Three decades of the Conference of European Statisticians: Past achievements and perspectives for the future

Abstract

The Conference of European Statisticians holds an impressive record of achievements in international statistical co-operation. Since its inception three decades ago, the Conference contributes to the harmonization of internationally reported data, to the development of a large number of internationally comparable statistical standards and provides for an international forum of discussion for statisticians of Eastern and Western countries. In the future, the Conference will have to adapt its programme of work to the changing environment in which national statistical offices operate. The general direction of future work may have to aim at a more pronounced contribution to the improvement of national statistics rather than a reduction of international data reporting or a considerable extension of available international standards in individual statistical fields. However, in important new areas of official statistics such as environment statistics, new standards are still needed at the international level. The Conference should pay particular attention to the incorporation of newly developed statistical methods into statistical services. The maintenance of the high level of work on problems arising from the incorporation of electronic data processing techniques into statistical services is warranted, since all statistical offices will have to adapt their organizational structure to recent EDP developments. A division of labour concerning the development of portable, generalized computer programs may be possible. Statistical tools for integration and co-ordination such as systems of national accounts and balances and the framework for social and demographic statistics will have to be revised and further developed. Detailed classifications are particularly needed in the field of social and demographic statistics. The establishment of central registers of basic statistical units is another important requirement. The Conference will also have to adapt its methods of work to changing circumstances. Attempts should be made to bridge existing communication gaps between official and academic statisticians, e.g., by associating universities and other research institutions to the work of the Conference. Furthermore, the Conference could convene ‘informal’ meetings to a greater extent than in the past, thereby providing for a work method which is more flexible and better adapted to the needs of ECE member countries.