Updates from the Modernization Groups |
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| Work | | Description |
Blue-skies Thinking
| Identifying Topics/Opportunities | | - We reviewed the methods of working for the group, and agreed to keep the regular brainstorming sessions, given their value in generating ideas and getting a sense of interest in such.
- Francesca Kay volunteered to by co-chair of the BSTN, and she was approved by the group unanimously. Chairing of the BSTN meetings will alternative month-to-month.
- Interest was expressed in revisiting the soapbox pitches from HLG-MOS 2024; presenters will be contacted.
- We will attempt to hold the yearly call dedicated solely to hearing activity/project pitches earlier in the year (poss. April or May) than in previous years, to allow for more time for proposals to be workshopped, and sprints to be organised.
--- - Jan-Feb BSTN call discussion topics:
- The group discussed horizon scanning tools (i.e. innovation radars). It was proposed that members trial various tools (either commercial or open source) and report back to BSTN.
- The group heard a detailed presentation on the UN Data Commons by UNSD (minutes TBC next week).
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Future of NSOs Exercise | | - At the moment, a draft of the paper is being prepared for submission to the Proceedings of the Statistics Canada Symposium 2024.
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Applying Data Science and Modern Methods
| Uncertainty Quantification Task Team | | - Project Progress:
- We are finalizing the chapters and targeting an end-of-June deadline for delivery of the report.
- Recent meetings: We’ve had a few presentations on methodologies in our last three meetings, which have been very helpful.
- Roadblocks/Challenges:
- Contributions from some members have been slower than expected, or, in some cases, none at all.
- Time zone differences have made scheduling and coordination difficult, which has impacted attendance at some meetings.
Despite these challenges, things are moving forward, and we’re optimistic about meeting the deadline. |
Advancing Responsible AI Task Team and Responsible AI Training Program | | The project has progressed somewhat slowly, and perhaps the biggest challenge has been scheduling, which affects everyone involved. The hype around generative AI has been so intense across all statistical offices that the demand for knowledge currently exceeds the capacity of experts to share it. After a period of commitments elsewhere, the Project Lead is not able to focus on the project more.. Of course, time zone differences have also posed a challenge. We have been operating with a Europe-first approach, which understandably isn't ideal for those of you on the other side of the globe. However, the situation looks fairly promising, and the project believes it will be able to deliver the final materials by the end of May 2025. |
Capabilities and Communication
 | Work and Job of the Future - Generational diversity | | The Task Team on the future of work had first brainstorming meeting to narrow down are of work for this year. It was decided to produce a paper on generational diversity, and countries now are tasked with conducting literature review and collecting relevant materials from their NSOs. |
Webinar on mental well-being | | Explore the possibility of organizing a webinar on mental health and wellbeing, in cooperation with Statistics Indonesia. |
| | The paper "Enhancing National Statistics Offices through HR Analytics Key Benefits and Considerations" was published on the UNECE website and promoted on LinkedIn. |
Evaluation of blended (hybrid working) | | The paper on the evaluation of blended-hybrid working is in its final stages of revision and will be published soon. |
Employer branding | | The paper on employer branding is in its final stages of revision and will be published soon. |
Ethical management (Data and Business) | | The draft Ethics Guide was presented at the CES Bureau meeting in February. The Bureau supported sending the Ethics Guide for CES electronic consultation and confirmed that it will be submitted for endorsement at the 2025 CES plenary meeting in June. They also supported the proposal to hold a Workshop on Ethics in March 2026. |
Expert Meeting on the Dissemination and Communication of Statistics | | This meeting will take place in Athens on 5-7 November 2025. Preparation of the Agenda of the meeting is in progress. |
AI for official statistics - communication perspective | | The paper "Use of generative AI for communication in official statistics (2024)" was published on the UNECE website and promoted on LinkedIn. |
Supporting Standards
| Interoperability between DDI and SDMX for Data Integration task team | | We had the first two meetings in which we started discussing use cases, i.e. metadata-driven data integration of SDMX and DDI data and dissemination of DDI Codebook metadata in SDMX. We also had two presentations about core elements of both standards, i.e. DDI and SDMX, needed for the work of the task team. |
Statistical Architecture Framework task team | | A chair has been selected and a few members showed interest in participating. The starting of the task team has been postponed to Q2 to make sure the interoperability task team can get off the ground (there is a big overlap between the members of both task teams). |
Webinar on GSIM 2.0 | | Planning on the webinar has started. |
GSIM User Guide publication | | Should be published and printed before end-February. |
Revision of GSBPM | | Version 5.2 submitted to CES Bureau, who agreed to consult with CES members for a second round of feedback (currently open - ask Chris if you'd like to know more). |
Revision of GAMSO | | The group had its kick-off meeting in January. |
Survey for stakeholders | | Planning for the survey has started. Given the more practical direction the SSG has been taken over the past couple of years, this time we would like to gather information not only about the use of the ModernStats models to support business and strategic decisions but also to survey the use of implementation standards relevant for interoperability and metadata-driven implementations, e.g. DDI, SDMX. |