PRESENTATION ON

ASSESSMENT AND PRIORISATION OF USER NEEDS

By W. C. Mayaka

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INTRODUCTION

The Central Statistical Office (CSO) is a department in the Ministry of Finance and National Planning of the Republic Of Zambia. CSO is charged with the mandate of producing and disseminating official statistical Information under the Census and Statistics ACT, Chapter 127 of the Laws of Zambia, 1965.

Open access to official statistics on economic, demographic and social conditions of the country is an essential element of national development.

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INTRODUCTION….cont’d

Statistical information is of interest to researchers, public and private sector decision makers and politicians. Official statistics are defined as statistical data produced within the scope of the statistical programme of the National Statistical System (NSS) in compliance with national and international technical standards and fulfilling the NSS principles.

Official statistics are a public good, which should efficiently meet user needs and put a non excessive burden on respondents. Official statistics should also be sufficiently comprehensive, accessible to all citizens and presented in a way that the main results are understood with no need for specialized knowledge

ASSESSMENT AND PRIORITISATION OF USER NEEDS

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CSO has various data collection activities that include the following:

a) Household and establishment based surveys b) Client tailored surveys c) Censuses and secondary data collection.

Data dissemination is a key stage of statistical activity. The Central Statistical Office as a provider of official statistics attaches considerable importance to easy and widespread access by all decision-makers both in the public and private sector, politicians, researchers and society in general, to statistics it compiles.

ASSESSMENT AND PRIORISATION USER NEEDS…..cont’d

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CSO disseminates statistical information from a number of key sources. These can be broadly categorized as:

• Aggregate data and/or calculated statistics primarily disseminated for public information and policy purposes• Individual record data or microdata from censuses and surveys• Geographical information

ASSESSMENT AND PRIORISATION USER NEEDS…..cont’d

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POLICY FRAMEWORK

• Product definition• Definitions of standards and best practices• Applicable price statement• Distribution of the product• Promotion of the Statistical product• Access conditions to products• Confidentiality issues• Copyright matters• Revisions of released and public data• Organizational implementation

Each component of the dissemination policy (aggregate data, microdata and geographic data) will address the following issues:

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STATEMENT OF THE PRINCIPLES

The user-oriented production and dissemination strategy is based on the following principles:

• Production of timely and quality demand-driven statistics• Equal access to statistical data by different user groups• Professionalism and transparency of methodological solutions• User friendliness of different dissemination products and media• Improving timeliness of statistics through shortening of time gap between

data collection and data dissemination and improving timelines of statistical data outputs

• Users should have only one access point to the statistical office as far as electronic dissemination of statistics and paper publications are concerned

• The revisions of data will be made public in accordance with the policy on revisions

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• Policymakers/Planners and researchers employed by line ministries and planning departments and in both public and private sectors who are engaged in the development of regional and national strategies and programs, including the monitoring and evaluation of these programs

• The private sector in general• International agencies involved in the conduct of special studies aimed at

identifying development and support opportunities and development programs and infrastructure within Zambia.

• Other international users• Research students and Lecturers mainly engaged in educational activities• Other users who are involved in conducting research • The general public, NGOs etc

USER IDENTIFICATION

In general, the following main users are defined:

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• Better identify, prioritize and meet user needs• Create greater statistical Awareness• Improve customer care• Improve data quality

- Create a culture of data quality awareness and encourage a

personal sense of responsibility for quality at every level. - Establish the NBS as the official clearing house for statistical

data for the NSS. - Improve user-producer dialogue through the establishment of standing user-producer committees to improve dialogue between them - Improve the design of data collection instruments. E.g. Forms & questionnaires

USER SATISFACTION GOALS

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• Improve data quality…cont’d - Undertake periodic data audits

- Do follow ups to increase response rates in establishment-based censuses and surveys

• Improve timeliness of data• Improve accessibility of official statistics

USER SATISFACTION GOALS…..cont’d

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• Lack of ease access of data• Lack of timeliness in the release of data• Low level of understanding of statistics among users• Perceived undue interference with statistical production and

release by government• Limited or low quality of some statistical products and services• Lack of quality assessments in some products• Lack of effective dissemination• Limited capacity in statistical production to satisfy all the users(i.e. demand versus supply, the demand has overwhelmed the

supply of data)

CHALLENGES

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• Multiplicity of producers of statistics who are not coordinated and hence at times produce contradictory indicators. Some of the data production produced by some producers is not collected scientifically and with no mention of limitations and quality assessments

• Users are not mainstreamed in statistical activities• Lack of sufficient coordination, collaboration and networking

among stakeholders

CHALLENGES…cont’d

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• Carry out statistical needs Assessment and Utilization surveys.• Improve coordination, collaboration and networking among

stakeholders• Mainstream the users in all stages of national statistical

production process through user-producer Standing committee/working groups and Steering committees in all statistical activities.

FEEDBACK FROM USERS – HOW TO ORGANISE IT

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• Integrate user mainstreaming in the Statistical Act. Our draft new Act is proposing establishment of user-producer committees and data producer-producer committees and technical working groups in all statistical activities to enhance coordination and information sharing among key stakeholders in the development of official statistics. Provision is made for the composition of these committees as well as functions and frequency of meetings.

• Develop MoUs and other partnerships with users for access to both the datasets and published results and for cooperation at every stage.

• Always, as much as possible, disseminate the official results and indicators either through dissemination workshops, press releases, on the website etc to both national and international stakeholders and have a release calendar.

FEEDBACK FROM USERS – HOW TO ORGANISE IT…cont’d

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• Hard and soft copies of the statistical reports could also be availed during a dissemination workshop by inviting key users for their comments and feedbacks on the results.

• It is important to first produce preliminary results or reports, circulate them to the users and, after getting feedback produce final reports which take into account comments from all stakeholders.

• Establish a National Data Archive/National Data Bank based on the local area network and wide area net work for ease access to datasets and data exchange with rules and conditions of data access.

• Develop a dissemination policy.• Have a core statistical program agreed with all major

stakeholders within the NSS, which prioritize statistical production.

FEEDBACK FROM USERS – HOW TO ORGANISE IT…cont’d

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CONCLUSION

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Mainstreaming of sector statistical systems requires that stakeholders involved in functioning of the NSS. They should work with each other and the NSS to develop shared objectives and cross cutting strategies and to streamline institutional and coordinating mechanisms. These objectives and strategies complement or are in addition to the overall NSS identified under the strategic perspectives.

Mainstreaming of sector statistical systems requires that stakeholders involved in functioning of the NSS. They should work with each other and the NSS to develop shared objectives and cross cutting strategies and to streamline institutional and coordinating mechanisms. These objectives and strategies complement or are in addition to the overall NSS identified under the strategic perspectives.

In Zambia, the National Development Plans, the Monitoring and Evaluation and sectoral policy frameworks in the various sectors and the Millennium Development Goals have placed an increased demand for data.

Good statistics provide a sound basis for good decision making and help governments identify the best course of action in solving complex problems. They are also essential in managing effective delivery of services and are a core requirement for accountability and good governance.

In Zambia, the National Development Plans, the Monitoring and Evaluation and sectoral policy frameworks in the various sectors and the Millennium Development Goals have placed an increased demand for data.

Good statistics provide a sound basis for good decision making and help governments identify the best course of action in solving complex problems. They are also essential in managing effective delivery of services and are a core requirement for accountability and good governance.

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ENDTHANK YOU FOR LISTENING

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