disseminating statistical information on economic development unece training workshop “short-term...
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Disseminating statistical information on economic development
UNECE Training Workshop “Short-term statistics and seasonal adjustment”
Astana, 14 – 17 March 2011
Petteri Baer, Marketing Manager, Statistics Finland
14 - 17 March 2011
Information services usually provided on economic development
Opinion surveys (e.g., business and consumer surveys, purchasing managers surveys, bank lending survey): at least monthly with a high timeliness
Market data (e.g. stock market data, exchange rates, yields): at least daily, frequently “tick-by-tick”
Short-term statistics (e.g. Harmonised CPI (HICP), unemployment rate, leading indicators): monthly
Monetary and financial statistics (e.g. MFI (bank) balance sheets & interest rates, securities, balance of payments): monthly – mainly by central banks
National accounts (e.g. GDP, sector accounts): quarterly and annually
2Petteri Baer
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Operational environment of services on economic statisticsGrowing demand for fresh and timely statistical information on the economic development
Highlighted by the financial and economic crisisBut existing in all phases of the economic cycle
Strong influence of rapid communication toolsGrowing information overflowImportance of quality issues
For the service products themselvesFor building up the reputation of official statistics
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To develop better interaction with users we need to be proactive
Who are our present users of economic statistics?
Who are our present users of short-term economic statistics?
Who are our POTENTIAL users of short-term economic statistics?
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Nota bene! Users are different: Tourists, Farmers, Miners…
Courtesy to Armin Grossenbacher
We will most likely have to define different ways to approach different users, if we wish to have efficient communication
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So – Who are in need of information on STS? (1)
The easy reply Policy makers Business community Media and General public
But note: Policy makers are much more than only ministries
Central Bank High level advisory groups The district (oblast) level The local level Trade unions, lobbies, NGOs…
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So – Who are in need of information on STS? (2)
The business community is a much broader target group than often believed
Banks Insurance companies Big corporations Medium sized enterprises Chambers of commerce Branch organizations Employers organizations Foreign companies Etc.
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So – Who are in need of information on STS? (3)
And numerous target groups mentioned above usually employ
Business analysts, researchers, economists
Or make use of Information brokers Business intelligence systems
or Knowledge managements
systems Do we provide sufficient
information services to them? In proper forms?
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To disseminate economic statistics efficiently: Database services!
We produce quite a lot of statistical informationDifferent users have different need structures, they want information
By industries, By enterprise sizesBy regionsComparisons over different time periodsInternational comparisonsAnd numerous other aspects…
PC-Axis, PX-Web… User friendly services!
9Petteri Baer
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The importance of good contact information
User lists Existing customers and
contacts Regular and heavy users of
economical statistics Contact directories Feedback contacts Contact / Customer
database Customer Relationship
Management (CRM)
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To improve user interaction we will at least need a Customer Database
For contactingFor surveys on satisfaction or dissatisfaction
For presenting new targeted services
For other forms of interaction
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Marketing
Customers
Mana-gement
Adminis-tration
Sales
Product development
Developmentprojects
Customerintelligence
Project intelligence
Contactintelligence
Lead intelligence
Informationretrievals Quote
intelligence
Campaignintelligence
Customer Database
Customerservice
Functions Information providers Information users
Projectgroups 12Petteri Baer
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We will profit much from active feedback
Having more feedback will help us to develop our services
Interaction with critical customers will help us in having a positive pressure on performing better
A demanding customer is like a grain of sand within the mussel. It doesn’t feel good but the result may be a beautiful pearl!
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Publicity may sometimes be tough!
Statistics often tends to attract hostile media coverage…
“Why does it take so long?”
“My own perception is different!”
“Lies, Big lies, Statistics!”
Any votes for the Census?But - is there an alternativeto providing better publicity?
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Questions to be raised
The importance of good and timely statistical information
How can resources be allocated if basic information on the economic development is based on guesses or too old information?
Attracting investments, doing good business, developing economic activities needs good infrastructure – reliable official statistics is fundamental
If the denominators of such as population statistics, GDP etc. are wrong, no real information is reliable
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Take publicity seriously
Develop useful statistical service productsMake a good plan of what will be published
Publication calendarProvide regular Media/Press releasesMake use of your agency’s Press Officer
Press Conferences from time to time…but not too often!Also critical media should always be invited!Cost plan and budget for publicity activities
Follow up on media appearance – both quantities and attitudes
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The media is your partner
In disseminating the main results of all your hard work on statistics
In making problematic issues known
Help the media to be well informed!
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Statistical literacy
Beyond students or school pupilsSpecial information seminars, breakfast sessions or other kinds of light information meetings for selected target groups would be advisable
The web site of the International Statistical Literacy Project of IASE could be helpful in planning
http://www.stat.auckland.ac.nz/~iase/islp/countries
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Presentation of statistical information on Short-term statistics
KISS – Keep It Short and SimpleStorytelling approach
UNECE’s “Making Data Meaningful” materials 1 - 3Available on the web, also in Russian, so far only 1 – 2
Focus on turning pointsOmit accidental events and “noise”
The importance of seasonal adjustment
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Conclusions – Five items of great importance
Existence of good STS servicesPackaging the STS services into for the different user categories relevant service products
Maintaining good accessibility on the webObtaining, updating and increasing contact information on users
Meeting and discussing with and learning from main users
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The efforts you will make will be rewarded, because…
Only used statistical information is useful statistical information!
Thank you for your attention!