Part A - Corporate Context
Download Part A (July 2006)
|
|
A.1. Introduction
The publication highlights the role of statistical metadata system (SMS) in a national statistical organization (NSO) and outlines a corporate framework for SMS. It is focused on managerial issues relevant to SMS corporate governance. Expected readers are the experts in NSO who are involved in establishing a business case for SMS.
The SMS is an important tool for safeguarding the internal and external integration of a statistical information system (SIS). The high number of metadata users and their diverse needs highlights the strategic nature of SMS. Knowing whom the metadata users are, and understanding their needs, is the foundation for effective SMS development. The SMS must be an integral part of a NSOs strategic direction.
Management of a SMS project is a demanding task. Statistical metadata is a developing field with many researchers and experts involved, both inside and outside NSOs. Intensive international cooperation is going on in this area. A large number of European Union (EU) projects dealing with different aspects of statistical metadata management, such as AMRADS (1), MetaNet (2), METAWARE (3), COSMOS (4), CODACMOS (5). Standards and guidelines for statistical metadata have been prepared, and are already applied in practice by national and international statistical organizations. In particular, GESMES (6)standard for exchange of statistical data and metadata and the UNECE Guidelines for Statistical Metadata on the Internet (7). There is international cooperation on the development of the Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange (8) (SDMX) project has begun, aiming to develop standards for metadata and data exchange between international organizations and NSOs.
The experiences of NSOs have shown that direct involvement of senior management is a prerequisite for a successfully functioning SMS. It is not sufficient to engage only metadata experts and IT specialists in this work, and the important role of methodologists and subject-matter statisticians must be recognized. The variety of metadata users, and the cross-cutting nature of activities throughout the SMS life cycle, calls for the inclusion of top management.
In the past, a prevailing, and very often a unique role of metadata in the statistical organization, was to support production of official statistics. However, the SMS should address other important requirements. It should be a tool for an efficient functioning of the whole SIS and facilitate its further development. It requires a corporate and systematic management of all activities related to SMS design, implementation, maintenance, use, and evaluation.
(1) Accompanying Measure to Research and Development in Official Statistics (AMRADS) website at http://amrads.jrc.cec.eu.int/.
(2) MetaNet website at http://www.epros.ed.ac.uk/metanet/index.html.
(3) METAWARE website at http://europa.eu.int/en/comm/eurostat/research/retd/metaware.html.
(4) Cluster of Systems of Metadata for Official Statistics (COSMOS) website at http://www.epros.ed.ac.uk/cosmos/.
(5) Cluster of Data Collection Integration and Metadata Systems for Official Statistics (CODACMOS) website at http://www.codacmos.eu.org/.
(6) GESMES/TS (formerly called GESMES/CB) is the message used by the European Central Bank to exchange statistical data and metadata with its partners in the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and other organisations world-wide. For more information see the website at http://www.ecb.int/stats/services/gesmes/html/index.en.html.
(7) Available online at http://www.unece.org/stats/publications/metadata.pdf.
(8) Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange website at http://www.sdmx.org/.
A.2. Target audiences
A.3. Corporate Value Proposition for Metadata Management
A.4. Metadata management strategies and policy framework
A.5. Core principles for metadata management
A.6. Corporate Governance Models for Metadata Management
A.7. Case Studies and Experiences
Glossary of terms and abbreviations
References
Download file version: July 2006 |
|