Expert Group to Eurostat Releases Its Report on the Re-use of Privately-held Data for Official Statistics
By Stefaan G. Verhulst (The GovLab)
Official statistics, provided by national and international statistical bodies, are an important public good, provided to society. They are essential for official decision-making in government, civil society, and the private sector, and they facilitate evidence-based public debate and a democratic process that allows all stakeholders to participate on equal footing. Recent crises — including the 2008 financial crisis, Covid-19, and now the war in Ukraine- as well as emerging ones — such as the climate emergency — show the need for more up-to-date, detailed, and relevant statistics. Governments worldwide need to innovate in how they source statistics, and in the types of data upon which they rely, particularly given the changes and opportunities offered by the ongoing data revolution.
Europe, and in particular Eurostat -the statistical office of the European Union, has been at the forefront in considering how to update and innovate official statistics. To inform its efforts, Eurostat set up an expert group in 2021 on ‘Facilitating the use of new data sources for official statistics’ to reflect on opportunities offered by the data revolution to enhance the reuse of private sector data for official statistics”.
Data reuse is a particularly important area for exploration, both because of the potential it offers and because it is not sufficiently covered by current policies. Data reuse occurs when data collected for one purpose is shared and reused for another, often with resulting social benefit. Currently, this process is limited by a fragmented or outdated policy and regulatory framework, and often quite legitimate concerns over ethical challenges represented by sharing (e.g., threats to individual privacy).
Nonetheless, despite such hurdles, a wide variety of evidence supports the idea that responsible data reuse can strengthen and supplement official statistics, and potentially lead to lasting and positive social impact.
Having reviewed and deliberated about these issues over several months, the expert group issued its report this week entitled “Empowering society by reusing privately held data for official statistics”. It seeks to develop recommendations and a framework for sustainable data reuse in the production of official statistics. It highlights regulatory gaps, fragmentation of practices, and a lack of clarity regarding businesses’ rights and obligations, and it draws attention to the ways in which current efforts to reuse data have often led to ad-hoc, one-off projects rather than systematic transformation.
The report considers a wide variety of evidence, including historical, policy, and academic research, as well as the theoretical literature. In conclusion, the Expert Group proposes to prioritize action in the following areas :
- Promoting fair and effective partnerships between businesses and statistical authorities, based on a the creation of new roles, data stewards, and the recognition of different interests, mutual trust, social responsibility, and an accepted premise that the reuse of privately-held data for official statistics will benefit the whole of society (including the partners themselves).
- Modernising the approach to data and statistical production, so as to make the best possible use of emerging opportunities and ensure that the system of official statistics is fit for the future. This requires technical and organizational measures to safeguard the security and confidentiality of privately-held data, a transparent methodological and quality framework for the reuse of privately-held data, and a harmonization of data reuse policies across the EU and globally.
- Establishing social validation, or “social license”, based on engagement with the general public and involvement of all stakeholders, so as to ensure inclusive and open participation, a balanced representation of all stakeholders, and an agile decision-making process that can help statistical agencies to identify and respond in a timely way to the rapidly changing technical environment and needs of society.
- Engaging with the wider data ecosystem, and strengthening collaboration with research communities, private companies, and non-profit organizations across a diverse range of scientific disciplines. This process of engagement can be facilitated through robust collaborative research networks, establishing and empowering the functions of data stewards, and improving public data literacy to build better awareness of the potential of responsible data sharing.
- Ensuring considerable, coordinated and long-term funding and investment in the official statistical infrastructure. Although a certain amount of private investment can be leveraged alongside public funding, it is also essential to consider official statistics as a form of public good, benefiting all of society.
- Finally, the expert group considered updating the regulatory framework with a provision that data holders can be required to collaborate with statistical authorities to enable the development, production and dissemination of the official statistics portfolio, subject to a clear set of limitations and conditions, and safeguards for the data holders.
In conclusion, the Expert Group believes that the reuse of privately-held data can be of great value to the economy and society and that urgent action needs to be taken to use this opportunity to the full. An innovative system of official statistics that is fit for the challenges of the future is essential if we are to sustain a healthy, prosperous, and resilient democratic society in the information era. The recommendations set out in the report issued this week represent an initial, though important, step in that direction. The Expert Group would welcome any additional suggestions you may have.
Members of the High Level Expert Group to Eurostat included: Silvina Bakardzhieva, Senior Legal Adviser at the Bulgarian Maritime Administration; Luis Cardo Jalón, Partner at Open Ideas, Spain; Florent Diverchy, Data Marketing Expert at Bisnode Belgium; Wieteke Dupain, International Programmes, Knowledge and Research Manager at Euclid Network, Netherlands; Paolo Garonna, Secretary General at the Italian Banking Insurance and Finance Federation, and University Professor, Italy; Christoph Gerlinger, Senior director at Bayer AG, Germany; David Gonzalez Martinez, Group Head of Big Data, Advanced Analytics and AI at Vodafone Business at Vodafone Group, Spain; David Dreyer Lassen, Prorector, professor at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark; Emmanuel Letouzé, Marie Curie Fellow, Pompeu Fabra University, Spain and Founder Data-Pop Alliance; Mart Mägi, Director General of Statistics Estoni; Geta Mitrea, Lecturer PhD at the National Defence University Carol I, Romania; Felicia Pelagalli, Founder and CEO of Culture srl — Data, AI and Communication; Dominik Rozkrut, President of the Polish Statistical Office; Geert Somers, Attorney-at-law Partner at Timelex, Belgium; Sandra Teixeira, Head of Strategy and Product Innovation at GLINTT, Portugal; Kaisa Vent, Head of Methodology Team Positium OÜ; Stefaan Verhulst, co-founder of and Chief of R&D at The GovLab, New York University; Erik Wetter, Assistant Professor at the Stockholm School for Economics and co-founder and Chairman of the Flowminder Foundation; Susanna Zaccarin, University Professor at the University of Trieste; Dimitris Zissis, Associate Professor at the Greek University of the Aegean and Head of R&D at MarineTraffic, Greece.
About the Author:
Stefaan G. Verhulst is Co-Founder, Chief R&D Officer, and Director of the Data Program of the Governance Laboratory (The GovLab) where he is building an action-research foundation on how to transform governance using advances in science, data and technology. Verhulst’s latest scholarship centers on how responsible data and technology can improve people’s lives and the creation of more effective and collaborative forms of governance. Specifically, he is interested in the perils and promises of collaborative technologies and how to harness the unprecedented volume of data and information to advance the public good. He is also co-Editor-in-Chief of Data & Policy; and was a member of the High Level Expert Group to Eurostat on facilitating the use of new data sources for official statistics.
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This is the blog for Data & Policy (cambridge.org/dap), a peer-reviewed open access journal at Cambridge University Press exploring the interface of data science and governance.
