinating and planning the production of national statistical system. 1/14 6. Lack of awareness by some stakeholders in statistical production, the need to regulate the national statistical activity. 1/14 7. The National Statistical Office does not have a National Statistics Council, to guide and lead the country's statistical activity. 1/14 8. The National statistical Office is government budget dependents, which limits the activities of the national statistical system. 1/14 9. The National Statistical Office has limited interference in the statistical production of the national statistical system, by not having full independence and an appropriate hierarchy. 1/14 10. The National Statistical Office does not have an information repository for the national statistical system. 1/14 11. The National Statistical Office does not include the academy, which does not allow the expansion of research and statistical analysis. 1/14 5

c. Improvement initiatives proposed 1. Advice and training to national statistical offices on the development of regulations, plans and programs and best practices for coordination and articulation of the national statistical system. 2. Hold discussions and raising awareness with political authorities about the importance of coordinating the national statistical system and strengthening of national statistical offices. 3. Promote the exchange of experiences between national statistical offices in the region that strengthen their roles in the coordination of national statistical systems. 1.2. Principle 8. Cooperation and international participation The entities belonging to the national statistical system must cooperate in the exchange of experiences and information and work jointly on the preparation of international statistical standards and activities. a. Strengths 1. The national statistical offices have a unit dedicated exclusively to technical cooperation. 4/14 2. The national statistical offices have trained and experienced human resources for International Cooperation issues. 4/14 3. The national statistical offices are active members of various international statistical organizations. 3/14 4. The national statistical offices participate in exchange events and experiences between experts at an international level. 3/14 5. The national statistical offices have achieved international recognition for due to the development and management of projects of statistical interest. 2/14 6. The national statistical offices are closely linked with experts from international organizations. 2/14 7. The National Statistical Office is currently playing a leading role in international activities. 1/14 8. The National Statistical Office has skills and expertise in international cooperation activities. 1/14 6

9. The National Statistical Office performs an excellent implementation of funds for cooperative activities. 1/14 10. The strategic plan of the National Statistical Office is aligned with the cooperation programs of international agencies. 1/14 11. The National Statistical Office maintains close coordination with the agencies responsible for coordinating international cooperation in the country. 1/14 12. The National Statistical Office applies international standards and recommendations on cooperation. 1/14 b. Weaknesses 1. The activities of international cooperation and participation of national statistical offices are limited by the availability of financial, physical and trained human resources. 7/14 2. The national statistical offices do not have an exclusive official unit responsible for the activities of international cooperation and participation. 2/14 3. The national statistical offices have weaknesses in the implementation of a knowledge-transmission program. 2/14 4. Officials of the national statistical offices (NSO) are not fluent in a second language. 2/14 5. The National Statistical Office has a limited knowledge of the supply of international cooperation. 1/1 6. The National Statistical Office does not perform the training of replacement, to strengthen cooperation and future participation of the entity. 1/14 7. The National Statistical Office does not monitor the training of employees who are collaborators of the institution. 1/14 8. The National Statistical Office is subject to the approval of the authority which is attached to regarding training needs and implementation of projects. 1/14 9. There is absence of a culture of coordination of international cooperation through a single unit inside the National Statistical Office. 1/14 c. Improvement initiatives proposed 1. Manage funding for the participation of regional national statistical offices in international activities. 7

2. Increase meetings to exchange information and experiences between offices through various mechanisms: face meetings, teleconferences, e-learning platforms and others, to achieve greater cooperation among the countries of the region under joint coordination of cooperation offices. 3. Be the spokesman for the region to the United Nations Statistical Commission on the issues discussed and approved by the Conference. 4. Disseminate through the RTC, lessons learned from working groups and countries on different topics. 1.3. Principle 9. Sound methodology The production of official statistics by the national statistical institute and the other members of the national statistical system must be based on sound instruments, procedures and expertise. a. Strengths 1. The national statistical offices use standards and methodologies adopted by international organizations. 7/14 2. The national statistical offices have experienced and highly trained staff in the fields of research and production of statistical methodologies and standards. 5/14 3. The national statistical offices have experience and technical ability in the use and updating of methodologies for statistical operations. 3/14 4. The national statistical offices document properly metadata from statistical operations. 2/14 5. The National Statistical Office reviews and evaluates continuously statistical methodologies and standards to be considered in the statistical process. 1/14 6. The National Statistical Office has a series of technical documents and considers manuals and international recommendations to strengthen the soundness of the methodologies. 1/14 7. The National Statistical Office works to strengthen the credibility achieved through the soundness of the methodologies. 1/14 8. The national statistical Office has statistical operations certified through the process of quality assurance. 1/14 8

b. Weaknesses 1. The national statistical offices make limited documentation of the methodological processes implemented in statistical production. 3/14 2. The national statistical offices have problems in the implementation of new methodologies or when methodological changes imply new results. 3/14 3. The national statistical offices have difficulty in standardizing the methodologies used by different areas of the entity. 2/14 4. The national statistical offices do not have a team of professionals dedicated to the study of methodological developments and updates. 2/14 5. The National Statistical Office has limitations in human, financial and physical resources. 1/14 6. Contributors to the national statistical office (NSO) are poorly trained. 1/14 7. The National Statistical Office do not include operational design issues in meetings of expert committees. 1/14 c. Improvement initiatives proposed 1. Generation and dissemination of guidelines, recommendations and best practices for strengthening the methodologies used in statistical production. 2. Ensure the existence of a team of technicians engaged in research regarding methodologies, academic exchanges, technical visits and participation in national conferences, symposia and international researches about methodologies, analysis and dissemination of information. 3. Encourage comparability and harmonization of statistics in the region, through the definition and implementation of statistical standards. 1.4. Principio 10. Appropriate statistical procedures. The quality of official statistics should be underpinned by appropriate statistical procedures applied to the design, collection, production, analysis and dissemination of information. a. Strengths a. The national statistical offices are constantly finding and implementing best practice on the revision and updating of the stages of the statistical process. 3/14 b. The national statistical offices develop tests to questionnaires, manuals and computer applications before the process of data collection is started. 2/14 9

c. The national statistical offices have trained human resources for the development of statistical processes. 2/14 d. The national statistical offices has carried out computer applications and automated procedures. 2/14 e. The national statistical offices revised and updated statistical process steps when necessary. 1/14 f. The national statistical offices methodologies adapted to the needs of the country, maintaining comparability. 1/14 g. The national statistical office produces technical and methodological documents about the process of generating statistics. 1/14 h. The NSO has a national infrastructure that allows to carry out statistical operations. 1/14 i. The national statistical office continues the series and types of records that are made. 1/14 j. The national statistical office tries to define a system at the internal level certified for calculating indicators, statistical techniques and methodologies. 1/14 k. The national statistical office has experience and technical capacity in developing statistical processes. 1/14 l. The national statistical office presents the results to users, those who guarantee and review if there are differences. 1/14 m. The national statistical office is constantly training before the processes of information collection. 1/14 n. The national statistical office is constantly working on strengthen to methods consistency and validation of information. 1/14 o. The national statistical office has procedures to prevent over coverage, under coverage and misclassification of statistical units. 1/14 b. Weaknesses 1. The national statistical offices have limitations in financial resources, physical and human. 6/14 2. The national statistical offices do not make use of updated computer systems in the process of collecting information. 3/14 3. The national statistical offices have weaknesses regarding documentation of all stages of the statistical process. 2/14 10

4. The national statistical office presents weaknesses in the review of the stages of statistical process. 2/14 5. The national statistical office presents time delays in data input. 1/14 6. The national statistical office does not have automated processes for development statistical operations. 1/14 7. Inside the national statistical office the estimates or processes the indicators that are not consistent with other entities. 1/14 8. The national statistical office does not have methods and protocols for the development of statistical processes. 1/14 9. The national statistical office has outdated directories and frames areas. 1/14 10. The national statistical office presents weaknesses in monitoring the implementation of the standards of concepts, definitions, classifications and procedures for entities belonging to the National Statistical System. 1/14 c. Improvement initiatives proposed 1. Support the creation of a working group to generate processes of strengthening the use of administrative registers in national statistical offices in the region. 2. Build a repository of methodologies for the production of official statistics. 3. Promote the exchange of experience between national statistical offices, particularly those which present major advances in the subject. 4. Preparation of technical documents and guidelines for statistical processes, plus support for the translation of technical documents from other agencies. 5. Develop areas of cooperation for the implementation of new technologies and technology standards to be implemented in the statistical process of national statistical offices in the region. 1.5. Principle 11. Non-excessive burden on respondents The National Statistical Office and the other members of the National Statistical Systems should set the objectives to progressively reduce the burden of surveys. The reporting burden should be proportionate to the needs of users and should not be excessive for the respondents. a. Strengths 1. The national statistical offices have human resources training in the design and rising of survey. 2/14 11

2. The national statistical office analyzes and classifies the information collected and its use. 2/14 3. The national statistical office has in mind the guidelines that limit the burden on the sources what is necessary. 1/14 4. The national statistical office has a regulation that requires source to respond the information collection, and requires the office to measure the burden on respondents. 1/14 5. The national statistical office has a directory of companies using common codes in all surveys. 1/14 6. The national statistical office seeks complementary information provided by censuses and surveys. 1/14 7. The national statistical office has a mechanism of planning to promote the rationalization statistics. 1/14 8. The national statistical office applies what is established in the methodology of research. 1/14 9. The national statistical office controls the lifetime of the application of questionnaires and samples. 1/14 10. The national statistical office has the technical capacity in the request for information is not excessive. 1/14 11. The national statistical office uses rotating samples for data collection. 1/14 12. The national statistical office performs the pre-filling out surveys for a panel. 1/14 13. The national statistical office has processes to share data between system entities. 1/14 b. Weaknesses 1. The national statistical offices do not have an organized system of information properly managed at the national statistical system to share information and reduce the burden on respondents. 3/14 2. The national statistical offices have low utilization of administrative records. 2/14 3. Lack of updating and use of computer systems in the collection of information from business accounts. 1/14 4. Under the national statistical system is not adopted a policy of reducing the burden on respondents. 1/14 12

5. The national statistical offices has specialized forms and different collection intervals that do not allow converging into a single request for information. 1/14 6. The national statistical office needs to know other alternative methodologies and techniques for collection information to deduce results of other variables. 1/14 7. The national statistical office does not design multipurpose surveys to monitor the burden on respondents. 1/14 8. Some actors in society are not aware of the need to reduce the burden on respondents. 1/14 9. The national statistical offices have weaknesses in diffusion of the products offered by the institution. 1/14 10. The national statistical offices have limitations and lacks resources to track the planning. 1/14 11. There is an absence of cooperation from reporting entities and sources of statistical information. 1/14 12. The national statistical offices do not develop evaluation of the use of information by users. 1/14 13. The national statistical offices have limitations in human resources, financial and technology used for measuring the burden on respondents. 1/14 14. The national statistical office makes multiple inclusions of some users in the collection of information, given the existence of small areas for specific research. 1/14 15. Lack coverage and updating the directories in the national statistical office. 1/14 16. In the national statistical office does not develop new sampling techniques to reduce the burden on respondents. 1/14 c. Improvement initiatives proposed 1. Conduct training and technical assistance to national statistical offices in the region on modern techniques of sampling to reduce the burden on sources. 2. Promote training on the construction and updating of directories in the national statistical offices, and the implementation of the project on regional statistical frameworks directory of companies and establishments. 3. Issue guidelines and recommendations on the modernization of administrative records and statistical use. 13

1.6. Principle 12. Cost-effectiveness The national statistical institute and the other members of the national statistical system must use resources efficiently and effectively. a. Strengths 1. The national statistical offices use information technologies in order to systematize the data bases. 2/14 2. The National Statistical Office takes advantage of the high quality technical assistance agreements that don t imply additional cost to the entity. 1/14 3. The National statistical Office has planning systems and anticipated budget formulation. 1/14 4. The National Statistical Office has the capacity to make global and national estimates. 1/14 5. The National Statistical Office evaluates all the phases of the projects and has an intern control unity. 1/14 6. The National Statistical Office assigns the resources according to the justifications and the analysis from the cost/benefit ratio. 1/14 7. The National Statistical Office is constantly looking for the excellence in the statistic production. 1/14 8. The National Statistical Office makes the projects and activities based on the experiences and the former activities experienced. 1/14 9. The National Statistical Office develops and controls the order of the statistic investigations and operations. 1/14 10. The National Statistical Office has a specialized unity in the operative processes guaranteeing the efficiency and the creation of scale economies. 1/14 b. Weaknesses 1. The national statistical offices have limitations to obtain the resources to develop the statistic activity. 3/14 2. There is not an analysis of the cost-benefit ratio in some of the statistical activity processes. 3/14 3. The national statistical offices do not use the administrative records and it could reduce the costs in the information collection. 2/14 14

4. The National Statistical Office does not have an evaluation system of the human resource performance in the work field. 1/14 5. The National Statistical Office does not manage the projects resources according to the costs analysis. 1/14 6. Inside the National Statistical Office some resources applications that don t agree with its true use are solicited. 1/14 7. The National Statistical Office does not have a strategic plan to take advantage and improve the technologies information. 1/14 8. The National Statistical Office shows deficiencies in the actualization and maintenance of the frameworks and directories. 1/14 9. The National Statistical Office does not articulate all the different investigations allowing the efforts duplications and increasing the costs in the information production. 1/14 c. Improvement initiatives proposed 1. Propose techniques and methodologies to measure the cost-effectiveness of the resources and the investigations that reveal statistics products. 2. To emit recommendations to national statistics offices to modernize the resources assigned to the statistical activity promoting the use of information technologies. 3. Promote the transmission of knowledge and experience between all the statistics national offices especially from those that implement control systems to those that don t have it into their organization. 4. To make a comparative review of the statistics operative processes in all the countries of the region. 1.7. Principle 13. Relevance The National Institute of Statistics and other members of the national statistical system must satisfy the users information needs on the basis of their requirements. a. Strengths 1. The national statistical offices have academic committees, inter-sectorial and processes of identification, analysis and evaluation of information requirements. 6/14 15

2. Users have confidence on the statistical products offered by the national statistical offices and they use them. 3/14 3. The national statistical offices use the national statistical plan identifying information needs for strategic development. 2/14 4. The national statistical offices focus on the production of economic statistics in the system of National Accounts. 2/14 5. The National Statistical Office focuses on the production of new statistics. 1/14 6. The National Statistical Office has increased the culture of consultation for each new statistical operation and its revisions. 1/14 7. The National Statistical Office produces information which is used in public policies and the adoption of laws. 1/1 8. The National Statistical Office has a survey which measures the user satisfaction respect to the services and products of the Institute. 1/14 b. Weaknesses 1. The national statistical offices do not have a formalized system of consultation on user satisfaction with respect to the statistical production. 4/14 2. The national statistical offices are limited in resources to solve the information needs of users. 2/14 3. The National Statistical Office needs to improve the National Commission for Statistics. 1/14 4. The National Statistical Office does not diversify production more than national accounts and state requirements. 1/14 5. Some institutes make field research in order to get statistics without authorization from the National Statistical Office. 1/14 6. The National Statistical Office does not make some researches with the frequency of production and the thematic and geographical breakdown required by some users due to budget constraints. 1/14 c. Improvement initiatives proposed 1. Through the Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) to promote the exchange of good practices and lessons learned on surveys measuring satisfaction for different types of users, and the generation of statistical culture. 16

2. To perform an activity with the other institutes which translate the current demand for statistical research, starts satisfaction survey, missing conform committees and planning the socialization of statistical producers. 3. Integrate efforts for the creation of a repository of statistics in all member countries for electronic dissemination of statistics 1.8. Principle 14. Accuracy and reliability The official statistics produced by the national statistical institute and the other members of the national statistical system must be an accurate and reliable reflection of the actual situation. a. Strengths 1. The national statistical offices perform assessments and monitoring of data in the development of the stages of statistical research. 4/14 2. The national statistical offices have a professional team highly trained in each stages of statistical process. 3/14 3. The national statistical offices calculate and publish the measurements of accuracy for survey estimates. 3/14 4. The national statistical offices have users reliability and credibility. 2/14 5. The National Statistical Office performs updates to the statistic infrastructure, collection mechanisms and analysis of information. 1/14 6. The National Statistical Office works continuously in the update of directories and the application of selected samples and the reduction of the not response. 1/14 7. The National Statistical Office documents properly the statistical process. 1/14 8. The National Statistical Office performs internal, inter-institutional and subject matter expert committees for the verification and analysis of results. 1/14 b. Weaknesses 1. The national statistical offices have limited resources for fulfillment of the demand for statistics. 5/14 2. The national statistical offices do not perform calculations of accuracy measurements and analysis of errors of the statistics produced. 2/14 17

3. The National Statistical Office has weaknesses in the update of sampling frames for the delimitation and identification of the informants. 1/14 4. The National Statistical Office has weaknesses in the systematicity of the processes. 1/14 5. The National Statistical Office has weaknesses in the update of the indices and indicators. 1/14 6. The National Statistical Office has weaknesses in the correction of inconsistencies in the information submitted to the informant. 1/14 7. The National Statistical Office has problems of control over insecure areas in the country. 1/14 8. The National Statistical Office has little information and few resources for exploiting administrative records and for updating universes of research. 1/14 9. The National Statistical Office has weaknesses in the techniques for supervising the statistical products. 1/14 10. The National Statistical Office perceives that there is a lack of statistical culture in the population. 1/14 c. Improvement initiatives proposed 1. Disseminate techniques and experiences of the countries in the region regarding the identification and implementation of techniques and procedures in the evaluation and validation of data, in order to improve the accuracy and reliability of information, as well as in methodologies and new techniques in the management of information aimed at strengthening accuracy and reliability 2. Implement actions that will be promote in the highest authority levels of the countries, the need to update periodically the economic and social indicators and build an updated statistical infrastructure (sampling frames, directories, cartography). 1.9. Principle 15.Timeliness and punctuality The national statistical institute and the other members of the national statistical system must produce and disseminate official statistics in a timely, punctual and transparent manner. 18

a. Strengths 1. The national statistical offices have a dissemination calendar for publication of statistical operations, which is fulfilled in a timely manner except in certain cases submitted by problems outside the entity. 6/14 2. The national statistical offices disseminate timely and punctual the results obtained from statistical production. 2/14 3. The Inter-agency meetings on the National Statistical System are performed consistently and regularly. 1/14 4. The National Statistical Office has credibility among the main users of statistical products offered. 1/14 5. The National Statistical Office is efficient in the processes that developed within the framework of statistical production. 1/14 6. The National Statistics Office is accountable inside and outside the organization. 1/14 7. The National Statistical Office has monitoring and control techniques to the inconsistencies of the informants. 1/14 8. The National Statistical Office has protocols and monitoring mechanisms for dissemination processes, in order to strengthen the timeliness and ensure confidentiality. 1/14 9. The National Statistical Office uses technologies and efficient operational schemes applied to improve the timeliness of statistical operations. 1/14 b. Weaknesses 1. The national statistical offices do not have a dissemination calendar of statistics or do not meet the dates previously established. 4/14 2. There are restrictions on the acquisition of resources that do not allow strengthening, in some cases, the opportunity of the results. 3/14 3. The national statistical offices sometimes cannot ensure data timeliness and punctuality, given some contingences in the collection process. 3/14 4. The process of diffusion of non-periodic statistics is not always inside of the production process of the National Statistical Office. 1/14 5. Investigations by the National Statistical Office are not supported against respondents with little education statistics, since the statistical law is outdated. 1/14 19

6. The National Statistical Office shows delays on the dissemination of printed information. 1/14 c. Improvement initiatives proposed 1. To develop policies that promotes a broadening of statistical knowledge among informants and information users in the countries of the region. 2. To provide advice and develop workshops in order to identify optimal reference periods for the major statistical operations required among the region, as well as the dissemination of standards on result publication. 3. To manage increased external cooperation between national statistical offices in order to exchange experiences and knowledge on the subject. 4. Establish a dissemination calendar for common statistics among the region. 1.10. Principle 16. Coherence y comparability The official statistics produced by the national statistical institute and the other members of the national statistical system must be coherent internally and over time and must be comparable across regions and countries. a. Strengths 1. The national statistical offices follow international recommendations in terms of methodologies and standards, taking into account the particularities of the country. 3/14 2. The national statistical offices promote implementation of procedures inside new statistical operations in order to strengthen its comparability. 2/14 3. The national statistical offices have trained human resources to perform activities that enable consistency and comparability. 2/14 4. The National Statistical Office works on the development of standard classifications for use in the national statistical system. 1/14 5. The National Statistical Office maintains permanent communication with the offices that perform the same techniques to maintain consistency and comparability of statistics. 1/14 6. The National Statistical Office seeks standardization of statistical classifications used in production. 1/14 7. The National Statistical Office has primary sources of data and producers of derivative or added statistics, which allows a greater exchange of methodologies. 20

8. The National Statistical Office develops a framework for the results previously to publication, through internal consistency, external consistency and international context, and presents the results in external committees and experts when necessary. 1/14 b. Weaknesses 1. The national statistical offices have failures in the implementation of statistical standards in terms of concepts, classifications, metadata, definitions, sampling frames and good practices. 4/14 2. The National Statistical Office requires extending the use of administrative records. 1/14 3. The National Statistical Office needs to coordinate with the Central Bank, for the national accounts generation. 1/14 4. The National Statistical Office has a limited adaptation at sub-national and sector levels for consistency and comparability of statistics. 1/14 5. The National Statistical Office has limited human resources for the support on the information demand. 1/14 6. The National Statistical Office does not account with protocols or formal procedures in the most of its statistical operations. 1/14 c. Improvement initiatives proposed 1. To promote technical cooperation in the region and exchange experiences on the subject, such as implementation of international statistical standards and the use of national accounts as elements that allow the comparability of statistics in the region. 21

2. PROPOSED ACTIVITIES According to the commitments made at the Sixth Conference of the Americas, working groups will provide inputs for the development of the Knowledge Transmission Network, which was created to generate joint and sustainable strategies for strengthening statistical capacity. One of its most important dimensions is the continuous training of human resources in order to respond to new and growing demands for quality official statistical information. Focusing on these strategies, the exercise undertaken by the working group of institutional strengthening presents the following proposed activities which cover topics common to the region, and that were analyzed taking into account all the answers provided in the application form verifying compliance with the Code of Good Practice in Regional Statistics for Latin America and the Caribbean. 2.1. Principle 2. Coordination of the national statistical system This will enable the statistics producing entities to plan and implement national statistical activity in a participatory manner, maintain close contact and work jointly to improve the quality, comparability and consistency of official statistics. 22

a. Normative framework for compliance with the Regional Code of Good Practice ACTIVITY JUSTIFICATION PROPOSAL OF THE RESPONSIBLE BODY Initial workshop to strengthen the minimum necessities for a normative framework which allows the implementation of the Regional Code of Good Practice in the offices of the region. Some national statistical offices have regulations for the consolidation of the national statistical system, but this requires the strengthening of the minimum necessities for achieving compliance with the principles of the Regional Code of Practice. For this reason, it is necessary to involve experts through the issue of recommendations and guidelines for this purpose. RTC-International Experts. Through the Knowledge Transmission network, a group of experts can be convened in order to issue the minimum recommendations and guidelines required by national statistical offices to strengthen the normative framework which allows the implementation of the regional code of good practice. 2.2. Principle 10. Appropriate statistical procedures The quality of official statistics used by national statistical institute and the other members of the national statistical system must be underpinned by appropriate procedures and tools at every stage of the statistical process. b. Work team on the use of administrative records ACTIVITY JUSTIFICATION PROPOSAL OF THE RESPONSIBLE BODY Consolidate an expert group to strengthen the use of administrative The national statistical offices in the region present weaknesses in the use of Secretary of ECLAC. Within the framework of the work teams of the 23

records as part of the Statistical Conference of the Americas. administrative records, which are a mechanism for collecting information that can reduce costs and speed up statistical production processes. Administrative records, like other data collection mechanisms should be used so that their quality characteristics are not altered or modified, and are useful to entities producing official statistics. For this reason, it is necessary to have a group dedicated to the research and analysis of administrative records, to issue guidelines, and recommendations for their use. Statistical Conference of the Americas proposed the creation of a team which will be dedicated exclusively to the research and analysis of the use of administrative records. There is also a proposal to include a network of experts to provide guidelines for a better use of the records in the statistical activity. c. Systematization of statistical processes. ACTIVITY Training for the systematization of the statistical process. JUSTIFICATION The national statistical offices present weaknesses in the use of computer systems in the processes of capture, coding, review and validation of information, considering that the use of computer systems supports the implementation of appropriate statistical PROPOSAL OF THE RESPONSIBLE BODY International Experts. The subject-matter experts specialized in using computer systems to develop areas of cooperation for the implementation of new technologies and technology standards to be implemented in the 24

processes. Therefore, it is necessary to perform activities where recommendations can be issued regarding the use and adaptation of systems to the needs of each office. statistical process of national statistical offices in the region. 2.3. Principle 12. Cost-effectiveness The national statistical institute and the other members of the national statistical system must use resources efficiently and effectively. d. Strengthening the cost-effectiveness in statistical production ACTIVITY JUSTIFICATION PROPOSAL OF THE RESPONSIBLE BODY Virtual workshops to review the costeffectiveness relationship in regional statistical production The national statistical offices present weaknesses in monitoring the use of resources in statistical production and in the analysis of cost-effectiveness of the products offered. It is necessary to foster a space where recommendations can be issued to national statistical offices. International Experts. The experts responsible for monitoring and analyzing the effectiveness of the resources used in the statistical process can issue recommendations and suggestions to be applied in each of the offices. 25

2.4. Principle 13.Relevance The national statistical institute and other members of the national statistical system must satisfy users information needs on the basis of their requirements e. Consultation system on user satisfaction. ACTIVITY JUSTIFICATION PROPOSAL OF THE RESPONSIBLE BODY Workshops for designing or updating a consultation system on user satisfaction with respect to statistical production and its articulation with the statistical plans. The national statistical offices do not have or do not use a consultation system on user satisfaction regarding produced information. It is important to note that the statistical production should be based on the priority information needs, so there should be regular consultation with users about their usefulness. This, according to the prioritization of information made through statistical plans. Spain. The National Institute of Statistics of Spain applies a survey of information user satisfaction in order to determine the usefulness of statistical production. In addition, it carries out activities with priority users to understand the needs of information, which is contrasted with the prioritization of statistical production. 2.5. Principle 14. Accuracy and reliability The official statistics produced by the national statistical institute and the other members of the national statistical system must be an accurate and reliable reflection of the actual situation. 26

f. Strengthening the accuracy of statistical products. ACTIVITY JUSTIFICATION PROPOSAL OF THE RESPONSIBLE BODY Workshops to strengthen the accuracy of statistical products. The national statistical offices present weaknesses in the review and evaluation of statistical estimates, and in the documentation and analysis of sampling and non sampling errors. It is also important to work in monitoring the different stages of the implementation process and its contrast with the methodology and divulged designs. The national statistical offices need to strengthen the procedures for measuring and evaluating the accuracy of official statistics. International experts. International experts in statistical production, especially in monitoring and evaluation of the accuracy of the statistics are those who dictate the guidelines and recommendations for national offices to be implemented in their production process. 2.6. Principle 15. Timeliness and punctuality The national statistical institute and the other members of the national statistical system must produce and disseminate official statistics in a timely, punctual and transparent manner. 27

g. Strengthening the timeliness of statistics. ACTIVITY JUSTIFICATION PROPOSAL OF THE RESPONSIBLE BODY Seminar with network of experts to strengthen the opportunity in statistical production. The national statistical offices present weaknesses regarding compliance with the periods of dissemination of statistics. Therefore, it is important to develop workshops to identify optimal reference periods for the major statistical operations required, and disseminate standards for the publication of results. It is further proposed to work on protocols for the announcement of corrected data to users and the updates in methodology, statistical processes, microdata and statistical techniques. Knowledge Transmission Network. The SCA ECLAC group through the cooperation and technical capacity can form a network of experts to issue necessary recommendations for strengthening the opportunity in statistics. 28