The Italian Statistical System

1. 88th DGINS The future of the European Statistical System Palermo, Italy Palazzo dei Normanni 19th-20th September 2002 The Italian Statistical System

2. 88th DGINS The future of the European Statistical System First part: The National Statistical System SISTAN

3. Milestones in Official Statistics 1861 Division of General Statistics within the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Internal Trade 1926 Central Institute for Statistics of the Kingdom of Italy • Legislative Decree 322 (Statistical Act): • National Statistical System - Sistan • National Institute of Statistics - Istat 1989

4. Sistan L.D. 322/1989 objective To regulate the activities carried out by public statistical bodies and agencies for the collection, compilation, analysis, dissemination and storage of data To ensure uniform policy, homogeneous organisation and rationalised information flows at central and local levels Mission To provide Italian and international bodies with official statistical information

5. Focus on: Structure A decentralised system Main Actors • National Statistical Institute – Istat • Statistical offices of central and local government administrations • Other bodies and organisations dealing with statistical information

6. Committee for Directing and Co–ordinatingStatistical Information (COMSTAT) Commission for Guaranteeing Statistical Information (CGIS) Organisational structure

7. Ruling bodies COMMITTEE FOR DIRECTING AND CO-ORDINATING STATISTICAL INFORMATION - COMSTAT Addresses and co–ordinates central and local statistical offices Deliberates on the National Statistical Programme

8. The National Statistical Programme Is a three–year programme, annually updated Drawn up by Istat upon decision of the Committee for Directing and Co-ordinating Statistical Information; supervised by the Commission for Guaranteeing Statistical Information and Authority for Privacy; comes into force with a Prime Minister’s Decree Defines the statistical surveys of public interest to be assigned to the National Statistical System and identifies their objectives

9. Ruling bodies COMMISSION FOR GUARANTEEING STATISTICAL INFORMATION - CGIS Supervises impartiality and completeness of statistical information Safeguards confidentiality of the data collected Controls the quality of statistical methodologies and techniques Supervises compliance of data collections with EU and international recommendations

10. Strengths (set) Non-state-run national system Coherency Statistical culture inside the Public Administration Functionality with reference to National Statistical Programme Network of operators,Quality Groups, cohesion-oriented initiatives

11. Weaknesses (assessed) Not well-rooted network attitude Not complete exploitation of administrative sources Uneven development of Information Systems Difficulty of interaction between statistical and other offices Weak production of statistics for territorial needs

12. A vision for the future Strengthening of the system identity Development of statistical culture and consent Quality improvement Internal and external authoritativeness Economies of scale

13. 88th DGINS The future of the European Statistical System Second part: National Statistical Institute Istat

14. Istat Istat is the core of public statistical information supply • Its role is supported by: • long-term strategic vision • ability to integrate information into a system

15. The mission To supply quality informationto interpret social, economic, environmental phenomena and their dynamics, and to guarantee the compliance with the principles of independence, impartiality, reliability and transparency

16. The vision Improving user-oriented quality Promoting information systems Growing the statistical function at the international level Growing the statistical function at the national level Improving Istat’s organisation

17. Organisational structure

18. Number of Regional Offices:18 Total staff: 313 ISTAT Regional Offices

19. Basic principles of organisation Separation between ruling and managing responsibilities Departments autonomy and decentralised functions (administrative, IT, methodological, dissemination) Integration between departments and promotion of technical standards Strategic planning and control

20. Ruling bodies PRESIDENT Is Istat’s legal representative, is responsible for technical and scientific co-ordination and for institutional relationships at national and international level COUNCIL Plans, directs and evaluates Istat’s activity BOARD OF AUDITORS Checks the validity of administrative and accounting activities

21. Presidency President Evaluation and Strategic Control Direct Collaboration Offices Cabinet International Relations Communication and Press

22. Directorate General Director General Directorate for Budget, Accounting and Treasury Administrative Co-ordination Organisational Innovation and Internal Auditing

23. Personnel and Administration Department Personnel and AdministrationDepartment Directorate for Personnel and General Services Directorate for Contracts and Assets

24. Sistan Central Secretariat Department Sistan Central Secretariat Department Directorate for Regional Offices Co–ordination National Statistical System Development National Statistical Programme

25. Economic Statistics Department Economic Statistics Department Directorate for Structural Statistics Directorate for Short–Term Statistic Directorate for Archives and Censuses of Economic Units

26. Social Statistics Department Social StatisticsDepartment Co–ordinationand Integration Directorate for Surveys on Social Institutions Directorate for Population Censuses and Territory Directorate for Surveys on Living Conditions and Quality of Life

27. Integration and Technical Standards Department Integration and Technical Standards Department Methodology for Statistical Production Co–ordination,Integration and Quality Directorate for Dissemination of Statistical Information and Culture Directorate for National Accounts Directorate for Information Technology and Telecommunication

28. Gender Educational level Key figures on personnel Total staff: 2663

29. Type of employment Vocational profile Total staff: 2663 Key figures on personnel Level III Level II Level I

30. Training Policy USERS • Istat’s and Sistan’s employees (Directors, Executivesand other Civil Servants) MAIN TOPICS • Statistics • Technology for statistics • Management AIMS • To learn how to use statistical data for decision-making purposes • To correctly understand and analyse data • To collect, enter and process data METHODS • To identify needs through highlighting the professional identity

31. Financial and operational management Funding sources State funds (92%) Grants by European Commission, other national or international entities (4,5%) Revenue from selling data and publications (3,5%)

32. Expenditure (year 2001)

33. Expenditure (1997-2001) Censuses included

34. Istat’s activity Almost half of the production deals with economic information The importance of social statistics is growing: new surveyson households, citizens and institutions are foreseen The value of integration is recognised and pursued Innovation in survey techniques is promoted Growth of Istat’s role as supplier of statistical information for public institutions Planned projectsper area Year 2002

35. Planning Guidelines defined by the Council Strategic objectives Operational programme and budgeting Projects and activities Internal auditing Evaluation and strategic control

36. Future perspectives for Istat and Sistan Integration of Information Systems Dissemination of statistical culture, especially for Public Administration’s staff, through ad-hoc widespread tools and training Enhancement of e-statistics: a growing use of Internet for data collection and dissemination Users’ empowerment: development of greater access to data, particularly inside Sistan and for research purposes Increase in territorial statistics for regional and local policy