How NSOs can respond to changing user needs in the Internet era

Abstract

In their capacity as public service providers, national statistical offices (NSOs) are today faced with the challenge of having to adapt to the dual nature of a new operating environment on the Internet. On the one hand, the Internet represents a world of organised information, ‘a universal library open to all’. On the other hand, it is a commercial marketplace for information, competencies and commodities. These two roles of the Internet do not necessarily fit together easily. The choice that statistical offices have to make is precisely between the commercial world and the world of structured information.

The changes introduced by technological advances – from printed to electronic products – highlight various problematic aspects of the traditional ‘product concept’. The main problem with the traditional product oriented way of thinking is that before users can gain access to the statistical information they are looking for they first need to locate the product which contains the requested information. This is obviously not the best recipe for good customer service. If statistical offices are to take full advantage of the new opportunities opened up by the Internet then they have to resolve the conflicts created by thinking in ‘products’, change their paradigms, and adopt a service-oriented way of thinking instead.

The ‘service concept’ is geared to immediately meeting the end user's information needs. Through an Internet service that is based on a simple self-service system, users can carry out simple searches and inquiries from a wide range of information. This presupposes that the information content of the basic service is comprehensive and that all the information can be found in the service. It also assumes that the information always contains the metadata required for its correct interpretation, that direct reference to the information is always possible, and that the information can be freely utilised.