One of the conclusions from a High-level Seminar on Modernization of Statistical Production and Services (St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, 3-5 October 2012) was:
"Big Data is an increasing challenge. The official statistical community needs to better understand the issues, and develop new methods, tools and ideas to make effective use of Big Data sources. This includes closer integration with geographical data and standards."
As a follow up activity, it was proposed that the High-Level Group for the Modernization of Statistical Production and Services should provide "a document explaining the issues surrounding the use of “Big Data” in the official statistics community".
A paper that aims to address this requirement has been produced by a group of leading international experts under the supervision of the High-Level Group.