(Item 6 of the Agenda)
(Item 6a of the Agenda)
63. Mr Romeo Recide presented the document APCAS/06/11 "Establishing CountrySTAT: Experience in thePhilippines"to the Commission. The CountrySTAT was a web-based system that could serve as a statistical framework for the organization, harmonization and synchronization of data collection and dissemination in food and agriculture for analysis and policy-making. It was a customized country-specific version of the FAOSTAT. The CountrySTAT provided tools for data exchange, and promoted the use of data and metadata standards. It served as the gateway for food and agricultural statistics, including metadata for member countries. Just as importantly, it served as a source of country-level data for FAOSTAT.
64. The Commission was informed that FAO contracted the Philippine Statistical Association (PSA) to undertake the project entitled "Strengthening the National Statistical Systems in Selected Countries in the Asia and Pacific Region." The establishment of CountrySTAT in the Philippines and its 15 other countries in Asia were the key features of this Project.
65. The Commission learned that the CountrySTAT framework was based on the framework of FAOSTAT. The CountrySTAT framework called for the identification of core data sets which were anchored on the FAOSTAT accounts, namely: food accounts, resource accounts, economic accounts, trade accounts and price accounts. The statistics and indicators that supported or characterized each set of accounts could simultaneously support other accounts.
66. The Information Technology (IT) solution used in the implementation and development of the CountrySTAT system was the "PC-Axis Software Family". The
PC-Axis software package served as the engine of the system. It could be freely downloaded in the web (http://www.pc-axis.scb.se/pcaxis.htm) but the software required a licence from Statistics Sweden when used for disseminating statistics either in CD-ROM or in the Internet.
67. The Commission heard that the first major activity toward the installation of CountrySTAT was training of staff of different agencies in using the PC-Axis software family. This training also aimed at the development and implementation of guidelines or standards for the creation of PX-files and the drafting of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) among agencies involved. The guidelines would help preserve consistency of the keywords of PC-Axis files when these were posted at the CountrySTAT Web page. The MOU would serve as the expression of commitment of major statistical agencies to cooperate in the implementation of CountrySTAT in the Philippines. The MOU was signed by the heads of agencies in August 2006.
68. The Commission was informed that the CountrySTAT had been installed and working in the Philippines. It was accessible via sub-domain of the main website with URL http://countrystat.bas.gov.ph. To ensure that the system stayed fully functional, the CountrySTAT Core Group composed of selected personnel from different operating units in the Central Office of the Bureau was created. This Core Group was supported by a Technical Working Group (TWG) which was responsible for updating and uploading data sets into the BAS website and the CountrySTAT.
69. The Commission was advised that one of the major components of the Project was the conduct of a one-week subregional workshop on the CountrySTAT and metadata, to be attended by the RDES focal points of sixteen countries. Among the future actions planned to be undertaken were the demonstration of CountrySTAT as an advocacy on the use of statistics, the updating or enhancement of the existing linked metadata in the BAS website and the linking of the CountrySTAT Philippines and the BAS website.
70. In subsequent discussion, the Commission was reminded that while the CountrySTAT might prove to be an effective tool for disseminating data, measures should always be taken to ensure that the data being disseminated were of the best quality possible. In this respect, the suggestion to implement logical tests on data before they were disseminated should be given due consideration.
71. The Commission was informed of the key elements that were needed in the process of establishing the CountrySTAT in the Philippines. These included: (i) the existence in the country of a substantial body of statistical holdings, and its corresponding metadata, which could be organized following the CountrySTAT framework; (ii) intensive training of concerned personnel on the CountrySTAT statistical framework and the corresponding IT solution (PC-Axis Software Family); (iii) the identification of one institution capable of serving as host; and (iv) the full support and cooperation of all other agencies contributing to CountrySTAT.
72. The Commission agreed that installing CountrySTAT would be beneficial to countries and recommended that FAO actively pursue this initiative of installing CountrySTAT in member countries. In this region, this initiative could be pursued initially for RDES participating countries.
(Item 6b of the Agenda)
73. Two documents were discussed. The Secretary of the Commission introduced the document APCAS/06/12 _ "FAO's Initiative on Metadata of National Agricultural Statistics" which reviewed the past and current work at FAO regarding metadata. Two editions of the publication "National Methods of Collecting Food and Agricultural Statistics" were issued in the 1970s and the 1980s respectively, each covering about 110 countries. Through FAOSTAT, in recent years, the work in this area covered the FAO Data Quality Framework, International Agricultural Bulletin Board on Data Collection, Dissemination and Quality (ABCDQ), and Data Quality Stamp.
74. The Commission was informed that the main purpose of the metadata was
to enhance better use and management of statistical resources. The efforts currently deployed to document metadata at country level included the provision of an Annotated Outline of "Metadata for National Agricultural Statistics" and a supporting Statistical Metadata Survey Questionnaire. The questionnaire had been used for regional commissions on agricultural statistics in Asia, Africa and Latin America since 2003, with revisions as needed.
75. The Commission was informed that sixteen countries in Asia and the Pacific had been invited to prepare country reports on metadata for national agricultural statistics, using the above outline, for presentation at a Subregional workshop to be held in October 2006. These country reports would be useful for the improvement of agricultural statistics in the countries. They could be posted on the Web page of the countries concerned and would be combined to produce a compendium on the subject for publication by FAO.
76. Ms Phunvadee Porntimakorn presented the document APCAS/06/13 – "Statistical Data Directory: A Tool to Improve Quality and Usefulness of Statistics in Thailand". The Commission was informed that under the decentralized statistical system in Thailand, the National Statistical Office (NSO) had played a significant role as the major statistical data producer, while various other statistical units in line ministries also generated statistical data mainly for their own purposes.
77. Currently, little coordination existed among statistical agencies, creating problems such as duplication of and gaps in statistical data production in the country. Moreover, it had been found that because some of the statistics produced were inconsistent and incomparable, they could not be integrated.
78. The NSO was in the process of amending its Statistical Act, which had been in force for over 40 years. By the amended Act, the NSO would be given more power to perform a management role in the National Statistical System. NSO would have to set up a Statistical Master Plan outlining the responsibilities of key agencies of line ministries on their own management of statistical data to ensure availability of accurate, adequate and relevant data for country development.
79. The Commission was informed that in preparation for the setting up of the Statistical Master Plan, NSO had started to create a Data Directory system since 2004. This was aimed at taking stock of statistical data production in the country and to pinpoint the inadequacies of the statistical system. The Data Directory was a database of metadata illustrating data items produced by 200 departments in 20 line ministries. These metadata had highlighted inconsistent classifications and definitions, gaps between needs and availability, as well as the limitations in using existing data. In addition, the Data Directory, which was planned to be updated annually, could benefit data users by facilitating access to data from various sources.
80. The Commission recognized that there was a strong need for metadata. It commended FAO for taking the initiative of documenting the metadata for national agricultural statistics. It urged member countries that would take part in the forthcoming Workshop on the subject in October 2006 to seriously prepare their reports following the outline provided for this purpose and to fill in the supporting questionnaire as accurately as possible.
81. Some countries, including Australia and the Philippines reported that it was worth spending adequate efforts to document the metadata. While there might be some reluctance at the beginning, staff involved appreciated the value of metadata once the documentation was completed as they understood better the methodology used and the quality of data produced. These often led to the introduction of improvements for future activities.
82. The Commission noted that some countries had documented the metadata but had difficulties to maintain or update the information. It commended Thailand for updating the Statistical Data Directory every year. Such approach of regular updating should be adopted by member countries, at least every three or five years.
83. The Commission recognized that in countries where the statistics offices were small, maintaining a metadata system was a difficult task. It recommended that, in such cases, a minimum set of metadata, including methodological reports of surveys and agricultural censuses, be compiled for future reference.
84. The Commission noted that some parts of the questionnaire used for collecting metadata from countries could still be improved. It recommended that it be revised based on comments made regarding this matter during the session.
