The heads of national statistical institutes (NSIs) in the European Statistical System (ESS) gathered in Stockholm for a lunch-to-lunch meeting hosted by Statistics Sweden’s Director-General Joakim Stymne. The meeting was an integral part of the Swedish Presidency activities in the area of statistics. The meeting focused on the pressing issue of how to ensure that the most important users are on board when changes are made to the statistics, largely due to the integration of new data sources – otherwise known as statistical leadership.

The chief statisticians of the ESS national statistical institutes gathered in Stockholm to discuss statistical leadership, focusing on how to be a statistical voice in society.

The role of the statistical office

Statistics leadership essentially means being a ”statistical voice” in society, to ensure that statistical offices continue to produce relevant statistics that are used for decision-making and policy development. This is a natural continuation of the discussions on leadership and data management in EU member states, with a particular focus on the role that statistical offices should play.

Susan Linacre, the former deputy national statistician from the Australian Bureau of Statistics was the keynote speaker, bringing her insights on how to enhance the role of NSIs. Other speakers included Ylva Hedén Westerdahl from the Swedish Institute of Economic Research, the heads of NSIs from the Netherlands and Hungary, Angelique Berg and Gabriella Vukovich, as well as Roeland Beerten who is chief statistician from the National Bank of Belgium.

The subject of statistical leadership provoked lively debate and the participants discussed many ideas for next steps. Eurostat’s Director-General Mariana Kotzeva concluded the meeting, highlighting how NSIs can support each other to strengthen statistical leadership within the ESS. Ideas ranged from focusing on expert users in communication campaigns to investigating whether it would be useful to develop a joint training on statistical leadership.

Mariana Kotzeva, the director general of Eurostat, is a warm advocate for developing a strong statistical leadership in the EU.