Description: This course, presented by the Statistics Department, covers both the conceptual and practical aspects of compiling monetary statistics focusing on other financial corporations (OFCs) as set out in the 2016 Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual and Compilation Guide (MFSMCG). The main aim of this course is to foster a deeper understanding of the OFCs (insurance corporations, pension funds, non-MMF investment funds, etc.), their typical balance sheet structures and how their financial data can be leveraged for compiling the broadest set of monetary statistics to understand liquidity and financing extended to the nonfinancial sectors and nonresidents by the financial corporations. The course also covers some aspects of financial statistics, of which the role of MFS in the balance sheet approach (BSA) for analyzing macro-financial vulnerabilities and how MFS fits into the IMF’s financial programming. The course integrates discussions on cutting-edge issues like Fintech, digital money and climate finance all related to MFS. Through a combination of lectures, countries’ presentations and case studies, the course familiarizes participants with practical aspects of compiling other financial corporations sector and the financial corporations survey. Emphasis is also placed on peer learning through sharing of country experiences among the participants.
Target Audience: Central bank officials and officials from regulatory agencies responsible for compiling monetary statistics.
Description: This course, presented by the Statistics Department, targets compilers with a certain degree of experience in the compilation and/or analysis of balance of payments and/or IIP. It aims to provide a deep understanding of the concepts, data sources and compilation techniques for balance of payments and IIP statistics and their application in addressing complex methodological issues. The course does not cover the basic balance of payments and IIP concepts. The intermediate level of the course presupposes participants’ familiarity with the basic concepts. The course will also elaborate on the topics being addressed during the current update of BPM6.The course consists of a series of lectures and workshops analyzing country cases with a strong data component and is designed to allow peer learning and sharing of experiences. Recognizing the challenges in compiling data in emerging areas of user interest, the course emphasizes specific topics, such as estimating informal cross-border activities and the treatment of special purpose entities. The course examines themes and challenges emerging from developments in the global economy, and participants have the opportunity to discuss how these impact compilation work. Specific exercises are geared to integrate data compilation with Fund surveillance and policy advice; and to demonstrate the analytical uses of ESS.
Target Audience: Officials responsible for the compilation of external sector statistics (ESS) (balance of payments and/or international investment position (IIP) statistics), and who are familiar with the methodology of the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Statistics Manual, sixth edition (BPM6).
Description: This course, presented by the Statistics Department, is intended to broaden participants’ understanding of the concepts, methods, and challenges of compiling CPIs. Concepts and methods introduced in the online CPIx are explored in greater detail to address actual compilation issues faced by participants. It provides an overview of the index number theory and the practical implications of choosing the index number formula at lower and higher levels of aggregation. The course covers the sources and methods for developing/validating weights; and practical applications of the methods used for sampling areas, items, outlets, and varieties. New and emerging data sources as well as new collection technologies are discussed. Frontier issues including how to better measure the digital economy are included. Linkages to the 2008 SNA are highlighted, including the related principles of scope, coverage, and valuation. The course covers the following topics: calculating elementary and upper-level indexes; methods for handling temporarily and permanently missing prices; introducing new outlets, items, and varieties; adjusting prices for quality changes; chaining and linking indexes with updated weighting structures; and meeting data users’ needs to ensure relevancy. The course follows the principles and recommendations of the CPI Manual (2020).
Target Audience: Compilers of consumer price indexes (CPIs).
Description: Corruption is a challenge all countries in the world are facing and there are substantial information needs among decision makers and other stakeholders on the extent of it, which types of corruption are most common and who are key perpetrators and victims of corruption. Yet, statistics on corruption is not readily available in most countries due to a variety of reasons.
The evolving data landscape demands innovative approaches to data production and use, bringing National Statistical Offices (NSOs) into closer collaboration with communities and citizens. In this context, the newly revised Copenhagen Framework on Citizen Data provides NSOs with a guiding tool to support communities and citizens and integrate citizen data into their work effectively. This side event, titled "Partnership for Impact: NSOs and the Copenhagen Framework on Citizen Data," offers an opportunity to delve into the updated framework and explore the transformative role of NSOs in the national data ecosystem. Through this event, participants will engage in discussions on how NSOs can harness citizen data to foster inclusivity, transparency, and impact, while navigating challenges in governance and stewardship.
Description: This course, conducted by the Statistics Department, presents a user-friendly tool developed by the department to automatically combine monetary, government, and international investment position data reported to the Statistics Department to create a distribution of claims and liabilities on a from-whom-to-whom basis—an extremely useful tool for macro-financial analysis. Once the matrix is generated, country officials should be able to use the Balance Sheet Approach (BSA) analysis to focus on overall balance sheet linkages and identify specific exposures and vulnerabilities, such as excessive reliance on external funding, leverage buildup in the corporate sector, and overreliance on the banking sector for sovereign debt placement.
Target Audience: Officials at central banks, ministries of finance and other agencies in charge of compiling monetary and financial statistics, government finance/debt statistics, and external sector statistics; and/or overseeing macro-financial analysis.
Source: World Bank (Data extracted on: 30 Jul 2024 )
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Organizer(s): World Bank
Description: The Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS), the World Bank’s flagship household survey program, is organizing The Pulse of Progress: Harnessing High-Frequency Survey Data for Development Research in the Polycrisis Era conference, which will take place on December 10, 2024, at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington, D.C. This one-day conference will celebrate four years of the LSMS conducting longitudinal High-Frequency Phone Surveys (HFPS) in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda. Initially launched to address data and knowledge gaps related to the COVID-19 pandemic, these surveys facilitate routine monitoring of large-scale events, such as health emergencies or extreme weather, and their socioeconomic impacts on communities. They have had a transformative impact on national statistical and data systems, complementing existing in-person survey infrastructure with high-frequency data collection on policy-relevant topics. To date, more than 100 survey rounds and 200,000 interviews have been completed across the six countries. The Pulse of Progress: Harnessing High-Frequency Survey Data for Development Research in the Polycrisis Era aims to showcase applied research that leverages high-frequency phone survey data, including but not limited to the LSMS-HFPS, as the primary data source for addressing substantive questions in development economics and related fields.
Description: The 12th Statistical Forum of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will take place in hybrid format (in person and virtually) in Washington, D.C. from November 20 to 21, 2024. The Forum is a platform for policymakers, researchers, the private sector, regulators, and compilers of economic and financial data to come together to discuss cutting edge issues in macroeconomic and financial statistics and to build support for statistical improvements. The theme of this year’s Statistical Forum is Measuring the Implications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the Economy. The increased use of AI presents both opportunities and challenges, with significant economic and societal implications. However, the impact of AI on the economy and society remains an evolving field of study. To understand these implications, governments, businesses, individuals require robust and comparable statistics. The 12th Statistical Forum will explore (i) the transformative potential of AI and where its impact will most likely be felt over the short to medium term, (ii) the impact of AI on jobs and productivity, (iii) the distributional implications of AI, (iv) how AI is being used by firms (including statistical agencies) and regulated by governments, and (v) some early attempts to produce official measures of the “AI industry”, “AI investment”, and the “use of AI”. The Forum will provide participants with an opportunity to share experiences and build on topics of mutual interest through presentations and panel discussions.
Description: This course, presented by the Statistics Department, focuses on the conceptual framework of government finance statistics (GFS) as presented in the Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014 (GFSM 2014), with an emphasis on new concepts introduced in GFSM 2014. The course requires that participants are familiar with the basic GFS framework and classification system. Emphasizing the integrated GFS framework, the course addresses complex cross-cutting GFS issues, such as social protection, government employee pension liabilities, standardized guarantee schemes, contracts, leases, licenses, public-private partnerships, and public sector balance sheets. It also examines coverage of the public sector, giving special attention to borderline and complex cases. The course discusses internal and intersectoral data consistency, coordination between data-producing agencies, as well as data presentation and communication with users. The format is lectures and discussions.
Target Audience: Officials whose main responsibility, for at least three years, has been compiling and disseminating GFS and who are regularly faced with complex GFS methodological and compilation issues, such as those described below.
Description: This course, presented by the Statistics Department and delivered in collaboration with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the European Central Bank (ECB), familiarizes participants with the methodology recommended by the Handbook on Securities Statistics, a joint undertaking of the IMF, the BIS, and the ECB, published in May 2015. The course covers definition and features of securities, securitization, and related operation; valuation and recording of securities; classification schemes and presentation tables for securities; and security-by-security databases. A practical exercise on valuation and recording of different types of debt securities complements the lectures.
Target Audience: Officials in central banks and other agencies responsible for collecting and compiling securities statistics.
Within this context, the Collaborative on Citizen Data is organizing a one-day workshop on citizen data. The workshop aims to familiarize participants with the Copenhagen Framework on Citizen Data; and facilitate an exchange of experiences and peer-learning on leveraging citizen data for public policy, including challenges faced and lessons learnt on how to overcome the challenges. Some of the topics that will be covered include, but not limited to
Data collection and validation
The use of citizen data for public policy
Quality assurance
Ethical considerations and rights-based approach to data
Collaboration between civil society organization (CSO) and state institutions including national statistical offices (NSO) and trust-building
Organizer(s): UNSD UNICEF Paris21 European Commission
Description: Co-hosted by the State Department of Economic Planning of Kenya, PARIS21, Directorate General of International Partnerships of the European Commission, the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), this side event focuses on highlighting the indispensable role of National Statistical Offices (NSOs) in strengthening the evidence-base of the Voluntary National Review (VNR) process and the follow-up. The organisers will share best practices from countries and present new analysis and guidance for Governments, who look for ways to boost their capacities for an improved monitoring of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and for a better data governance. Registration
Description: This course, presented by the Statistics Department, focuses on the conceptual framework of government finance statistics (GFS) as presented in the Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014 (GFSM 2014), with an emphasis on new concepts introduced in GFSM 2014. The course requires that participants are familiar with the basic GFS framework and classification system. Emphasizing the integrated GFS framework, the course addresses complex cross-cutting GFS issues, such as social protection, government employee pension liabilities, standardized guarantee schemes, contracts, leases, licenses, public-private partnerships, and public sector balance sheets. It also examines coverage of the public sector, giving special attention to borderline and complex cases. The course discusses internal and intersectoral data consistency, coordination between data-producing agencies, as well as data presentation and communication with users. The format is lectures and discussions.
Target Audience: Officials whose main responsibility, for at least three years, has been compiling and disseminating GFS and who are regularly faced with complex GFS methodological and compilation issues, such as those described below.
Source: World Bank (Data extracted on: 08 Mar 2024 )
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Organizer(s): World Bank
Description: Foundational models like large language models (LLMs) have recently commanded widespread public attention—and caution—given their transformational potential for both our economy and society. Naturally, questions loom about how these AI innovations will impact the global development research and policy landscape. If used properly by the right actors, these tools might unlock enormous troves of data and create new opportunities to improve lives around the world. The World Bank's Development Impact (DIME) department and Development Data Group (DECDG), the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA), and and the development community at the University of Chicago are excited to explore this topic at our tenth annual Measuring Development (MeasureDev) Conference, “AI, The Next Generation.” MeasureDev 2024 will feature presentations on AI that span the measurement ecosystem: from efforts to improve and expand responsible data infrastructure in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and facilitate the development of a new generation of AI tools, to analysis tailoring foundational models to optimize generative AI (GenAI) including LLMs for social impact. The event will feature speakers who are shaping the way these new tools will be adopted and regulated.
Half-way through the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and despite improvements, critical gender data gaps still exist across the SDGs in terms of geographic coverage, timeliness and the level of disaggregation required. Intensified efforts need to be made to fill those gaps. The Agenda 2030 asks that follow-up and review processes at all levels should be open, inclusive, participatory and transparent for all people and support the reporting by all relevant stakeholders. Therefore, the successful as well as gender-sensitive implementation and monitoring of the Agenda needs the engagement of citizens, with particular attention to the voices of the poorest and most vulnerable – more often, women and girls.
Description: This course, presented by the Statistics Department, focuses on the conceptual framework of public sector debt statistics as presented in the Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014 (GFSM 2014) and the Public Sector Debt Statistics: Guide for Compilers and Users (PSDSG). The course requires that participants are familiar with the basic government finance statistics (GFS) and PSDS framework and classification system. Emphasizing the integration of stock positions and flows in the framework, the course addresses more complex issues regarding the:definition of gross and net debt in terms of debt instruments;coverage and sectorization of the public sector, with special attention to borderline and complex cases;valuation of public sector debt statistics; andconsolidation of public sector debt statistics.In addition, the course addresses a number of complex cross-cutting PSDS issues, such as government employee pension liabilities, standardized guarantee schemes, contracts, leases, licenses, public-private partnerships, and the balance sheet approach (BSA) to identify risks and vulnerabilities.The format is lectures and discussions.
Description: This course, presented by the Statistics Department, targets compilers with a certain degree of experience in the compilation and/or analysis of balance of payments and/or IIP. It aims at providing a deep understanding of the concepts, data sources and compilation techniques for balance of payments and IIP statistics and their application for addressing complex methodological issues. The course does not cover the basic balance of payments and IIP concepts. The intermediate level of the course presupposes participants’ familiarity with the basic concepts.The course consists of a series of lectures and workshops analyzing country cases with a strong data component and to allow peer learning and sharing of experiences. Recognizing the challenges in compiling data in emerging areas of user interest, the course emphasizes specific topics, such as estimating informal cross border activities and the treatment of special purpose entities. The course examines themes and challenges emerging from developments in global economy, and participants have the opportunity to discuss how these impact compilation work. Specific exercises are geared to integrating data compilation with Fund surveillance and policy advice; and to demonstrate the analytical uses of ESS.
Target Audience: Officials responsible for the compilation of external sector statistics (ESS) (balance of payments and/or international investment position (IIP)) statistics, and who are familiar with the methodology of the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Statistics Manual, sixth edition (BPM6).
Description: This webinar aims to explore cutting-edge approaches for handling sensitive microdata while preserving privacy. Experts will discuss state-of-the-art techniques, real-world applications, and collaborative efforts across international projects. Join us for insightful presentations, engaging discussions, and an open Q&A session.
Organizer(s): UNWTO Statistik Austria INE Spain UNCEEA
Description: UN Tourism, Statistics Austria, the National Statistics Institute of Spain, are jointly organizing in collaboration with UNCEEA, a high-level side event titled "Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism: Bridging the Gap between Policy and Statistics". This event will be held on Tuesday, 27 February 2024, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, under the auspices of the 55th session of the United Nations Commission. Back on the agenda of the United Nations Statistical Commission since 2017, tourism statistics has undergone important developments amidst particularly challenging times for the sector. This side event will introduce the Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism, present pioneering country experiences that showcase its relevance and feasibility, and reflect on the lessons learnt from the integration of economic, environmental and social dimensions that characterize the framework.
Description: The event "New challenges for national statistical offices for environment and climate change statistics: Role of the SEEA" is organized as a side event of the 55th session of the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) will tentatively be held on Tuesday , 27 February 2023, from 13:15 to 13:30 in New York. This side event will review new and emerging demands for environmental and economic information that are being faced at global, regional and national levels. It will identify ways that the statistical community can address these demands through existing SEEA frameworks, as well as identify areas which could be addressed through an update of the SEEA Central Framework (CF) in order to make the SEEA CF more responsive to the new demands.
Description: This course, presented by the Statistics Department, deals with identification and assessment of elementary indicators and techniques for combining them into a single index of economic activity to track national trends. Flash estimates or indexes of economic activity bring together a range of elementary indicators to give timely general measures of economic activity. These measures give policy makers useful information that complements annual and quarterly GDP estimates, which are more comprehensive but usually only available after substantial lags, and provide a more comprehensive picture than individual monthly and quarterly indicators, which are up-to-the-minute but reflect just a portion of the total economy).This course is for actual or potential compilers of short-term indicators in central banks and statistical offices and for those who collect data for monthly indicators. Participants are expected to work with their own monthly and quarterly time series during the course. These indicators will be used in the practical session as the basis for experimental estimates.
Target Audience: Officials responsible for compiling short-term or monthly economic indicators in central banks and statistical offices.
Description: The High-level Forum on Official Statistics, an annual event of the Statistical Commission, is a pivotal event commemorating the 30th and 10th anniversaries of the adoption of the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics (FPOS) by the UN Statistical Commission and the General Assembly, respectively. This forum, more than just a seminar, is a tribute to the significant milestones achieved and a proactive step towards shaping the future of official statistics, guided by the FPOS. Titled 'Empowering Official Statistics - Upholding the Fundamental Principles to Stay Relevant,' this High-level Forum represents the culmination of a series of global initiatives, including expert consultations, collaborations with statistical associations, webinars, workshops, and international conferences. These efforts have been crucial in enhancing the understanding of the FPOS within an ever-evolving data ecosystem, setting the stage for the 55th session of the Statistical Commission to celebrate the global endorsement of these principles. The event will be structured into two main segments. The first segment, 'Celebrating Milestones,' will explore the genesis and historical importance of the FPOS in fostering trust and credibility in official statistics. Esteemed speakers will provide thoughtful interventions, tracing the journey of the FPOS and examining their impact on monitoring Sustainable Development Goals and other regional and national development policies, emphasizing how the FPOS have been instrumental in shaping national statistical systems and establishing data integrity and public confidence in statistical outputs over the years. The second segment, 'Shaping the Future of Official Statistics,' will begin with introductory speeches, followed by a dynamic panel discussion. This segment will embark on an exploratory journey, examining how the FPOS can guide Official Statistics in navigating challenges and seizing opportunities in a rapidly changing data ecosystem, highlighting its role as a reliable and adaptable source of information. The discussion will also consider how the Terms of Reference for the Independent Advisory Board and the commented outline of the revitalized FPOS implementation guidelines, submitted for discussion and approval at the 55th session of the Statistical Commission, might contribute to their broad implementation. The High-level Forum will conclude with an open debate, offering a unique opportunity for attendees to engage with the topics, share insights, and contribute to the dialogue.
Citizen participation throughout the data value chain is increasingly recognized in addressing data gaps for marginalized communities and enhancing data fairness, inclusiveness, openness, accountability and transparency. As the global community strives to meet the Sustainable Development Goals and increase the impact of data, the insights derived from the lived experiences and perspectives of citizens are indispensable in decision-making. However, leveraging citizen data and making it fit for policymaking encounters various challenges. These include the lack of trust between state and non-state actors, data quality and sustainability, and capacity constraints faced by civil society organisations and communities in data production.
Description: The Friday Seminar on Emerging Issues was established as a space for the global statistical community to explore emerging issues. It is a place which serves as a learning environment where statisticians come together with specialists and experts to explore innovative topics and address the interplay between official statistics and the broader data ecosystem. Data governance can be described as the policies, guidelines, standards, procedures and practices that regulate the generation, management, use and reuse of data. It addresses the overarching vision for data within a system and how it is shared, accessed and integrated while mitigating risks and maintaining trust. The implementation of data governance strategies differs across domains and is dependent on national practices. It is essential for the global statistical community as the data space evolves in a dynamic fashion to discuss different ways of handling data governance and explore commonalities that can help define the role and the strategies of the national statistical offices within the larger landscape of data governance across the whole system. Data governance has been discussed across various groups at the national and international levels. It applies to data within the private and public sectors and on how data is exchanged between them. The Statistical Commission focuses on official statistics and is the primary body for the coordination of the global statistical programmes in general and of the United Nations statistical and data-related system. In 2022, the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations requested the Commission to play the role as the apex for discussions, knowledge exchange and sharing of best practices on statistics and data across all domains, to develop and maintain international statistical standards and norms, tools and methodologies, to support and bolster the development of sustainable national statistical systems, to develop and build the capacity of national systems, to advocate for the professional community of official statistics, and to ensure continued innovations to adapt to the changing statistical and data system. The 2022 update to the terms of references of the Commission emphasizes the need for technological innovations, the promotion of practices for the generation of information aligned with principles that ensure coherence, comparability, data privacy, among others, and the importance to build partnerships. This calls for a better, more thorough understanding of how governance of data applies across the system.
Description: This course, presented by the Statistics Department, provides participants with an introduction to the compilation of monetary statistics covering the central bank (CB) and other depository corporations (ODCs) in accordance with international standards. Course materials are based on the Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual and Compilation Guide (MFSMCG). The course discusses the principles of residency and sectorization of institutional units, the characteristics and types of financial instruments, valuation principles, and other accounting issues that are relevant to the compilation of monetary statistics. Participants also become familiar with the defining characteristics of depository corporations (DCs), notably their role as money issuers, and with the main principles on which analysis of monetary and credit aggregates is based. The course consists of lectures, and exercises covering practical aspects of compiling monetary statistics, especially the use of financial statements for filling out standardized report forms (SRFs 1SR and 2SR) and the derivation of the respective surveys for the CB, ODCs, and the consolidated DCs sector. Participants should be prepared to ask questions and discuss challenges related to MFS compilation practices. This course is an abbreviated version of the longer, introductory MFS course traditionally offered by STA in-person.
Target Audience: Central bank officials and officials from financial regulatory agencies responsible for compiling monetary statistics.
Description: The 11th Statistical Forum of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will take place in hybrid format (in person and virtually) in Washington, D.C. during November 15 to 16, 2023. The Forum is a platform for policymakers, researchers, the private sector, regulators, and compilers of economic and financial data to come together to discuss cutting edge issues in macroeconomic and financial statistics and to build support for statistical improvements. The theme of this year’s Statistical Forum is Measuring Money in the Digital Age. Digitalization is pervasive. It has impacted all aspects of life – money is no exception. There are daily accounts of the rise and fall of digital currencies, stable coins and other types of crypto assets, however there is little formal “accounting” of these new forms of money. Digitalization is also changing the way individuals and businesses interact with the financial system. As digitalization continues to impact the future of money and the exchange of value, effective policy and regulation are needed to ensure a stable and equitable financial system. The Forum will explore (i) the new forms of money and payments, (ii) the implication for financial stability and monetary policy, (iii) the impact on financial inclusion and illicit financial flows, and (iv) how we can better measure the new forms of money and payments to support policymaking. The Forum focuses on a discussion track, where participants will have the opportunity to share experiences, and build on topics of mutual interest through presentations and panel discussions.
Description: This course, presented by the Statistics Department, focuses on the conceptual framework of government finance statistics (GFS) as presented in the Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014 (GFSM 2014), with an emphasis on new concepts introduced in GFSM 2014. The course requires that participants are familiar with the basic GFS framework and classification system. Emphasizing the integrated GFS framework, the course addresses complex cross-cutting GFS issues, such as social protection, government employee pension liabilities, standardized guarantee schemes, contracts, leases, licenses, public-private partnerships, and public sector balance sheets. It also examines coverage of the public sector, giving special attention to borderline and complex cases. The course discusses internal and intersectoral data consistency, coordination between data-producing agencies, as well as data presentation and communication with users. The format is lectures and discussions.
Description: UNSD participated in an event on privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs), which brought together private sector, civil society and public sector experts. The main themes of the event were (1) how to unlock the power of sensitive data while protecting privacy, (2) ensure compliance with data protection regulations, and (3) accelerate R&D and AI development to improve business practices by ensuring that data collaboration and sharing across teams and organizations is secure and private. UNSD contributed to a panel discussion by explaining how national statistical agencies are exploring the benefits and challenges of using PETs to access, share and disseminate data. The UN PET Guide for official statistics was recently released. It provides guidance on the reasons why PETs can improve the delivery of services of statistical agencies, on the available methods for input and output privacy, and on the legal considerations which are in play when using PETs. Moreover, the PET Guide describes in detail 18 use cases which exemplify how PETs can be used in practice. One use case was described on combining education statistics with student financial aid, and one on the verification of detailed cross-border trade statistics between trading countries. As an outcome of this event, additional experts on PETs (from private sector and civil society) may join the UN PET Lab of the UN Committee of Experts on Big Data and Data Science for Official Statistics.
Description: This course, presented by the Statistics Department, covers theoretical and practical aspects in the compilation of national accounts statistics based on the conceptual framework of the System of National Accounts 2008 (2008 SNA). The course consists of lectures covering advanced methodological and compilation issues of the 2008 SNA and workshops consisting of practical exercises in compiling the accounts. The main aim of the course is to train participants in developing and using more advanced compilation techniques in areas including supply and use tables (SUTs), input-output tables, price and volume measures, and thematic satellite accounts. The course starts with SNA framework and will discuss how these accounts can be extended to address specific user needs. The main lectures and workshops include: Conceptual framework of the SNA; Output of specific industries; SUTs and input-outputs tables; Price and volume measurement; Estimating consumption of fixed capital; and Thematic satellite accounts, with a focus on topics covered in the update of the 2008 SNA (e.g., informal economy, labor accounts).Emphasis is also placed on sharing country experiences among the participants.
Organizer(s): UN DESA UNFPA UNDP WHO Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data World Bank
Description: At the SDG Action Weekend on 17 September 2023, UNDESA and partners (UNFPA, UNDP, WHO, the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD), the World Bank) launched the High Impact Initiative on the Power of Data at the United Nations Headquarters. The event garnered numerous commitments and called on world leaders to invest in better data for driving progress and sustainable development. Speakers included Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary General of the UN; USG Li from UNDESA, and Principals from UNFPA, UNDP, the World Bank, GPSDD; Ashley Judd, Actor and UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador; Dr. Mo Ibrahim, founder and chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation; ministers from Colombia, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya; officials from all over the world; senior figures from NVIDIA and Microsoft; NGOs; and youth advocates. At the event, the following key issues were discussed: the urgent need and opportunity to fund data systems; the role of data in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals; the role of data in driving economic decision making and tackling inequalities; and the role of data in transforming decision making. Commitments made at the event include 15 countries launched cutting-edge National Data Partnerships; The UK made funding commitment of investing over USD 7.5 million to help scale up global support for national data partnerships; and 30 data for development and civil society organizations signed a letter of support for the High Impact Initiative.
Description: Hosted by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), the Voluntary National Review (VNR) lab will discuss and share experiences, at the UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) on how non-traditional data, particularly CGD is utilized to support SDG monitoring and the VNRs for evidence-based reporting and will present country experiences from Asia and the Pacific and beyond. It will explore initiatives to improve reporting frameworks and harness the power of citizens to capture and share more data on the SDGs for the VNRs. Interventions will be made by civil society, government, and national statistical office representatives.
Description: As one of the critical follow-up and review mechanisms for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Voluntary National Review (VNR) prepared by Member States and presented at the UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), provides an opportunity for countries to share their experiences, successes, challenges, and lessons learned in implementing the SDGs
Source: World Bank (Data extracted on: 03 Feb 2023 )
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Organizer(s): World Bank
Description: Human activity has caused precipitous increases in greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions, resulting in a one degree warming of average global surface temperatures over the past century. As the planet responds to rising emissions, extreme weather events are expected to become more frequent, distressing both natural and human systems. Researchers and practitioners need innovative analytical tools and data sources to understand how to mitigate the risks and impact of climate change on welfare. COP27 ended with a compromise to create a fund sourced from developed countries to remedy climate change damages in low income and fragile contexts. This adds to the panoply of climate funds and financial tools geared toward broader action on climate change and the commitment of all development institutions to align their financing with the Paris Agreement. To make sure these investments maximize well-being and protect those who are most at risk, we need to assess not only what the damages would be and who would be most vulnerable, but also what mitigation and resilience strategies are most effective. To this end, the World Bank’s Development Impact Evaluation (DIME) department and Data Analytics and Tools (DECAT) unit, the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA), and the University of Chicago’s Development Innovation Lab (DIL) will host the ninth annual Measuring Development Conference (MeasureDev). The Mitigating the Risks and Impacts of Climate Change conference will convene researchers at the frontiers of physical and social sciences and decision-makers who influence humanity’s responses to the challenges of climate change. It will showcase innovative data sources and analytical techniques to better monitor emissions and appraise efforts to mitigate their consequences. MeasureDev will feature a series of presentations, panel discussions, and lightning talks on novel applications of mobile data, satellite imagery, remote sensing technologies, and the computational approaches to make sense of the data to provide more granular, frequent, and accurate insights regarding our changing climate and actions to respond. Participants will learn about the frontiers of measurement using these approaches and gain perspectives from leading academic and industry pioneers. Researchers, graduate students, practitioners, policymakers, and industry partners are all welcome to submit to our call for speakers using this form.
Organizer(s): UNCTAD UN Women UNSD UNITAR Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data
Description:
Citizens' contribution to data, broadly defined as the engagement of citizens in multiple processes in the data value chain, from specifying needs to use of the data to inform policy, is increasingly recognized for its unique ability to help overcome many data challenges of our times and in contributing to the inclusiveness of official statistics.
Citizens’ contribution to data could happen at different levels – global, regional, national, or local. The engagement of citizens can be organized by different stakeholders - scientists, community leaders, civil society organisations (CSOs), or individual citizens. Their engagement can contribute to various stages of the data value chain and serve different objectives and contribute to data and policy in many different ways.
When people—especially those who have been historically excluded from decision making— actively participate in decisions about data collection, design, analysis, and use, they gain greater access to the benefits of data. The official statistical community increasingly recognizes the importance of non-state actors in contributing to the inclusiveness of official statistics.
Description: There is clear demand from policy makers, governments, academics and the public to move the statistical measurement framework beyond gross domestic product (GDP), which primarily focuses on economic performance. While traditional measures of economic performance will always have a place, there is a gap between the information contained in GDP and what counts for people’s well-being. Responding to the beyond GDP agenda will require a combination of economic, environmental and social measures that go beyond measures of market activity and include measures centred on people’s well-being, and sustainability of the environment, making the contribution of nature to our well-being explicit. The aim would be to inform various policy goals, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and, in the context of accounting for people’s well-being, to address the call by the Secretary-General for new measures of progress to complement GDP. In addition, the Secretary General acknowledged the role of implementing the System of Environmental Economic Accounts (SEEA) and said: "This is a historic step towards transforming how we view and value nature. We will no longer be heedlessly allowing environmental destruction and degradation to be considered economic progress." Going beyond GDP is not to redefine the current sets of indicators, but to identify accounts and indicators so that countries can produce internationally comparable statistics that provide important information for policymakers that go beyond measures of economic performance. While the theme of "Beyond GDP" has a broad scope, this event will first present the need for broader measures of progress and will introduce measures such as a multidimensional vulnerability index (MVI) to assess the vulnerability of small island states as well as other countries; and measures that go beyond the narrow focus on economic growth towards what counts for people and the planet. The event is organized along two panels one representing the users needs for measures beyond GDP and the other presenting how national statistical offices have responded to these demands. In particular, the two panels will address the need for: Measures of social and demographic developments to complement measures of economic performance. Some countries have been pioneers and have done inspiring work in terms of the distribution of income and welfare measures, unpaid household service work, generational distribution of wealth and systems of quality of life statistics Measuring the contribution of nature to our wellbeing – The SEEA has been adopted as an international statistical standard and it is being used to supporting various policy frameworks being implemented in over 90 countries; In the context of updating the 2008 SNA the broadening of the national accounts’ framework to better account for elements affecting well-being and sustainability by describing where the national accounts can contribute to understanding well-being and sustainability, including where the framework can be extended, and where other frameworks such as those from SEEA and demographic and social statistics are required to provide a more comprehensive understanding of these issues.
Description: Session 1: The Role of Data Science in Official Statistics The availability of relevant, timely and usable statistics and indicators is essential for governments to set priorities, make informed decisions and implement better policies. The data science revolution is helping improve the production of those statistics and indicators through new methods, technologies and data sources, such as big data and machine learning. With many National Statistical Offices (NSOs) rapidly expanding their big data and data science capabilities and activities, there is an opportunity to step up international co-operation between NSOs to modernise global and national statistical systems. By sharing knowledge and identifying key priorities at leadership level, NSOs data science leaders can provide strategic vision and leadership to guide the many multilateral cooperation initiatives in this field. A new international and inclusive network for data science leaders can provide insight, strategic advice and secure buy-in to drive innovation, maximize efficiencies and accelerate the integration of statistical production through data science. The Data Science Leaders Network (DSLN) was initiated at the Statistical Commission in March 2022. The DSLN will advance the strategic discussion of key issues concerning the current and future role of NSOs in providing data science services for official statistics on the one hand and to other government agencies on the other. DSLN will also discuss the status of experimental data and indicators, ethical and legal considerations, data sharing and acquisition, the governance of data science research and capability building across government, the code of conduct for data scientists, and the quality framework for big data and data science. It will launch new initiatives and projects, while leaving the execution of those activities to existing groups. DSLN will further provide guidance on areas where capability gaps would justify proactive co-investment among statistical institutes. Session 2: Moving Towards Register-based Censuses: Opportunities and challenges This session of the Friday seminar on Innovation and Modernisation of Official Statistics will bring together Chief Statisticians to discuss the use of administrative data sources for producing population and housing census data. The current round of censuses has been witnessing a growing interest in the use of administrative data sources. The arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the difficulties caused by it, has accelerated existing initiatives to utilize administrative data sources in a significant number of countries all over the world. There are many reasons for exploring administrative registers for producing census information, including : (a) the need to produce accurate, reliable and more frequent statistics (on a yearly basis); (b) high costs of conducting field enumeration and budgetary limitations for census taking; (c) reluctance of the population to participate in the census (for instance, during the COIVD-19 pandemic); and (d) availability of administrative registers for statistical purposes. On the other hand, there are certain challenges regarding the use of administrative registers, including the quality of existing administrative registers, lack of legal framework for the use of individual records for statistical production, and institutional capacity in establishing and maintaining statistical registers. Changing the design of census processes from the traditional method to one that is relying on administrative data sources is a core part of the strategy of many NSOs to develop a register-based statistical system. This will require a pragmatic shift in the way official statistics are produced. This seminar will discuss the process of transitioning and challenges in planning and managing this process, particularly those related to political and public support; legal framework; engagement of stakeholders; confidentiality issues; operational considerations and strengthening institutional capacity. The seminar will also provide an opportunity to learn from experiences of countries that are at different stages of this transition. Session 3: Towards a framework to harness data by citizens, for citizens and about citizens Citizens' contribution to data, broadly defined as the engagement of citizens in multiple processes in the data value chain, is increasingly recognized as critical to helping overcome many data challenges of our times. In particular, in the context of the 2030 Agenda's principle to ensure that nobody is left behind, citizen data helps fill critical data gaps for groups suffering from data marginalization and increase the extent to which their experiences are reflected in national statistics. In addition to filling data gaps, some citizen data initiatives provide insights into harmful customary practices as well as further advance important values such as fairness, inclusiveness, openness and transparency in statistics. Citizens' contribution to data could happen at different levels - global, regional, national, or local. The engagement of citizens can be organized by different stakeholders - scientists, community leaders, civil society organisations (CSOs), or individual citizens. Their engagement can contribute to various stages of the data value chain and serve different objectives and contribute to data and policy in many different ways. The official statistical community also increasingly recognizes the importance of non-state actors in contributing to the inclusiveness of official statistics. For data collection such as censuses and surveys, national statistical offices (NSOs) often partner with CSOs or representatives of marginalized population groups to ensure the inclusiveness of the data and methodology. Unleashing the full potential of citizens for data, however, faces many challenges. These, for example, include the lack of trust between the state and non-state actors, data quality, sustainability and statistical capacity of CSOs, etc. In this context, the United Nations Statistics Division organized an Expert Group Meeting on Harnessing data by citizens for public policy and SDG monitoring: a conceptual framework in November 2022. The meeting discussed different ways that citizens can contribute to data, as well as challenges and opportunities and mechanisms to harness citizens' contribution to fill data gaps and advance fairness, inclusiveness, openness and transparency in statistics. The meeting was attended by representatives from National Statistics Offices (NSOs), Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), academia and regional and international organisations. The meeting agreed that the development of a framework would be an important next step to help conceptualize the different ways citizens can contribute to data and support the formulation of action points for the community to move forward. The meeting also agreed to establish a Collaborative as a platform for collaboration and exchange of experiences and to advance the work in this area.
Source: World Bank (Data extracted on: 03 Feb 2023 )
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Organizer(s): World Bank
Description: Advancing the World Bank’s twin goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity requires knowing who the poor are and where they live. By reaching the most granular levels of geographic aggregation, policymakers can significantly improve outcomes for the world’s poorest. However, survey data alone is not sufficient for targeting at the lowest levels. This is where small area estimation becomes necessary. The publication of Guidelines to Small Area Estimation for Poverty Mapping caps more than two decades of poverty mapping experience at the World Bank since the launch of an innovative method combining census and survey data to study the spatial dimensions of poverty. The guidelines build upon the lessons learned from experience and seek to guide readers on the best methods available for a variety of data landscapes.
Description: The 10th Statistical Forum of the International Monetary Fund will take place virtually and in person in Washington, D.C. during November 16 to 17, 2022. The Forum is a platform for policymakers, researchers, the private sector, regulators, and compilers of economic and financial data to come together to discuss cutting edge issues in macroeconomic and financial statistics and to build support for statistical improvements. The theme of this year’s Statistical Forum is Measuring the Tangible Benefits of Intangible Capital. In our increasingly dematerialized world intangible assets are transforming economies and driving growth. As a result, an increasing share of output, jobs, income and wealth is associated with firms where traditional tangible assets have been crowded out by intangible assets, such as marketing assets, data, and organizational capital. Yet conventional business accounting and macroeconomic accounting methods have lagged behind in valuing these forms of capital. Furthermore, the mobility of intangible assets and firms’ strategies to take advantage of worldwide tax minimization while maximizing overall profits implies growing tension between the nature and location of economic activity and its measurement system. The aim of the 10th IMF Statistical Forum is to explore how we can better measure intangible capital to better support investment policy, taxation policy and macroeconomic analysis.
Organizer(s): ECB Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland United States
Description: The Center for Inflation Research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and the European Central Bank invite you to attend the Inflation: Drivers and Dynamics 2022 conference to be held in Cleveland, Ohio, on 29-30 September 2022. The conference will bring together top researchers from academia, central banks and other policy institutions to present research findings related to inflation. Additional conference details will be distributed nearer the date.
Organizer(s): UNSD Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data Sustainable Development Solutions Network World Bank
Description: This side event, jointly organized by GPSDD, SDSN TReNDS, WB, and UNSD, aims to provide an update on the D4N initiative and highlight recent country experiences of innovative partnerships and solutions built as part of D4N. More concretely, the event will: 1. Provide an update of work and showcase innovative results and learning from countries. 2. Highlight some of the noteworthy partnerships formed as part of the initiative 3. Present upcoming plans, including expansion to involve more countries and partners as well as efforts to make materials more widely available
Source: World Bank (Data extracted on: 26 Oct 2021 )
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Organizer(s): World Bank KDI School of Public Policy and Management Korea
Description: The World Bank’s anticorruption program has been helping to strengthen transparency and make better use of the growing availability of data to develop a stronger evidence base for anticorruption. The goal is to bring high-definition transparency to policy reform with insights that reflect the nature of corruption problems and their impacts across different levels of government, sectors, and contexts. A Symposium on Data Analytics and Anticorruption will be co-hosted by the World Bank and the Korea Development Institute School of Public Policy and Management on October 25-28. The four-day event was launched last year with a Call for Papers, 26 of which were selected for the Symposium. The papers cover four thematic areas: New data-driven approaches to detecting and measuring corruption; Using new data sources and methods to measure the impacts of corruption; Using open data to assess the effectiveness of anticorruption tools, policies, and interventions; Contributing new knowledge on data access, quality, and privacy issues. The Symposium will bring together researchers working to advance anticorruption data analytics to help inform more effective policies and actions by governments for greater accountability in public administration.
Description: Household surveys play an important role in meeting national data needs, for example, in measuring poverty, employment, skills and learning inclusive education, food security, access to health services and public services, discrimination and violence, inter alia. Household surveys are also critical for monitoring inequalities by gender, class, location disability and other markers of disadvantage, which is critical for monitoring progress against the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In addition, household surveys are an invaluable source of data for behavioural and attitudinal measures which cannot be collected - for example - through administrative data systems. A mapping exercise recently conducted shows that around one-third of all SDG indicators (80 out of 232 indicators), covering 13 different goals, can be sourced from household surveys.1 Despite their crucial role in national statistical systems over the past decades, household surveys are now facing many funding challenges and scepticism about their usefulness and adaptability to this era of a changing data landscape. Household surveys are increasingly portrayed as slow and costly. With rising income and urbanization, response rates in surveys (especially in high-income countries) have been declining, with more and more individuals becoming reluctant to participate in surveys. Survey data are often underutilized, which raises further questions on the usefulness and the value of household surveys. With national statistical offices overstretched and underfunded to meet the growing demand for data, household surveys are too-often framed as obsolete when compared and contrasted with other data sources such as "Big Data" and administrative data. Some have even speculated that in a not-too-distant future, Big Data may eliminate the need for surveys altogether. Are household surveys still relevant in the changing data landscape? And if so, are there new roles for that household surveys can play in this new data landscape in addition to the value they currently hold? How do we unleash the full potential of household surveys to add value to other data sources? What are the real opportunities and limitations of alternative data sources vis a vis household surveys? How do we improve the effectiveness of household surveys and their contribution to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development? Organised by the United Nations Statistics Division, in collaboration with the Inter-Secretariat Working Group on Household Surveys, the seminar provides a platform for national statistical offices, international organisations and the research community to debate and discuss strategies to realise the full potential of household surveys in this new environment. The seminar will help identify the way forward for further methodological development in household surveys, for scaling up innovative approaches in countries and for identifying capacity building needs. The seminar will also explore and suggest practical ways to streamline and scale up those innovative approaches and do so equitably, with low income countries benefiting in equal manner.
