(Item 6 of the Agenda)
38. Rajana NETSAENGTIP, Chief, Household Economic Statistics Group, National Statistics Office (NSO) of Thailand and C. POONSAB, of the same Office shared with the Experts the experience of Thailand in the use of data warehouse for data dissemination.
39. The Experts were informed that the NSO in Thailand had used data warehouse technology to store data collected through the 2003 Agricultural Census. This technology facilitated easy access to census results through the Internet and instantaneous receipt of output in multi-dimensional tables and graphics. Users could immediately read data by way of the drilldown method and could export the required data to an MS-Excel file for further analysis.
40. The Data Warehouse System of Thailand contained Agricultural Census data for the 2003 and 1993 censuses, as well as for the 1998 Intercensal Survey of Agriculture. The warehouse allowed access to data year by year, and provided steps that made inter-year comparisons easy. The NSO also planned to append data from the next agricultural censuses and future agricultural surveys to the system.
41. Ms Netsaengtip indicated that important issues to be considered for the Data Warehouse System were: i) the high cost of building and maintaining the system; ii) the requirement of a high-efficiency computer system; iii) the need for a skilled specialist to monitor the system; iv) the need for a work plan for full utilization of the system; and v) the need to examine the possibility for further development of the system and its flexibility.
42. The Experts recommended that the data warehouse system be utilized in full, thereby making it cost efficient. The Experts also recommended that a cost-benefit analysis of the data warehouse project in Thailand be conducted with a view to ascertaining the feasibility of other countries adopting this technology.
43. As mentioned in the inaugural address, FAO has been developing special software called CountrySTAT that was targeted toward the organization of a country's data for the food and agricultural sector. This database system would involve the loading of information similar to that found in FAOSTAT, but for a country at national and sub-national levels. In addition, CountrySTAT could be used to transfer data directly to/from FAOSTAT. For example, a country's historical data in FAOSTAT could be downloaded to CountrySTAT as a basis for the national (or regional) system. Alternatively, information could be uploaded to FAOSTAT for the purpose of updating it.
44. The features of CountrySTAT were demonstrated through a three-way video-conference with the designer (Kafkas CAPRAZLI, Information Management Specialist) who was on mission in Accra, Ghana, and with FAO headquarters. These features included graphic and tabulation options that would permit restructuring of reports and data tables for better presentation. Important issues that were cited were: i) that CountrySTAT would be a tool that a country could use to organize its data, but that it would be necessary for an "official" focal point to assume that responsibility; ii) that data in CountrySTAT would belong to the country and could be given several levels of security and access codes by the country; and iii) that FAO would provide training and capacity building materials for countries which chose to use CountrySTAT.
45. The Experts felt that this approach was worthwhile and that CountrySTAT would be helpful in organizing national data sets, but were concerned about which agency should be responsible for its management. It was pointed out that presently all requests for country information in the food and agricultural sector were sent to the official focal point as decided by the Country.
