Doc. Eurostat/ITDG/October 2011/3.4

IT Directors' Group

18 and 19 October 2011

BECH Building, 5, rue Alphonse Weicker, Luxembourg-Kirchberg

Room QUETELET


Towards an enterprise architecture for the ESS for implementing the Joint Strategy for the production of EU statistics

Item 3.4 of the agenda

2

Towards an enterprise architecture for the ESS for implementing the Joint Strategy for the production of EU statistics

1.  Purpose of this document

The purpose of this document is to raise discussion on the need and ways to define a framework for improving the European Statistical System (ESS) integration and the Joint Strategy for the production of EU statistics implementation. In this context, Eurostat is exploring the suitability and benefit of Enterprise Architecture (EA) approaches.

ITDG is asked

  • to express their opinion on the need for a framework (formal or not) for implementing the Joint Strategy in a structured and coherent way;
  • to share their experience with frameworks used for strategic planning for projects of modernisation of statistical production processes at national level;
  • to express their interest to be associated in the initial reflection about ESS EA.

2.  Problem statement

The Commission communication on the production method of EU statistics: "A vision for the next decade” was jointly endorsed by the European Statistical System in May 2010. Its ambition is to trigger a paradigm shift from a prevailing business architecture that is mainly based on a product stovepipe model to a more integrated production system on the scale of the ESS. It assumes that the solution should build, among others, on the increasing availability of statistical standards, shared data warehouses and interoperable IT infrastructure in the ESS.

The perception of a need to industrialise the production of official statistics is widely shared in the official statistics community. National and International Statistical Organisations have to rationalise their production processes and systems in order to cope with - both at the same time - budget cuts and future challenges on official statistics in a globalised information market. Many initiatives have emerged in this global context, sometimes outside the ambit of the ESS. The most important of these initiatives are the so called Statistical Network for shared development among forefront NSIs; the subsequent creation of the high level group on Business Architecture (HLG-BAS); the SDMX initiative and the UNECE initiative for developing common business process and information models (GSBPM and GSIM)..

The ESS Committee has also launched a series of strategic initiatives:

  • The Sponsorship on Standardisation has been set up for 2 years to advise the ESSC on priorities for supporting actions for standardisation and on the organisation of standardisation and integration in the ESS. The Sponsorship aims to develop a business architecture for standardisation in the ESS and to deliver a concrete work plan and outcomes to demonstrate benefit of the standardisation.
  • The ESSC has also strengthened the mandate of the DIME and ITDG in view of the need to develop a new infrastructure supporting the production of EU statistics. The objectives of the next 5 years have been defined

(a)  The development of data warehouses and HUB mode/technology for enabling vertical integration of processes and the development of multipurpose statistics.

(b)  The development of interoperability of systems through the reuse of IT tools and sharing of resources (SOA, distributed architecture, data and metadata exchange standards (SDMX), metadata repositories, etc.).

(c)  The development of metadata systems, methodological and statistical standards and common IT tools aiming at industrialisation of production processes.

(d)  Innovation in methods for producing statistics like reuse existing data sources, data matching and linking, mixed modes approach, visualisation and macro validation …) aiming at efficiency gains and quality improvements.

(e)  Better documentation of processes (process indicators and metadata) as a back bone for monitoring efficiency-quality trade off and quality assurance.

  • Business directors groups (BSDG, DSS, CPSA) have also developed strategic plan for the implementation of the joint strategy in their respective domains identifying a set of priorities and requirements for future infrastructure.

As a result, many valuable operational initiatives have already contributed to the overcoming of the stovepipe model and to the common development of a new framework for the production and dissemination of EU statistics. It started with "flagship" projects like EGR and Census hub which are very illustrative examples of possible future common infrastructure. Since then, ESSnets have become key instruments in cooperative developments in the ESS. Projects span a large variety of issues and contribute with different degrees of intensity to build statistical, technical and IT standards for production and dissemination of EU statistics. For instance, ESSnets projects like CORA (Common Reference Architecture) and its successor CORE (Common Reference Environment) and SDMX I are seen as building the foundations for a future ESS-wide information architecture paving the way for better interoperability and standardisation of ESS processes. ESSnets such as SDMX II or Data Warehouse are providing logical and technical solutions for a future ESS production infrastructure. Methodological projects like ESSnet Data Integration, ESSnet Small Area estimation or ESSnet on Administrative Data or ESSnet Statistical Disclosure Control contribute to the introduction of new techniques and methodological guidelines for critical steps of a modern production of statistics. Besides ESSnets, other projects aim at developing ESS statistical standards in the area of metadata or quality reporting.

At Eurostat level, about 10 Vision Infrastructure Projects have been launched since 2010 targeting the modernisation and the integration of production processes in Eurostat and their better integration in ESS[1]

In this context, the main needs to address are the following:

  • to provide a comprehensive and articulated view of an ESS business process which includes MSs and Eurostat. This view should highlight the key elements where standardisation and operability are crucial. The vocabulary and the scope (governance, semantic, technical) should be clearly defined. This view would allow MSs and Eurostat to align their strategies and information system with a shared target and therefore to engage in a systematic approach of the joint strategy implementation where required;
  • to define a framework to identify priorities among projects and their actual contribution to the accomplishment of the joint strategy objectives;
  • to define fundamental principles and to tune ESS governance mechanism so to ensure the coherence of the actions launched at different levels (strategic and business, semantic and solutions);
  • to ensure that ESS corporative instruments like ESSnets deliver results that can be reused in different contexts and across domains. Inversely, to ensure that projects systematically draw on existing development avoiding reinventing the wheel;
  • to ensure the business relevance of infrastructure development and to articulate on going development in business domains with the cross domain infrastructure developments;
  • to define a road map towards the target and set up mechanisms to check alignment with the joint strategy;
  • to engage short term action compatible with target in order to demonstrate the benefit of a structured approach for implementing the joint strategy.

3.  Eurostat initiative

Eurostat is engaging in the exploration of Enterprise Architecture approaches as a tool to allow a coherent description of the ESS system and as an aid to strategic decision taking.

EA is a framework providing tools both for describing the current and the future infrastructure and to plan and implement the change ensuring the relevance at each step of an iterative process.

The objectives for the period of the next 12 months are:

  • to define and set up an architecture function in Eurostat and to acquire related competence and skills through specific trainings and learning by doing;
  • to explore stakeholder needs (at Eurostat and ESS level) with respect to implementation of the joint strategy and to get a buy in of business owners for a framework for implementing the joint strategy;
  • to sketch and discuss with ESS partners a possible future EA identifying key architectural principles and its core elements (it is not meant to describe all parts of the architecture in this first iteration);
  • to map the different initiatives (sectoral/horizontal, ESTAT/ESS) and to articulate and strengthen their contribution to the implementation of the joint strategy, designing where necessary some accompanying measures (inventories, ….);
  • to define a roadmap and mechanism/indicators to decide on priorities;
  • to launch necessary short term actions towards the alignment of Eurostat IT infrastructure in line with business objectives defined in the joint strategy (e.g. set up of programme portfolio management …);
  • to launch a case study to demonstrate the benefits of EA approach.

These developments will be discussed in the different forums which already exist (DIME, ITDG, SISA….) and in dedicated workshops involving business owners to collect feedback and input. Eurostat will maintain a close link with the work of the Sponsorship on Standardisation. Challenge of communication will be addressed with required attention. If benefits can be demonstrated, Eurostat will engage in a more thorough discussion and validation of the approach with all MS at the appropriate level of governance (DIME/ITDG groups, ESSC, …).

4.  Conclusion

Eurostat is engaging in the exploration of enterprise architecture approaches for the implementation of the Joint Strategy. These approaches should foster the integration of processes in the MSs and in Eurostat finding a right balance between standardisation and flexible local solutions. Business owners and partners at ESS and Eurostat level will be associated in the initial reflection. It is expected that first proposals will be discussed at ESS level within one year.

Doc. Eurostat/ITDG/October 2011/3.4 4

[1] For an overview of the different initiatives at ESS and Eurostat level contributing to the setting up of the ESS EA : http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/stats/documents/ece/ces/ge.50/2011/Topic4.23.Eurostat.ppt