THE TRADITIONAL SCENARIO

1. Supporting Researchers and Institutions in Exploiting Administrative Databases for Statistical Purposes: Istat’sStrategy G. D’Angiolini, P. De Salvo, A. Passacantilli Istituto Nazionale di Statistica - ITALY IAOS 2014 Conference

2. EXPLOITING ADMINISTRATIVE DATA: new requirements • THE TRADITIONAL SCENARIO • The NSI’s data production processes exploit administrative data sources, as input or auxiliary data sources • NSIs analyze the administrative sources’ information content when needed • NSIs evaluate the administrative data sources’ quality from the viewpoint of their data production processes 1 Exploiting Administrative Databases for Statistical Purposes: Istat’s Strategy, G. D’Angiolini – IAOS 2014 Conference

3. EXPLOITING ADMINISTRATIVE DATA: new requirements • THE TRADITIONAL SCENARIO: effects • NSIs analyze the administrative sources’ information content when needed • No organized efforts for documenting the available administrative data sources • NSIs evaluate the administrative sources’ quality from the viewpoint of their data production processes • We have not yet a real insight into the actual administrative data quality’s determiners • We have not yet a satisfactory methodological approach to the overall administrative data quality’s evaluation 2 Exploiting Administrative Databases for Statistical Purposes: Istat’s Strategy, G. D’Angiolini – IAOS 2014 Conference

4. EXPLOITING ADMINISTRATIVE DATA: new requirements • NEW TRENDS • OLAP-DW Approach • Non statistical organizations implement their own Decision Support Systems • The Decision Support Systems are in fact statistical information systems • Effects of the spread of the OLAP-DW Approach • Non statistical organizations produce statistical information for their own use • Non statistical organizations exploitand exchange administrative datafor this purpose 3 Exploiting Administrative Databases for Statistical Purposes: Istat’s Strategy, G. D’Angiolini – IAOS 2014 Conference

5. EXPLOITING ADMINISTRATIVE DATA: new requirements • NEW TRENDS • OLAP-DW Approach: it is adopted because ANY ORGANIZATION needs to study its own phenomena of interest and acquire ANY KIND OF DATA for this purpose • OPEN DATA • BIG DATA • New interest in data qualityissuesamong computer science researchers 4 Exploiting Administrative Databases for Statistical Purposes: Istat’s Strategy, G. D’Angiolini – IAOS 2014 Conference

6. EXPLOITING ADMINISTRATIVE DATA: new requirements • A NEW TASK for NSIs • NSIs are required to provide any actual and potential user of administrative data sources with NEW SERVICEs • SUPPLYING DOCUMENTATION about the INFORMATION CONTENT and the QUALITY of the available administrative data sources • MAKING the available administrative data sources MORE EXPLOITABLE for statistical purposes, by means of modifying their content, when possible 5 Exploiting Administrative Databases for Statistical Purposes: Istat’s Strategy, G. D’Angiolini – IAOS 2014 Conference

7. THE ISTAT’S STRATEGY: DOCUMENTING ADMINISTRATIVE DATA SOURCES • ACTIVITIES aimed at collecting and spreading DOCUMENTATION about the INFORMATION CONTENT and the QUALITY of the available administrative data sources: • Administrative data sources’ INVESTIGATIONS • for administrative data sources managed by central government institutions • Administrative data sources’ SURVEYS • for administrative data sources managed by local government institutions 6 Exploiting Administrative Databases for Statistical Purposes: Istat’s Strategy, G. D’Angiolini – IAOS 2014 Conference

8. THE ISTAT’S STRATEGY: DOCUMENTING ADMINISTRATIVE DATA SOURCES • Administrative data sources’ INVESTIGATIONS • Istat’s experts together with data source’s experts jointly perform an analysis and documentation activity which follows a standard template for collecting information about the data source’s content and quality • The collected information is disseminated to any potential statistical user by means of a dedicated web-based metadata management system, called DARCAP (Documenting Public Administration Archives) • for supporting in-depth quality analyses of the most important administrative data sources we are studying a new Quality Assessment Framework for Administrative Data Sources 7 Exploiting Administrative Databases for Statistical Purposes: Istat’s Strategy, G. D’Angiolini – IAOS 2014 Conference

9. THE ISTAT’S STRATEGY: DOCUMENTING ADMINISTRATIVE DATA SOURCES • Administrative data sources’ SURVEYS • The local government institutions often manage a large number of independent administrative databases which concern several subject matters • Therefore the administrative data sources’ surveys are mainly aimed at enumerating the existing administrative data sources and classifying them by subject matter • Such information is disseminated to any potential statistical user by means of DARCAP (Documenting Public Administration Archives) 8 Exploiting Administrative Databases for Statistical Purposes: Istat’s Strategy, G. D’Angiolini – IAOS 2014 Conference

10. THE ISTAT STRATEGY: MODIFYING ADMINISTRATIVE DATA SOURCES • MAKING the available administrative data sources MORE EXPLOITABLE for statistical purposes • entails adopting standard statistical definitions, classifications and data management conventions • In order to make this action easier Istat is launching an ACTIVITY of SUPERVISION ON CHANGES AND INNOVATION PROJECTS concerning the available administrative data sources and their related forms 9 Exploiting Administrative Databases for Statistical Purposes: Istat’s Strategy, G. D’Angiolini – IAOS 2014 Conference

11. THE ISTAT STRATEGY: MODIFYING ADMINISTRATIVE DATA SOURCES • SUPERVISION ON CHANGES AND INNOVATION PROJECTS • For the most important administrative data sources, the owner institution is required to notify Istat each time it plans any kind of change in the source’s information content • i.e. a periodic change in the forms for income declaration, a new data warehouse • On the basis of the received notifications, Istat may give feedback and release proper recommendations • such as using official instead of non-official classifications, improving the identification code system, improving the quality control procedures • This activity is supported by DARCAP (Documenting Public Administration Archives) 10 Exploiting Administrative Databases for Statistical Purposes: Istat’s Strategy, G. D’Angiolini – IAOS 2014 Conference

12. THE ISTAT’S STRATEGY: ACTIVITIES AND TOOLS Administrative data sources’ INVESTIGATIONS Administrative data sources’ SURVEYS Disseminates the collected information about the administrative data sources’ CONTENT and QUALITY Organizes the collected information about QUALITY in a standard QUALITY ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK DARCAP (Documenting Public Administration ARchives) system Quality Assessment Framework for Administrative Data Sources Supports the CHANGE NOTIFICATION activities Drives the quality evaluator in calculatingpropernumericalquality indicators Documents the content of the notified changes and the Istat’s recommendations SUPERVISION ON CHANGES AND INNOVATION PROJECTS concerning administrative data sources and forms 11 Exploiting Administrative Databases for Statistical Purposes: Istat’s Strategy, G. D’Angiolini – IAOS 2014 Conference

13. THE ISTAT’S STRATEGY: GOALS AND CHALLENGES • Making the available administrative data sources • COMPARABLE and EXPLOITABLE for statistical purposes, • without bearing any particular usage in mind • Producing STANDARD DOCUMENTATION • of the administrative data sources’ information content and quality • Disseminating such STANDARD DOCUMENTATION • to any potential user of administrative data sources 12 Exploiting Administrative Databases for Statistical Purposes: Istat’s Strategy, G. D’Angiolini – IAOS 2014 Conference

14. THE ISTAT’S STRATEGY: GOALS AND CHALLENGES • STANDARD DOCUMENTATION of the available administrative data sources’ information content • implies the specification of the ADMINISTRATIVE DATA SOURCE’S ONTOLOGY, according to a proper conceptual model • DARCAP documents the ADMINISTRATIVE DATA SOURCE’S ONTOLOGY • STANDARD DOCUMENTATION of the available administrative data sources’ quality • implies the specification of the administrative data source’s quality according to a structured QUALITY ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK 13 Exploiting Administrative Databases for Statistical Purposes: Istat’s Strategy, G. D’Angiolini – IAOS 2014 Conference

15. THE ISTAT’S STRATEGY: GOALS AND CHALLENGES • Many QUALITY ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORKs for ADMINISTRATIVE DATA SOURCES existwhich propose quality indicators organized by means of a standard structure of quality dimensions • BUT • The existing Administrative Data Quality Frameworks often specify quality indicators from the limited viewpoint of the NSIs’ data production processes • We have not yet a real insight into the actual administrative data quality’s determiners • We have not yet a satisfactory methodological approach to the overall administrative data quality’s evaluation • This was not a problem in the traditional scenario, but IT IS A PROBLEM NOW 14 Exploiting Administrative Databases for Statistical Purposes: Istat’s Strategy, G. D’Angiolini – IAOS 2014 Conference

16. THE ISTAT’S STRATEGY: GOALS AND CHALLENGES • The administrative data sources’ quality is generally influenced by: • systematic errors (which in surveys we can generally control) • the data collecting process, which is continuous in the course of time • Moreover it is often different for the various items in each data source’s ontology:observed populations, observed sets of events, observed characteristics • In order to define the ISTAT’s Quality Assessment Framework for Administrative Data Sources • we are carrying out a careful analysis of possible errors which takes into account such context ….. • …… and aims at leading the quality evaluator to the specification of an in-depth and customized quality assessment 15 Exploiting Administrative Databases for Statistical Purposes: Istat’s Strategy, G. D’Angiolini – IAOS 2014 Conference

17. PRESENT AND FUTURE WORK • Stored inside the DARCAP system the results of DATA SOURCE INVESTIGATIONS on a first set of important administrative data sources owned by central government institutions • Stored inside the DARCAP system the results of a first SURVEY ON ADMINISTRATIVE DATA SOURCES owned by local government institutions • We plan to enlarge the investigation activity by addressing more and more administrative data sources • We plan to launch the SUPERVISION ACTIVITY on the administrative data sources’ changes and innovation projects. • We are carrying out our work of specifying quality indicators on the basis of a careful analysis of the possible errors which may affect the administrative data sources 16 Exploiting Administrative Databases for Statistical Purposes: Istat’s Strategy, G. D’Angiolini – IAOS 2014 Conference