Digital systems and services used by Belstat, the main results and achievements in the field of informatization, as well as problematic issues and conceptual vision of the ways of their solution were presented on September 13, 2023 by the First Deputy Chairperson of the National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus Elena Kukharevich within the framework of the second session "Digital technologies in statistics" at the International Forum of Producers and Users of Statistics, organized by the Interstate Statistical Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States in St. Petersburg (Russian Federation).
In her speech Elena Kukharevich noted that nowadays information systems and resources are applied at all stages of statistical production - from the collection of primary statistical data, their processing and ending with the dissemination of official statistical information.
The tasks of primary statistical data collection in the form of electronic document are provided first of all by the specialized module of the Unified Information System of State Statistics of Belarus (UISSS) - "Electronic Respondent Online". Complexes of software and hardware tools are used for sample surveys and processing.
Following the best international practices, in its work Belstat also expands the use of freely distributed applied statistical tools, such as SPSS, Statistica, Stata 16, R software environment and others.
Besides, the work carried out by Belstat in recent years made it possible starting from January 2023 to switch over to collecting primary statistical data in the form of an electronic document using the UISSS module "Electronic Respondent Online", the holders of which are other producers of official statistics.
Dissemination of official data is carried out primarily through the Interactive Information and Analytical System for Dissemination of Official Statistical Information of the Republic of Belarus (IAS DB). In IAS DB, among others, the possibility of data unloading into machine-readable formats is realized, including the use of an international standard SDMX.
"At the same time, the accelerated development of IT technologies and the steady growth of data flows requires Belstat to improve information systems and resources," said Elena Kukharevich.
In this regard, the First Deputy Chairperson of the National Statistical Committee dwelled on the plans of the National Statistical Committee to re-engineer the existing information systems and resources.
The works are already underway. This year Belstat started modernization of the IAS DB. The project is implemented by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in partnership with Belstat.
The results of modernization will be:
In her speech, she also said that in the medium term, Belstat will start developing the State Digital Platform "Statistics". Its concept is based on the catalog of statistical indicators founded on the SDMX standard, which is currently being formed for all information systems and resources of Belstat.
Creation and implementation of the unified catalog will allow to pass from the state statistical reporting on forms to the reporting on indicators (groups of indicators), which will significantly simplify the process of reporting for respondents and increase the efficiency of statistical production as a whole in the future.
For the collection of primary statistical and administrative data and dissemination of official statistical information within the framework of the State Digital Platform "Statistics" it is planned to create unified resources, where all necessary digital services will be placed. Among other things, the services will provide the functionality of automated information exchange with external systems by means of application program interface (API).
At the end of her speech Elena Kukharevich said that, according to the expectations of Belstat, as a result of re-engineering of information systems, respondents will be able to use a unified digital service for submitting statistical reports that meets all modern requirements, and users - a unified resource of official statistical information.
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