Improving Collaboration through Data Sharing - SDMX as an Enabler

1. Improving Collaboration through Data Sharing - SDMX as an Enabler Louis Marc DucharmeSeptember 11, 2014

2. Agenda • Landscape • Approach • SDMX : A common language • Implementation & international experiences • Data Structure Definitions for global use • AfDB – Open Data Platform • IAG International Data Cooperation • Coordinated CPI collection • Conclusions

3. The Landscape • Increasing reporting burden for countries due to increased inter-connectiveness • Several IOs collect similar data due to overlapping mandates • Reporting agencies and IOs are under pressure to increase efficiency

4. 1. Approach • One data domain – one report form – let’s standardize • Let data sharing agreements between IOs become the rule, not the exception • Enablers: • Common taxonomies • Standard formats for electronic exchange • Easier access to the technology

5. 2. SDMX: A common language for data • A standard for describing data and for establishing the data sharing and exchange infrastructure • SDMX promotes standardization and cost reduction with • A common data model: use for standardizing data exchange, could be used to standardize production process • A standard for machine to machine communication: The How is part of SDMX standards; Let us focus on the What

6. Benefits provided through SDMX • Lingua franca - a common language for working more efficiently • Standards for organizing data, with guidelines on how to shape the data • ISO standard for developing standard software • Comprehensive framework supporting the creation of automated tools that operate on the data, populate websites or exchange and visualize data • Mobile solutions could be built quickly based on standard SDMX web services to interact with a dissemination environment

7. 3. Implementation and international experiences • Implementations: Rapid successes when focus on data and metadata exchange—adopting the SDMX model in production processes is more complex • Works well for Reporting (Push) and Sharing (pull) data • Availability of Tools is increasing – Barrier-to-entry is being lowered • Most important: the availability of reporting taxonomies (data structures and coding) commonly agreed and governed – An area where more work is needed

8. SDMX DSDs for global use • SDMX Sponsors led the work on SDMX taxonomies for the revised statistical manuals for BoP/IIP (BPM6), SNA (2008 SNA) and GFS (GFSM 2014) • Objective of DSDs: Common codification of the data that could be used around the globe • Other Aspects of the work: • Addressed governance of these codification • Promote the developments of additional DSDs for global use

9. SDMX in Practice:AfDB Open Data Platform IMF AfDB Other… Data mapping to International Standards in OpenData platform Country data Data Available to partners and Int. Organizations • Data Sharing Process using ODP • Data mapped to international standards and loaded in the ODP • Data consuming organizations collect (pull) from the ODP • Common standards across organizations adopting the ODP

10. AfDB Open Data Platform (contd.): Replacing Data Collection by Data Sharing • Separate ODPs available to the Central Bank, MoF, NSOs of 54 African Countries • Joint IMF-AfDB TA missions implemented ODP in 14 countries • Data available in common DSD for all Economic and Financial Data collected by IMF and AfDB • Data Available to other IOs via ODP’s SDMX web service (pull)

11. SDMX in Practice: IAG Approach to Data Sharing • IAG—Chaired by IMF—has established a TF to study and establish data exchange across participating IOs • Objectives: reduced reporting burden to member countries, faster access to data by IOs • Approach: • single data submission by member countries based of standardized reporting templates • Electronic exchange of validated data and metadata between participating IOs based on SDMX • Pilots: SNA main aggregates and sectoral accounts • Status: • Study of technical feasibility has been performed; technical issues identified are being addressed • Production launch envisaged for early 2015

12. IMF/ILO/FAO: Common CPI collection • Objective: reduce reporting burden to member countries and explore synergies between IOs’ work • Evolved from bilateral discussions • Agreement: • IMF will enhance its CPI data collection to include breakdowns previously collected by ILO and FAO • ILO and FAO will stop their CPI data collections • IMF will make CPI data and metadata available to ILO and FAO in electronic format (SDMX) • Status: • IMF is amending its internal databases and reporting forms • Next Step: • Inform countries about the agreement and start collection

13. Common CPI collection - model Country 1 Country 1 Country 1 Country 1 Country 1 OECD Eurostat Country 1 NSO NSO Country 1 Country 1 Country 1 IMF NSO ILO FAO UNSD …

14. Conclusions • We should strengthen our efforts to improve the access to data by focusing on data sharing • SDMX provides the standards and common language to support a fully automated data exchange solution—the issue of the HOW has been addressed • IOs collaboration should focus on • What Data are needed for fulfilling our respective mandates – identifying and eliminating overlaps in collection • Who can most effectively Collect this data for sharing with others • The Statistics Community, whether producers or users, will be the bigger beneficiary of our future successes

15. Thank You René Pichérpiche@imf.org+1 (202) 623 8192SDMX