Introduction

In this paper we will make a non-technical approach to the present and future use of information technology (IT) for disseminating statistics. We will focus on user needs and expectations and how this will decide on how dissemination strategies are formed and implemented. We will discuss recent IT practices for dissemination but also point at trends that will have an impact on how a statistical organization must adjust in the future. We will also concentrate on how the use of Internet techniques and methods can facilitate meeting public demands and what is needed to do so.

Identifying ways of marketing and disseminating information has always been important to statistical agencies. With the advent of the Internet it became possible to reach the public within a totally new framework, and the technologically most advanced national statistics offices launched their first web sites in the mid-1990s. Since then the Internet has grown beyond imagination and you can hardly attend any conference, seminar or workshop where Internet solutions are not discussed or promoted.

In this context we will continue from the findings of two events held under the auspices of the UN Statistics Division (UNSD) and with a bearing on our further discussions on the combination of dissemination and IT.

Referring to the conclusions from the UNSD Seminar on User Relations, Marketing and Dissemination of Official Statistics (UNSD, 2000) directed to CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries, we can identify some salient points:

q The importance of quality output in terms of relevance, accuracy and timeliness;

q Good media relations;

q Identification of important user groups;

q Pricing policy; and

q Information sharing on good practices and examples.

The seminar focused on reaching and servicing customers, addressing the needs of the private sector and on ways of approaching media and the public at large.

The second ESCAP workshop (United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific) on Census Data Processing, Storage and Dissemination (UNESCAP, 2001) was held in Bangkok in March 2001[1]. Of special interest here are item 4 of the agenda titled “Translation of data users’ needs into dissemination strategies” and item 5 of the same agenda, “Innovative technologies for data dissemination technologies”. Papers were written and introduced by representatives from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (Hardy, 2001a and Hardy, 2001b) and Statistics New Zealand, (Archer, 2001), while two country papers on census dissemination were presented (Viet Nam and Cambodia).

From the vendor side Beyond 20/20 [2], Space-Time Research [3] and Statistics Sweden [4] were invited to show their products.

The workshop recommendations were numerous and, even if quite a few are relatively detailed, the sheer number shows how important the area is considered. The following list gives a snapshot of major topics on IT/dissemination and refers to the numbered paragraph in the final report:

q Use public-domain software, mainstream solutions, off-the-shelf packages [76];

q Start small, think big in Data Warehousing and On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) [94];

q Provide analytical flexibility, client customization [95];

q Metadata management [97];

q Low-cost GIS solutions [101];

q User contacts/consultations [102];

q Monitoring changes in user population [104];

q Prototyping for user acceptance testing [105];

q Attractive packaging, advertising, public relations and other promotion [106];

q Security concerns [107];

q Link to other agencies in the region [108];

q Adapt disseminating media to user/community profiles [109];

q Internet is strategic [111];

q House policy and guidelines [112];

q Improve customers’ ability to self-service [118];

q Monitor web site traffic to identify key user groups [119]; and

q Explore XML [125].

We will refer later on to the findings of the two meetings in their context[5].

Dissemination on the user’s terms – the user in focus

1.1 Identifying users and stakeholders

Traditionally, main users of official statistics are considered to be different governmental bodies at the central and local levels, large businesses, regional or international agencies and research institutions. To some extent, this can be recognized as a result of how means have been allocated and channeled. But things are changing. The fact that statistics are now being regarded as a public good is partly an outcome of the change in dissemination of statistics. The presence of the Internet makes the difference.

In this seminar in Vientiane, we have seen how marketing strategies can be employed in order to identify current and potential customers and then reach them (Spar, 2001). The role and influence of media and the public at large have also been discussed (Ostergaard, 2001). The government has been identified as a key user and stakeholder, while the importance of the private sector has been stressed. Recent practices of dissemination in Asian countries have been presented (Marzan, 2001).

Reading through the country reports to the ESCAP workshop five major user categories stand out by area of activity:

q All levels of government;

q International agencies;

q The private sector;

q Research institutions; and

q The public.

It is worthwhile noting that the media were never recognized as a user group.

A different way of categorizing is suggested by Archer (2001). He divides the users into:

General Data Users

2. Analysis Users

General data users are, for example, students, teachers, libraries and small businesses who have simple data requirements but from a great range of information. Needs are normally not known in advance. Analysis data users, on the other hand, are identified from their complex data requirements on detailed variable and regional breakdowns, often based on many datasets. Such users are, for example, governmental departments, local authorities, researchers and VIP clients.

Another grouping is suggested by Blanc et al. (2001) in a recent paper to the Quality Conference in Stockholm in May where the authors classify users by type of demand according to table 1:

Table 1. Public demand vs. private demand in official statistics

public/social demand	individual demand
“citizen”, “society”	“customer”
long-term demand	short-term contract
Expressed by the political representatives	free bargaining (market)
socio-political dialogue; government setting priorities	contract between NSI and individual partner
terms are not (explicitly) specified	terms are explicitly specified

At the same conference Linacre (2001) makes a distinction between

Members of the public, students;
Individual organizations who seek a tailored service, e.g., on a commercial basis, or as members of the media, etc.;

C. Sophisticated users, e.g., researchers, financial analysts, analysts in policy departments; and

D. Key users: central banks, governmental bodies, international agencies.

(This is also is similar to the Archer classification).

The main clustering characteristics are, then, the level of statistical capability, level of interest, ways of access and partnership willingness.

But in whatever way we choose to describe and classify our beneficiaries, the objective is to meet their needs and expectations in the best possible manner, not only once but repeatedly. This is also the IT challenge: how we will set about to use IT in order to reach our goals.

1.2 Meeting the users’ needs and expectations

1.2.1 Provide quality data

As has been emphasized earlier in the seminar, users expect quality information. If this cannot be provided the user will certainly stop asking for your data and try to find it elsewhere. A well-functioning IT environment will without question make things easier. Quality is normally[6] defined in terms of accuracy, relevance, timeliness, coherence and availability without specific order.

Every now and then there will be conflicts between factors. It is not always easy at the same time to provide for accuracy and timeliness. Another example is coherence and relevance: it would be convenient if corresponding statistics from different surveys were the same or if aggregated monthly estimates and annual statistics coincided, but this is rarely the case due to variations in definitions and methodology.

In Annex 1 some underlying factors related to IT are laid out. These factors are often encountered in less developed or emerging countries.

1.2.2 Present your information in a clear and easy-to-use way

There are certain important aspects of disseminating information that are valid and do not depend on the media of choice, whether it may be hard copy, CD or the Internet, in order to meet the user’s expectations. One of the tools for doing so is to provide for a good navigation system.

If we use a statistics web site as an example, this could be accomplished through standard navigation for the general public and through a set of alternate navigations that are available from a user’s perspective catering to various target audiences. Most advanced are enterprise portals that are database-driven and often expensive to implement.

Likewise a retrieval application should preferably accompany data disseminated on CD-ROM. Statistics Sweden distributed its 1990 census tables on CD at the same time providing the first PC AXIS version as an exploratory tool. Often a GIS (geographic information system) application for mapping statistics will be included. And even a paperbound report or a statistical yearbook should at least come with a table of contents, search index, table and diagram references.

There are other matters relating to how information is packaged. When considering a statistics web site, you might compare a first-time user with a person visiting a store. You would certainly want him[7] to look at what products you have to offer, walk through the shop, buy and in the end, most important, come back a second time!

Thus, try to locate what you want to trade as high in the navigation structure as possible and highlight news and press releases. Keep your web site alive! Place related information close together or on the same navigation level and provide a site map.

Users want links to related information and you should give the links but at a reasonable level. Sometimes you may find (scientific) web sites overloaded with links to other sources of information, and the risk is high that the user will wander away in cyberspace and not return to the site from where she started.

1.2.3 Give your users a choice

Taking all potential customers of statistical information into consideration, we must remember that they constitute a heterogeneous group from, for example, governmental bodies to enterprises, researchers and the public. This means that any national statistics office must be prepared to offer optional ways of retrieving information.

Preferred media

Even if the web already is the major dissemination alternative for many agencies, there are still users who will prefer hard copies, CD-ROM or even old-time floppies. To date national libraries and archives often have had specific requirements on the delivered media—e.g., microfiche, tapes or MO disks. Information exchange over computer networks could also call for special handling in accordance with agreed-on protocols.

With no access to the World Wide Web, the user may still benefit from other Internet services, e.g., SMPT for receiving information via electronic mail. In the end this is one of the factors that the national statistics office must keep in mind when designing, evaluating or changing its dissemination strategy.

Print-on-demand

Many users do not want or need to have all the information that comes with a product. Some just want to receive a summary or a set of basic tables while others have more specific demands. Instead of having to buy or download, e.g., a complete report or statistical yearbook, the user may prefer to specify want he wants and then have it printed either by the agency and then mailed or downloaded and printed by the user himself.

Statistics for further analysis

Researchers or planners are often interested not only in macrodata but also in the underlying micro-information. Provided that measures for ensuring integrity are taken, especially when dealing with sensitive data, these data could be disseminated through electronic networks such as the Internet. Additional security may then also be needed—for example, SSL encryption to prevent unauthorized access.

The user should also be given the opportunity to specify preferred data formats[8] at the time of delivery to facilitate further analysis.

1.2.4 Recognize and adapt to new technologies on the user side

New technologies are emerging all the time. One of the latest trends in disseminating data is by Instant Messaging systems based on, e.g., SMS[9] and WAP[10]. Many statistical organizations are already using these methods to disseminate critical business information to the private sector and the media—for example, price statistics or financial markets indicators. So now if the user community wants these services (which you will know from your focus groups or user contacts) you should be prepared to provide for them. And in the future, solutions based on advanced and high-speed connection (GPRS[11], HSCSD[12], Bluetooth[13]) will grow in importance.

Agency concerns

1.3 Outlining a dissemination strategy

On the assumption that current and potential stakeholders and users are identified, in outlining a dissemination strategy for a national statistics office, the following questions must be asked:

A. What type of information should be provided?
Examples: data, metadata, administrative information, methodology, statistical activities, research results

B. What are the possible means and ways of dissemination?
Examples: paper, hard copy, diskettes and the like, CD, web pages, traditional mail, electronic mail, discussions, workshops, seminars, conferences, bi- or multilateral projects, networks

C. What will be the interventions and what are the assumptions?
Examples: web-site creation, equipment and application costs, maintenance, coordination of activities, security and legislation

Chapter 2.2 on users’ needs and expectations stresses the importance of quality information and how data should be presented in a clear way and in a medium of the user’s choice.

Based on the country reports on census activities to the ESCAP workshop the following simplified “translation” of users’ needs into possible dissemination strategies was made:

Figure 1. Outlining dissemination based on country reports on census activities

User groups are dimensioned the traditional way, user needs relate to census information, primary data are obtained through censuses and surveys and, finally, contents and media are linked together. Any dissemination strategy could then be considered as a realization of a subset of users, needs, contents and media, and with the time dimension added.

If the national statistics office considers its web site as the primary target for disseminating activities, as is the case in many countries, users will naturally be categorized in accordance with what has been discussed earlier in chapter 2.1.

1.3.1 Conventional methods

We will not elaborate on conventional methods for disseminating statistical information since this is outside the scope of this paper. It should be mentioned though that most national statistics offices have in the past installed printing offices to provide for printed output, e.g., reports, press releases, yearbooks and so forth, with often high costs for acquisition and maintenance of equipment.

Today the needs for in-house publishing capacity are diminishing since there are dissemination alternatives now available that were not available in the past. Outsourcing printing when called for has also often proved to be cost-effective.

Other ways of disseminating information have been and still are workshops, seminars and conferences as well as through regional and interregional projects.

1.3.2 Using electronic media

Electronic media have been a first choice for dissemination for a number of years. We could say that this was becoming a true alternative with the introduction of personal computers and networking, even if data had been transferred via magnetic tape between mainframe installations since the 1950s.

Exchanging data on floppies (5 1/4 “, 3 ½ “) and in the most popular PC formats became common during the 1980s. In 1989 a process was developed with which a CD could be directly written by means of a laser beam. The way for the self-creation of CDs was opened. The CD is an ideal medium for distribution of information of any kind (text, images, sound, data and programs). Equipment for burning CD-ROMs is becoming more and more inexpensive and this method is therefore within reach even for national statistics offices on a very low budget, as well as for customers. Along with relatively low production costs, it provides high memory capacity with direct access and a long lifespan, and is still without competition, even when you only have low production numbers. (For this reason, a majority of all PCs today are already equipped with a CD-ROM drive).

Thus CDs are frequently used for dissemination of statistics since not only can (compressed) data be stored but also retrieval applications, e.g., for tabulation, drill-down analysis and GIS.

1.3.3 Internet: a mix of both?

In the mid-1990s national statistical agencies started to create their first web sites. In the beginning, and with the still undeveloped software available, the ambition was often limited to “being noticed” and this was accomplished through static HTML pages organized in strict hierarchical navigations structures. Pages were often arbitrarily updated except for statistics that were published on a regular basis, such as price indices or short-term business indicators.

One common characteristic was that the information provided on the web site was primarily what had been decided by the producers. The web site was not user-driven in the first place. The reasons behind this were often scarce staff resources and a “wait-and-see” view on the new technique.

With the unprecedented growth of the Internet during the last half-decade it has become obvious that it will be the main channel for dissemination for any statistical agency. The Internet will encompass both the conventional methods and the new ones and will change the strategies of dissemination in a substantial way[14].

1.4 Choosing the Internet as the main platform for disseminating statistics

1.4.1 Deciding on an Internet policy

1.4.1.1 What should be part of an Internet Policy?

It must be remembered that establishing and maintaining a web site as the main dissemination platform for a statistical agency will be a long-term undertaking. It is therefore important that an Internet Policy be outlined well in advance of implementing any kind of web infrastructure.

First, we refer to chapter 3.1 where the dissemination strategy is discussed. The answers to questions A (on contents) and C (on interventions and assumptions) will form the cornerstone of the agency’s Internet policy.

In the next step security issues should be addressed. You should not go for web-site hosting prior to a thorough security assessment, since this will decide on, e.g., if the hosting should be outsourced with an ISP (Internet service provider) or done in-house and what security layers should be implemented in order to secure your data.

Following these steps a plan for implementing the web site should be designed. It will now be decided what resources will be needed, how funds should be provided and so forth.

Furthermore, you must decide on how the web-site support should be organized and how staff training should be done.

Finally, production rules must be set wherein updating, upgrading and maintenance are covered.

1.4.1.2 A dissemination strategy: the case of Statistics Sweden in brief

At the end of 1999 a board decision was taken, stating that from 1 April 2000

q All official statistics produced under the responsibility of Statistics Sweden should be stored at the macrolevel in Sweden’s Statistical Databases. These statistics should then be made available to the public. One of the information channels for this purpose should be the Statistics Sweden web site;

q All official statistics under the responsibility of Statistics Sweden and printed in Statistiska Meddelanden (a series of reports) should be available on the web site. They should be standardized by the use of templates and print-on-demand should be offered (through download over the web);

q All other press releases and a set of the most wanted statistics should also be published on the web site by subject matter area/product in a standardized form; and