Subregional Workshop on CountrySTAT and Metadata

23-27 October 2006, Manila, Philippines

BACKGROUND

In conjunction with the regional project “Strengthening Regional Data Exchange System on Food and Agricultural Statistics in Asia and Pacific Countries (GCP/RAS/184/JPN),” the Focal Points of this project were invited to participate in the above Workshop. The Workshop was organized by the FAO Statistics Division in close collaboration with the Philippine Statistical Association (PSA), Manila, Philippines. It was held from 23 to 27 October 2006 at the Linden Suites in Pasig City in Metro Manila, Philippines.

PURPOSE OF THE WORKSHOP

The purposes of the Workshop were twofold: through launching and celebrating the first successful CountrySTAT system at the country level in the Philippines, to discuss whether and how to adopt CountrySTAT to other countries in this region; and to share and exchange the experience on the establishment of metadata databases on national agricultural statistics, and to discuss on how to proceed and further improve country reports prepared for this workshop to better reflect the current state and developments of agricultural statistics in this subregion.
A compendium of metadata on national agricultural statistics in the subregion will be published by FAO as an outcome of the Workshop. The Focal Points of GCP/RAS/184/JPN will also be able to post their contributions to this Workshop on their country pages of the Regional Data Exchange System (RDES).

PROGRAMME OF THE WORKSHOP

The first part of this Workshop was to demonstrate and share, in two or three sessions, the experience of installation and application of the CountrySTAT system for dissemination of agricultural statistics in the Philippines and the efforts of the FAO RDES project at the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific in introducing CountrySTAT in RDES. The second and main part of the Workshop was to discuss on the draft country reports of metadata on national agricultural statistics in the 16 participating countries of the FAO RDES project, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Iran, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Viet Nam, and to extract suggestions on how to improve the drafts.

COUNTRY REPORTS

Participants to the Workshop, i.e. the RDES Focal Points, were requested to prepare Country Reports of metadata on national agricultural statistical systems and to submit them to the organizers well before the actual meeting. In order to assist in the preparation of these country reports, the following reference materials were provided:

• Statistical Metadata Survey Questionnaire was to be completed in collaboration with all major institutions involved in food and agriculture statistics in the country.Outline for Preparing Country Report on Metadata of National Agricultural Statistics.
• The country report should be an analytical report using information from the above questionnaire and other sources. It should be prepared in accordance with the guidelines provided in the Outline.
  

LANGUAGE

The Workshop was conducted in English.

DOCUMENTS

DOCUMENTATION FOR THE WORKSHOP
Provisional Program
List of Participants
Draft Final Report (subject to language editing)
Outline for Preparing Country Report on Metadata of National Agricultural Statistics
Statistical Metadata Survey Questionnaire
PRESENTATIONS FOR THE WORKSHOP
Session 1. Introduction of CountrySTAT.
Session 2. Demonstration of CountrySTAT in the Philippines.
Session 3. CountrySTAT as a Tool for Establishing Metadata: The Philippines’ Experience.
Session 4. Function and Mechanism of New and Present RDES.
Session 5. Metadata of RDES.
Session 8. FAO Initiative on Metadata Activities: Purposes and Objectives.
Session 9. Overview of Country Reports on Metadata: Where are the Gaps?
Session 14. Summary of Group Work: Findings and Recommendations.

CONTACT

Mr. Xiaoning Gong, Statistician, Country Statistics Service, FAO Rome.
Tel. +39 06 570 53895; Fax: (+39) 06 570 55615
E-mail: xiaoning.gong@fao.org