What is a capability?

A capability is defined as "The ability that an organisation, person, or system possesses. Capabilities typically require a combination of organisation, people, processes, and technology to achieve” (Source: The Open Group Architecture Framework v9.1 - http://pubs.opengroup.org/architecture/togaf9-doc/arch/chap03.html).

Practical examples of capabilities in statistical organisations include seasonal adjustment, internet data collection, web dissemination, data editing, questionnaire design, etc. The idea of capabilities can also be applied to implementation of statistical standards or frameworks such as the Generic Statistical Business Process Model (GSBPM) or the Generic Activity Model for Statistical Organisations (GAMSO).

What are the dimensions of capabilities?

As the definition says, capabilities require combinations of factors or dimensions – rather like the economic concept of factors of production (land, labour, capital). The full set of dimensions for statistical capabilities is: 

These dimensions are defined in more detail here. To develop a capability in a statistical organisation, it is usually necessary to address several of these dimensions. For example, in the case of seasonal adjustment, just training people, or providing a software tool, will not be sufficient to ensure that the organisation has that capability.

There will be some cases where one or more dimensions will not be relevant, in these cases those dimensions can be ignored.

What is a maturity model?

A maturity model is a self-assessment tool to help an organisation understand the extent to which it has developed a capability or implemented a standard. In other words, it helps the organisation to understand its level of "organisational maturity" with respect to that capability or standard. Maturity models are tables where the columns show the maturity levels and the rows show the maturity dimensions. The dimensions can be the same as for capabilities (see above). These and the standard levels of maturity are shown in the table below. Depending on the type of capability or standard, one or more of the dimensions might not be relevant. If so, these dimensions can be ignored. Each cell in the table should contain a description of what that combination of maturity level and dimension means in practice. These descriptions will often be specific to each capability or standard.


Maturity Levels

Dimensions

Initial

awareness

Pre-

implementation

Early

implementation

Corporate

implementation

Mature

implementation
PeopleDescriptionDescriptionDescriptionDescriptionDescription
MethodsDescriptionDescriptionDescriptionDescriptionDescription
TechnologyDescriptionDescriptionDescriptionDescriptionDescription
Standards / frameworks
DescriptionDescriptionDescriptionDescriptionDescription
ProcessesDescriptionDescriptionDescriptionDescriptionDescription
InformationDescriptionDescriptionDescriptionDescriptionDescription
Institutional settingDescriptionDescriptionDescriptionDescriptionDescription

For detailed definitions of the different maturity levels, please see this page, and for the dimensions, please see this page.

The idea of maturity models for official statistics has been adapted from the Open Group Service Integration Maturity Model (OSIMM) Version 2 (http://www.opengroup.org/soa/source-book/osimmv2/). Several pilot maturity models were developed under the High-level Group for the Modernisation of Official Statistics in 2016. See the full list of capabilities and standards for which maturity models have been prepared.

How can I use maturity models?

Maturity models are used to find the current level of maturity, and also to define the target level for the organisation. They are management tools to identify where work is needed, and to help decide on priorities. The target level of maturity might be "Mature implementation", but for some capabilities or standards, the organisation might decide that a lower level of maturity is sufficient. In the example below, the target maturity level is "Corporate implementation". The organisation has decided that it has already reached this level for the "Methods" dimension, but not for the other dimensions. It has most work to do in the "Technology" and "Processes" dimensions, as the organisation is only at the "Initial awareness" level for these dimensions. As a result of this assessment, the "Technology" and "Processes" dimensions are likely to be priority areas for future work. For some suggestions on how to carry out a maturity assessment, please see this page.

 

What is a roadmap?

A maturity model helps an organisation to identify its current and target levels of maturity for the implementation of a capability or standard. A "roadmap" is a plan to help the organisation reach the target maturity level as quickly and efficiently as possible. Where possible, this should take into account the experiences of other statistical organisations, e.g. from case studies and lessons learned.



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