Statistics Finland
Eurostat project "Use of administrative data for business statistics"
Starting date: 1 December2009
Duration: 13 months
Project leader: Mr. Sami Saarikivi
Description of the action
"Development of data collection methods - reception of administrative data"
Sub-project related to project Business Register as Core of Business Data, and the routine work of the IT and Statistical Methods Unit on the standardisation of data collection methods
Background:
During 2009, Statistics Finland is running the definition phase of the project Business Register as Core of Business Data. One of its tasks is to define the general approach to the reception of administrative data.
The construction of a system for the reception of administrative data is part of the implementation of Statistics Finland’s Strategy for Economic Statistics. It promotes the use and transparency of metadata, standardisation of the statistical production process and efficiency of data use.
In its past projects on e.g. standardisation of data collections, Statistics Finland’s IT and Statistical Methods Unit has already done initial work on the development of a so-called EKS application for the transmission of data masses to Statistics Finland and a so-called variable editor for the utilisation of metadata. The building of the applications has been continued as line work, and as yet they do not fully serve the needs of the Business Register. However, these part-solutions will be developed further and exploited in this project as far as possible.
Objective:
The objective is to enhance the quality and coherence of statistics, and the cost-effectiveness of the exploitation of administrative data by constructing a system composed of three basic processes. The EKS application and the variable editor will be utilised in these processes.
1. Data transmission to Statistics Finland
2. Data checking and editing
3. Data entry into production database
All these processes will be steered by metadata. Process control is an integral element of the entire system which will include an in-built method for informing the users about the different phases of the process.
In phase 1 of the process, data are retrieved from the data suppliers’ servers or from Statistics Finland’s external servers to the Source Data Store.
Phase 2, i.e. data checking and editing process, is then started. It comprises computerised checking and correcting of data form, existence of variables, numbers of observations, occurrence of missing variables and logicality.
Once errors have been checked, the final data will have been formed for updating. In phase 3 , i.e. data entry into production database, the data are edited to conform with the database.
The data formed in this third phase are made available for all statistical systems that utilise them.
The system for the reception of administrative data will be designed and built by using the Business Register and the administrative data it utilises as the pilot. The solutions and tools made in the project will be made generally available at Statistics Finland.
Expected results of the action
Common tools will be built for the reception and basic checking of administrative data. This will increase efficiency and harmonise the statistics that utilise the same data. The mutual harmonisation of statistics improves their quality and usability.
The process of administrative data will be better controlled at Statistics Finland, including, for instance, systematic provision of information about the arrival of data and their quality, as well as descriptions of the variables and the users.
The introduction of the system will reduce overlapping data checking for different sets of statistics.
The system can be gradually introduced in different statistics during 2011.
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