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EUROSTAT

Business Case

Digital communication, User analytics and Innovative products (ESS.VIP DIGICOM)

Date: 22 October 2015

Version: 1.0.0

Status Approved

PM² Simplified Version Template V.0.5 (May 2015)

ESS.VIP DIGICOM Business Case [PM² Simplified Template V.0.5] Version: 1.0.0 (Approved) Date: 22 October 2015 2 / 50

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Document Title: Business Case

Project Title: Digital communication, User analytics and Innovative products (ESS.VIP DIGICOM)

Document Author: Martin Karlberg and Britta Gauckler

Project ID (from PMR-site): 746

Project Owner: Emanuele Baldacci

Project Manager: Martin Karlberg

Doc. Version: 1.0.0

Sensitivity: Limited

Project Type: Critical With IT relevance

Approval Date: Document ESSC 2015/27/2/EN of 19 November 2015

Document Approver(s) and Reviewer(s):

Name Role Action Date TF DIGICOM Review of version 0.1.0 24 July 2015

Crista Filip Eurostat’s Project Management Office Review of version 0.2.0 5 August 2015

TF DIGICOM Review of version 0.2.0 7 August 2015

TF DIGICOM Review of version 0.3.0 19 August 2015

VIG Review of version 0.4.1 2 September 2015

TF DIGICOM Review of version 0.5.0 11 September 2015

DM Eurostat’s Directors’ Meeting Review of version 0.5.1 15 September 2015

DWG Review of version 0.6.0 30 September 2015

VIN Review of version 0.6.0 2 October 2015

ESAC Review of version 0.6.0 19 October 2015

CG1 Eurostat’s Coordination Group for Vision Implementation Review of version 0.7.0 12 October 2015

VIG Review of version 0.7.1 19 October 2015

ESSC Approval of version 1.0.0 19 November 2015


1. PURPOSE ................................................................................................................... 5

2. ACTION REQUIRED ................................................................................................. 5

3. CURRENT SITUATION AND MANDATE FOR CHANGE ................................... 5

3.1. Problem statement ............................................................................................. 5

3.2. Mandate (legal base) .......................................................................................... 6

4. OBJECTIVES AND DELIVERABLES ..................................................................... 6

4.1. Scope ................................................................................................................. 6

4.1.1. User Analysis ....................................................................................... 8 4.1.2. Innovative and shareable products and tools ....................................... 9 4.1.3. Open Data Dissemination .................................................................... 9

4.1.4. Communication and promotion ......................................................... 10

4.2. Objectives ........................................................................................................ 10

4.2.1. User Analysis ..................................................................................... 10 4.2.2. Innovative and shareable products and tools ..................................... 12

4.2.3. Open Data Dissemination .................................................................. 13 4.2.4. Communication and promotion ......................................................... 14

4.3. Deliverables and Key Milestones .................................................................... 15

4.4. Indicators ......................................................................................................... 16

4.5. What the project does not include ................................................................... 16

4.5.1. ESS data warehouse .......................................................................... 16

4.5.2. Certain outreach and statistical literacy activities ............................. 17 4.5.3. Estimates based on models ................................................................ 17 4.5.4. ESS coordination activities ................................................................ 18

4.5.5. ESS-wide roll-out .............................................................................. 18 4.5.6. Turning user needs into new data collection ..................................... 18

5. IMPACT ASSESSMENT ......................................................................................... 19

5.1. Stakeholder Analysis ....................................................................................... 19

5.2. Project Environment ........................................................................................ 19

5.2.1. Related conferences ........................................................................... 19 5.2.2. The Dissemination Working Group .................................................. 20

5.2.3. The ESS Vision portfolio .................................................................. 20 5.2.4. Eurostat project on renovation of the dissemination chain ............... 21 5.2.5. Open Data .......................................................................................... 21

5.2.6. Microdata access................................................................................ 21 5.2.7. Research projects ............................................................................... 21

5.2.8. High-level ESS stakeholders ............................................................. 22 5.2.9. International organisations ................................................................ 22

5.3. Cost-Benefit Analysis ...................................................................................... 24

5.3.1. Alternative A – do nothing ................................................................ 24 5.3.2. Alternative B – multiple projects ...................................................... 25 5.3.3. Alternative C – integrated DIGICOM project ................................... 25

5.4. Risk Analysis ................................................................................................... 25

5.4.1. Suboptimal development ................................................................... 26


5.4.2. Standardisation .................................................................................. 26 5.4.3. Implementation and maintenance ...................................................... 26

6. APPROACH .............................................................................................................. 27

6.1. Methodology .................................................................................................... 27

6.2. General Description ......................................................................................... 27

6.3. Resources and Lead Times .............................................................................. 28

6.3.1. Resources ........................................................................................... 28 6.3.2. Roadmap ............................................................................................ 29

6.4. Project Funding ............................................................................................... 29

6.4.1. Member State input ........................................................................... 29 6.4.2. External expertise .............................................................................. 30

7. PROJECT ORGANISATION ................................................................................... 30

7.1. Project Manager ............................................................................................... 30

7.2. Reporting Structure ......................................................................................... 30

7.3. Project Team .................................................................................................... 31

7.4. Project Documentation .................................................................................... 32

ANNEX 1. STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS ......................................................... 33

A possible user taxonomy ......................................................................................... 34

ANNEX 2. RISK ANALYSIS ............................................................................. 36

ANNEX 3. ESS.VIP DIGICOM ROADMAP AND DELIVERABLES ............. 39

WP1. User Analysis ................................................................................................... 42

WP1.1. User profiling exercise....................................................................... 42 WP1.2. Set-up of a social network platform for users of statistics ................ 42

WP1.3. User surveys ...................................................................................... 43

WP2. Innovative and shareable products and tools ................................................... 44

WP2.1. Development of a new innovative biennial ESS flagship

product… ............... …………………………………………………44

WP2.2. Development of tools to support ESS flagship product .................... 44 WP2.3. Improving the visual dissemination of European statistics ............... 45

WP3. Open Data Dissemination ................................................................................ 45

WP3.1. Linked open data ............................................................................... 45 WP3.2. Facilitation and harmonisation of APIs to European data ................. 46 WP3.3. Development of a European re-use policy ........................................ 46

WP3.4. Improved access to microdata ........................................................... 47 WP3.5. Search and extraction tools ................................................................ 47

WP4. Communication and promotion ....................................................................... 47

WP4.1. Communication and marketing strategy ............................................ 47 WP4.2. Outreach activities ............................................................................. 48

WP4.3. Statistical literacy .............................................................................. 48 WP4.4. Communicating the value of European statistics .............................. 49


1. PURPOSE

The purpose of this document is to outline the scope, approach, objectives,

resources implications and impact on stakeholders of this project for agreement by

the ESSC. The proposals are based on an ESS stakeholder consultation (mainly

conducted via the Task Force Digital communication, User analytics and Innovative

products (TF DIGICOM; see 3.2); the Vision Implementation Group, the Vision

Implementation Network and the Dissemination Working Group (see 5.2.2) have

also been involved in the inception of the project and have also been duly consulted

during the elaboration of the present Business Case).

The aim of the DIGICOM project is to enhance the capacity of the ESS to be agile

and responsive to our users’ needs. By necessity, the project will have a two-

pronged approach; on one hand it will improve our methods for gaining insight into

unmet needs of current and future users, and on the other hand actually developing

the innovative solutions meeting those needs.

Moreover, user needs are not only about expressed needs, but also concerns actual

necessities – such as policymakers’ need for reliable evidence and citizens’ need for

information to support “life decisions”. For this reason, the DIGICOM project

includes the promotion of, and the communication of the value of, European

Statistics as a reliable basis for evidence-based decision-making and an unbiased

picture of society.

Throughout the DIGICOM project, there will be several reflection points. These

reflections should not only take stock of project results so far, but also include an

element of business intelligence, i.e. monitoring of results (including technical

advancements) achieved elsewhere, as well as direct communication with reference

groups of users. By subsequently updating and re-prioritising among the actions,

aligning deliverables with outside activities, revising project objectives and updating

the roadmap, the DIGICOM project will stay agile.

2. ACTION REQUIRED

The ESSC is asked to provide feedback and approve the approach outlined so that

the project may proceed to the detailed planning phase and implementation.

3. CURRENT SITUATION AND MANDATE FOR CHANGE

3.1. Problem statement

As described in the ESS Vision 20201, decision making in Europe continues

to be built entirely on the assumption of a sound evidence base, although the

resources to support the production high-quality official statistics are

diminishing. Moreover, there is an increasing demand among users for

1 The ESS Vision 2020; document presented at the 21st meeting of the European Statistical System

Committee; for readability it is generally referred to as “the Vision” throughout this document.


official statistics to incorporate new metrics to capture the new and complex

reality that has emerged. In addition, the data revolution leads to more

competitive pressure from new data producers which can eventually change

the role of official statistics.

The Vision requires that the ESS should respond to these challenges by,

inter alia,

engaging with users proactively and meet their demands in a cost-

efficient and responsive manner;

improving the responsiveness to new user needs;

delivering information in an interactive and easily comprehensible way;

improving the statistical literacy of European citizens and institutions by

guiding them through the deluge of data and information from various

origins;

making improvements in key aspects such as agility and flexibility in

general;

being agile and looking for innovative solutions;

working together, in sharing methods and tools;

increasing its value by communicating products and services in an active

and coordinated way.

The DIGICOM project, which is part of the ESS Vision 2020 portfolio, is

taking on several of these tasks, by identifying solutions in user analytics,

innovative and shareable products and tools, promoting the value of

European statistics and improving information delivery by means of

engaging users and enhancing digital communication.

3.2. Mandate (legal base)

The Digital communication, User analytics and Innovative products

(ESS.VIP DIGICOM) project is part of the ESS Vision 2020 portfolio of 8

projects adopted by the ESSC in February 2015.

A Task Force (TF DIGICOM) with 11 member states (BE, AT, DE, ES, FR,

GR, IT, LT, SE, UK and CH) was established to develop this business case.

4. OBJECTIVES AND DELIVERABLES

4.1. Scope

One priority area of the Vision is Identifying user needs and cooperation

with stakeholders:


We will engage proactively in a regular dialogue with users to understand deeper their

needs. Our strategic alliances with both public and private partners will help to respond

flexibly to users’ needs. We recognize that different user groups have different needs and

we will address this diversity by offering the right information in the right way. We will

respond to the need to provide policy-makers with reliable, comparable and timely statistics

to execute economic and financial policy. We will strive to be a respected partner and a

leader for driving innovations and progress in the global statistical community.

while Dissemination and communication on European statistics constitutes

another priority area:

We aim for a future-proof dissemination and communication strategy that satisfies divergent

and ever-changing user needs at both national and European level, is flexible enough to

adapt to emerging technologies, gives guidance in a world of data revolution and serves as a

reliable pillar of democracy. We recognise that different user groups have different needs

and capabilities, both in terms of products and dissemination channels and we will address

this diversity by offering a variety of output channels and services. We will explicitly

introduce the brand of “European Statistics” that guarantees a reliable basis for evidence-

based decision-making and an unbiased picture of society.

The DIGICOM project has been set up to deliver within these two

interrelated priority areas. According to a linear approach, (see Figure 1) we

would first of all need to understand who our current (and potential) users

are, i.e. conduct a user profiling exercise. With this information, we would

then proceed to elicit user needs for the various user categories. This would,

in turn, be used as a basis for solutions, in the form of innovative products

and tools to address unmet needs of various categories of users (see 5.1).

Moreover, proactive user engagement, aiming to facilitate users’

understanding of the value of good official statistics would take place.

The DIGICOM project focusses on users of European statistics; this means

that national as well as European users are considered. As illustrated in

Figure 1, user engagement (influencing users) and user analysis (learning

about users) are separated into two different work packages.

Figure 1. Work packages of the DIGICOM project

WP2 - Innovative and sharable products and tools

WP 1 - User analysis

WP4 - Communication and promotion

User profiling

•Tools to profile

•Actual profiles

User needs(By profile)

•Tools to elicit needs

•Actual needs

End users

SolutionsTo meet needs

•Tools

•Products

User engagement

Linked to unstated(“actual”) needs

•Statistical literacy/outreach

•Branding

WP 3 - Open data dissemination

Open data dissemination

•APIs

•Open data Portal

•Public use files


Figure 1 is a simplification of a complex reality. Most importantly, it should

be noted that the ESS does not depart from a tabula rasa. The DIGICOM

project would thus not be sequential (user analytics first; solutions later),

since there are instances where needs are already known, and work on

solutions (tools and products) could start early on. Moreover, the process is

iterative rather than linear, with user needs driving solutions which then are

subject to user feedback, which is used to update the solution and so on.2

Notwithstanding the interrelatedness between the various aspects of the

DIGICOM project, it has been subdivided into work packages to be rendered

manageable (see the boxes of Figure 1). The work packages are outlined in

Sections 4.1.1-4.1.4. Due to the interrelatedness and the fast changing nature

of the products, techniques and tools it is essential to be flexible, adapt

necessary actions and maybe change actions accordingly during the

DIGICOM project. The actions shall therefore be considered in this view as

it is an important fact of the DIGICOM project to be agile and responsive.

Furthermore the project deliverables ought to be released on basis of

precedent beta versions of the process cycle to ensure agile as well as

prompt adjustments to technological developments, changing needs,

competition, etc. Where feasible the dissemination could be as early as

possible, e.g. on basis of a later beta version if beneficial. This will be

important to take into account when the working groups will uptake their

processes.

A key feature of the DIGICOM project is that it will contribute to building

capacities and skills in the ESS in concerned areas. It is indispensable to

create networks inside and also incorporate external knowledge from outside

to reach the envisioned targets.

4.1.1. User Analysis

The User Analysis work package will address the stated Vision priority to

obtain a better insight into our users: their needs for statistical services as

well as their professional knowledge.

It will involve various activities to identify the requirements of current

users as well as the needs of potential future users, possibly also the

consultation of enterprises to identify their data needs as well as the

assessment of the relative weight of quality dimensions like timeliness and

accuracy from a users’ perspective called for by the Vision.

In doing so, it will contribute to the Vision objective to improve the ESS

agility in dealing with core users, increase responsiveness to emerging

questions in society and reduce time-to-market of new statistics.

2 In order to practice this iterative process the timetable shows the main user consultations whereas in some

cases the users need to be consulted in the work package itself as it follows after the action, e.g. in the

case of the communications actions. Here the users can be consulted on basis of the platform

developed in work package 1 for example, but the user consultation action itself takes place in work

package 4. This is why not every iterative process is displayed in the timetable.


4.1.2. Innovative and shareable products and tools

In the Innovative and shareable products and tools work package, the Vision

principle to use common methods and tools will be applied to the tailored

products and services (including interactive tools and apps called for by the

Vision).3

The work package will thus focus to a large extent on customisability, be it

the Vision requirement for customised supplies (indicators for special

purposes) to as many users as possible, services facilitating benchmarking

(e.g. of enterprises with competitors in the same line of industry). It will also

cover new tailored products and services, including a novel ESS statistical

portrait report with an associated biannual conference, visualisations,

animations, interactive tools and apps.

This work package will also address visualisation principles (in close

coordination with the Innovative and shareable products and tools work

package, which would address the “tools” aspects of visualisation).

4.1.3. Open Data Dissemination

Open Data is an emerging discipline with a huge potential for the (re-)

dissemination official statistics.4 There are numerous questions to address

for the statistical domain. This work package will answer to the Open Data

aspect of the Vision’s objective of development of products giving as much

freedom as possible to active users to create their own products based on

official statistics data and statistics.

This would concern application program interfaces (APIs) for enhanced

access to the statistical databases of ESS members.

Another strand will explore the possibility of capitalising on other initiatives

in the area of open data, in particular linked open data, (such as current

activities in the area of open data, i.e. the OpenCube project and other

European projects).5

Moreover, the particular aspect of micro-data dissemination will be

covered by this work package, thereby addressing the Vision objective of

customised supplies (micro-data access) to as many users as possible. The

openly available public use files will be in the centre of interest of this work

package. Public use files are micro-data files which are anonymised in such

a way that they are no longer confidential.

3 When designing products the difference between "need to know" and "nice to know" statistics should

be taken into consideration.

4 Open data can be defined as “Open data and content can be freely used, modified, and shared by

anyone for any purpose.” http://opendefinition.org/

5 See also: 5.2.5 (Open Data) and 5.2.7 (Research projects).

http://opendefinition.org/


4.1.4. Communication and promotion

The Communication and promotion work package will satisfy the Vision

objective of adoption of a new dissemination and communication

strategy. This strategy might include the development of ways to

disseminate ‘nice to know’ statistical facts to increase the public profile of

official statistics, requested in the Vision.

The Vision priority of ensuring public trust in official statistics which is the

cornerstone of any statistical system by promoting the value of European

statistics would be at the core of the Communication and promotion work

package. This would partly be achieved (as prescribed by the Vision) by

increasing the emphasis on publicising quality as a driving force for all our

activities (and develop new meaningful and transparent ways of

communicating the user-oriented quality assurance mechanisms applied to

our statistics).

Moreover, this work package would deal with statistical literacy,

addressing the Vision objective of activities targeting the public at large to

guide them through the pitfalls of statistics and enhance statistical literacy.

This would be part of the investment (as foreseen in the Vision) in educating

users to increase their statistical literacy in particular to mitigate the risk of

improper and unjustified use of ESS statistical products and services.

This work package would also comprise general outreach, such as the

constant contact with potential user groups to meet their expectations as set

out in the Vision, and the Vision objective of activities targeting special

interest groups.

4.2. Objectives

The various objectives of the work packages are outlined in Sections 4.2.1–

4.2.4.

4.2.1. User Analysis

The aim of this work package is to actively engage with ESS users in order

to:

Conduct a user profiling exercise (in close collaboration with

ESAC) in which ESS users (and to some degree also the not-yet or

the non-users) are categorised according to their needs and

requirements (complemented with an in-depth analysis on actual user

behaviour), followed up by a user survey and other user analysis

activities based on those profiles. Several dimensions regarding the

user groups and needs shall be considered: the need to know and the

nice to know as well as the EU use and the national use. Users of

national as well as European statistics should be considered.6 As a

6 In practice national users and users of European statistics are not disjoint groups. While some users

almost exclusively use national statistics, some almost exclusively use European statistics, and others

may use both sources in the same domain. Whereas the centre of gravity of the DIGICOM project is


starting point data from the user support as well as web analytics data

(for instance) can be used and shall be enriched with innovate data

analytics tools. In order to target not-yet users or non-users as well as

help shaping the profiles a user survey is part of the exercise. ESS

experiences will be used in involving experts in the evaluation of

user needs and channels will have to be established how these inputs

can help shaping the planned initiatives.

Set up a social network platform for users of European statistics7

with the specific aim of identifying efficiently the ever changing

needs of users. The information harvested in the user profiling

exercise will serve to establish ex ante maps of users which could be

used as the point of departure for deciding which information to

collect via the platform. This platform would also help design

appropriate social media policy guidelines at the ESS level and

governance templates. The platform will allow ESS members to have

a direct dialogue with the participating user groups, to elicit their

needs and will enable the testing of innovative dissemination tools.

Moreover the platform will enable profiles to be extracted which can

be used to request user inputs on statistical issues to get responses

using post-stratifying methods to incorporate population distributions

of variables into survey estimates.8 The social network can also lead

to the creation of expert user communities that could interact with

statistical producers. A customer relationship management system

may, if feasible, be integrated into this social network. The platform

may also be used for targeted communication to users, to implement

part of the communication strategy foreseen in the Communication

and promotion work package. A precondition for the success of this

platform will be that sufficient resources are allocated to animate,

curate and host it.

on European statistics, it is expected that there will be considerable overlaps – and considerable

synergies. Whether the European/national dimension is central to the user categorisation will be

considered during the user profiling exercise (WP1.1).

7 See The Users of Statistics and their role in the European Society, paper by Maurizio Vichi, Maria

João Valente Rosa and Frances Ruane. ESAC document 2015/1175;

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/european-statistical-advisory-committee-esac/activities/esac-documents.

This categorisation (used in the stakeholder analysis of the present business case) is tentative and an

example of what could be achieved. The definition of user categories that will actually be applied in

the DIGICOM project will be developed during the user profiling exercise (WP1.1).

8 Appropriate analysis methodology will be applied to duly manage e.g. the bias resulting from

surveying only voluntary, registered users.

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/european-statistical-advisory-committee-esac/activities/esac-documents


Under this work package the following “low-hanging fruit”9 will eventuate from the

establishment of inventories for sharable practices: current CRM practices, practices in

user satisfaction/ user need assessment, practices in user profiling, practices in user

interaction via social media. Another low hanging fruit, which strengthens the direct

dialogue between users and statisticians, will be the support to the organisation of

national conferences. As has been done in 2015 in Latvia and Luxembourg, these

conferences will give the opportunity for users of European statistics in a Member State

to exchange views with representatives of the NSI and Eurostat.

4.2.2. Innovative and shareable products and tools

The first aim of this work package is:

To develop a new innovative biennial10

ESS flagship product based

on the EU data pool complemented by tools to facilitate the

consumption of the relevant statistical data.11

The product, which is

envisaged to have a modern, non-traditional, dynamic/interactive

format is aimed at strengthening the dialogue between users and

producers. It would contain a statistical portrait of Europe (edited by

a team of ESS experts) to be presented at a high-level and highly

visible conference with the participation of senior representatives of

the ESS as well as high-level stakeholders, organised in a format

inspired by the Davos example, containing a series of panels,

workshops, etc. This product will fill a gap by providing policy

makers with a statistical portrait of Europe that is well-rounded, in-

depth and suitable for discussion in high-level fora. The product will

be complemented by a multi-channel ESS promotion campaign12

and

innovative tools for the support. Further dissemination would take

place by means of the innovative tools developed in the work

package. A particular attention will be given to the reusability of the

tools developed to support the product.

The second aim is to further improve the visual dissemination of

European statistics by promoting the exchange of best practices,

supporting regular training of ESS experts, developing common

9 “Low-hanging fruits” are considered as being quick gains under the action as they are based on

sharable, good practices (as well as failures) that will be shared among the ESS.

10 It might be useful to change the recurrence from biannual to annual, but this shall be decided after the

first event.

11 Other than the Eurostat flagship products, the ESS product will heavily rely on a joint editorial work

from Eurostat and the NSIs. As a complement to the European dimension provided by Eurostat, the

NSIs will better illustrate the national dimension of the chosen statistical topics conveying a message

that the ESS is capable of providing interesting and timely statistics of interest to a broader audience.

12 There are possibilities in the promotion, for instance it could be promoted with an ESS logo, an ESS

promotion campaign like a press conference on the same day by all heads of NSIs in their countries.

The conference would be a related event to discuss issues raised in the statistical portrait of Europe and

raise the visibility of statistics with high-level users and stakeholders.


guidelines and sharing of visualisation tools. The outcome of the

Task Force Visualisation (see section 5.2) can provide input for a

pilot in this work package.

For this work package an inventory of shareable tools in general and in the visualisation

area will eventuate as “low-hanging fruits”.

4.2.3. Open Data Dissemination

The aim of this work package is to:

Further facilitate the automated access to European aggregate data

for heavy data users or re-disseminators. Re-disseminators of

European data may serve as quality enhancers by adding value to the

statistical information supplied. Their users/clients can find relevant

statistical information presented in a way which is tailored to their

specific needs or context. The strengthening of this service towards

the re-disseminators will enable the ESS to reach more audiences

than it would achieve solely through its own dissemination products.

This work package will be accomplished by the following actions:

Linked open data (LOD): establishment of an ESS open data

strategy, and actions to implement this strategy, including

publication of ESS aggregate data to the Pan-European Open Data

Portal13

and also an ESS Open Data Gateway – with metadata

services as a key gateway component, and links with corresponding

national open data portals. Linked open data means (in comparison to

open data) that data can be linked to Uniform Resource Identifiers

(URIs)14

from other data sources, using open standards for data

exchange on the Web such as RDF.15

Facilitation and harmonisation of APIs to European data to

improve access to aggregate data.

Actively promote re-dissemination by third parties (i.e. data

journalists) via a European re-use policy; channels could be twitter,

Facebook, workshop with data journalists, etc.

Improved access to micro data, e.g. through the development of

new methodologies for the production of Public Use Files (PUFs) to

enhance access to these data for heavy users (e.g. researchers).

13

See http://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/dae/document.cfm?doc_id=9699. The portal is expected to go live

in late 2015.

14 A uniform resource identifier (URI) “…is a string of characters used to identify the name of a

resource”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_resource_identifier

15 For a definition please see http://www.w3.org/RDF/

http://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/dae/document.cfm?doc_id=9699

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_resource_identifier

http://www.w3.org/RDF/


Under this work package the stocktaking in the open data field as well as the inventory of

existing ESS APIs as well as search and extraction tools are considered “low-hanging

fruits”.

4.2.4. Communication and promotion

The first aim of this work package is to elaborate and implement a

communication and marketing strategy which underlines the value

of official European statistics16

in combination with outreach

activities to raise the visibility of the ESS including a strategy

towards statistical literacy. This line of activity would include the

preparation of guidelines for a visual identity. This would also be

build on concepts developed by the QUAL@ESS Vision 2020

framework (see 5.2.3), and would concern communicating the value

of European statistical products and services through modern

communication systems and professional communication campaigns.

The second aim of the work package is to set up a policy and

framework for the dissemination of experimental statistics

(meaning non-standard statistics) rarely produced by the ESS but

highly requested by users. These data and statistics include

experimental statistics based on new data sources, model-based

statistical analyses, assumptions and innovative supplements to more

traditional statistics of sufficient quality to be used for analytical

purposes.17

The definition of “experimental statistics” (mainly based

on all relevant conceptual output from QUAL@ESS Vision 2020)

will be further elaborated during the operational phase of this work

package.

For this work package the “low-hanging fruits” will be the hackathon18

and the inventory

of existing statistical literacy practices.

16

Regarding the concept “European Statistics”, Article 1 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the

European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European statistics

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1435820363605&uri=CELEX:02009R0223-20150608

states that “European statistics are relevant statistics necessary for the performance of the activities of

the Community. European statistics are determined in the European statistical programme.”

17 For further clarification on experimental statistics see the Towards a Eurostat framework for

disseminating innovative/experimental statistics paper: by Marie Bohata, Martina Hahn, Antonio

Baigorri and Gian Luigi Mazzi

http://www.q2012.gr/articlefiles/sessions/26.1_Hahn-Mazzi_Experimental%20statistics.pdf

presented at Session 26 (on “Experimental statistics”) at the 2012 European Conference on Quality in

Official Statistics).

18 A hackathon “… is an event where computer programmers and others involved in software

development and hardware development, including graphical designers, interface designers and project

managers, collaborate intensively on software projects.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackathon).

The hackathon is considered to fall under “outreach activities” (see Annex 3.WP4.2) which belongs to

the work package 4 “Communication and branding”. Outreach activities are intended to impact on the

general public and to increase the public profile of official statistics.

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1435820363605&uri=CELEX:02009R0223-20150608

http://www.q2012.gr/articlefiles/sessions/26.1_Hahn-Mazzi_Experimental%20statistics.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackathon


At this stage, it is not always possible to provide details of all actions and

deliverables foreseen in the DIGICOM project. During the first half of 2016,

most of the activities will focus on a stocktaking exercise and on an

inventory of best practices for each of the work packages. Based on this

information, further actions and final deliverables will be defined more

precisely.

4.3. Deliverables and Key Milestones

The key deliverables of the DIGICOM project are outlined in Table 1. The

start date of the DIGICOM project is the beginning of 2016 and the end date

is 31 December 2019.

In 2016, nearly all the work packages will start, often with stocktaking and

inventory activities frontloaded. This exercise should also include

inventories of non-EU countries as well as work done by UNECE, CES

which are more advanced in some respective domains. Multiple intermediate

deliverables are expected already in 2016. The intensive development phase

of the different project streams will peak in 2017 and 2018. The work

packages will end in 2019 (for overviews see Annex 3 ESS.VIP DIGICOM

roadmap and deliverables). Further details on intermediate deliverables, as

well as specifics of the actions envisaged to achieve these deliverables, are

provided in Annex 3.


Table 1. Key deliverables of the DIGICOM project

Work Package Deliverable no. Instrument for implementation

Delivery date

Deliverable

WP1–User Analysis

WP1.1–User profiling exercise DIGICOM.D1.01 Own resources 2016/03 Online inventory of shareable practices

DIGICOM.D1.03 Contract 2017/06 User profiling report, including profiling criteria and piloting

WP1.2–Set-up of a social network platform for users of statistics DIGICOM.D1.08 Contract 2017/06 ESS social network platform for users of statistics

WP1.3–User surveys DIGICOM.D1.09 ESSnet 2018/03 ESS user survey based on user profiling exercise

WP2–Innovative and shareable products and tools

WP2.1- Development of a new innovative biennial ESS flagship product

DIGICOM.D2.01 Contract 2017/06 Statistical portrait of Europe

DIGICOM.D2.04 Contract 2017/12 ESS conference on the statistical portrait of Europe

WP2.2–Development of tools to support ESS flagship product DIGICOM.D2.05 Own resources 2017/06 Repository of shareable tools

DIGICOM.D2.10 Contract 2018/06 Innovative tools rolled out

WP2.3–Improving the visual dissemination of European statistics DIGICOM.D2.14 Own resources 2017/06 ESS visualisation guidelines

DIGICOM.D2.15 Contract 2018/06 Visualisation tools rolled out

WP3–Open Data Dissemination

WP3.1–Linked open data DIGICOM.D3.03 Contract 2018/06 Eurostat data published to Pan-European Open Data Portal

DIGICOM.D3.04 ESSnet 2019/06 National LOD portals developed

DIGICOM.D3.06 Contract 2019/12 European Open Data Gateway rolled out

WP3.2–Facilitation and harmonisation of APIs to European data DIGICOM.D3.07 Own resources 2017/06 Inventory of existing (shareable) APIs across the ESS

DIGICOM.D3.08 Own resources 2018/03 ESS standard for APIs

WP3.3–Development of a European re-use policy DIGICOM.D3.09 Own resources 2017/06 ESS re-use policy

WP3.4–Improved access to microdata DIGICOM.D3.12 Contract 2018/12 Microdata access solutions for the ESS

WP3.5–Search and extraction tools DIGICOM.D3.15 Contract 2018/12 Search and extraction tools rolled out

WP4–Communication and promotion

WP4.1–Communication and marketing strategy DIGICOM.D4.02 Contract 2017/12 ESS communication and marketing strategy

DIGICOM.D4.03 Own resources 2018/06 Communication kit

WP4.2–Outreach activities DIGICOM.D4.06 Own resources 2018/03 Hackathon carried out

DIGICOM.D4.07 Own resources 2018/12 Gamification product rolled out

WP4.3–Statistical literacy DIGICOM.D4.11 ESSnet 2017/06 Statistical literacy products

WP4.4–Communicating the value of European statistics DIGICOM.D4.12 Contract 2018/06 Study/survey on the value of European Statistics

DIGICOM.D4.15 Contract 2019/12 Platform for experimental data and statistics rolled out

Note: For WP4.4, it will be investigated during the detailed planning phase whether an early piloting, based on existing solutions, could be performed already during 2016.

4.4. Indicators

Short-term output indicators of the success of the DIGICOM project will be

the provision of the various deliverables according to specification.

There will also be medium-term outcome indicators, focused on the uptake

of the various products (e.g. use of literacy products in schools), the

participation rates in the various activities (e.g. the number of hackathon

participants, the number of users of the ESS social network platform), the

feedback of users by monitoring the new products and tools and the

compliance with the normative documents produced by the DIGICOM

project (e.g. the visualisation guidelines).

4.5. What the project does not include

There are numerous potential strands of the scope of the DIGICOM project,

but in view of the need to focus the project to render it manageable and

possible to resource the activities below are not foreseen to be part of the

DIGICOM project.

4.5.1. ESS data warehouse

For the purpose focusing the overall scope of the project and increasing the

emphasis responding to user needs with concrete products, the statistical


infrastructure aspect of the DIGICOM project is reduced, and will therefore

not include an ESS data warehouse IT project (whereas an “EU data pool” is

in scope).

4.5.2. Certain outreach and statistical literacy activities

While numerous potential outreach and statistical literacy activities exist, the

outreach and literacy dimension of the Communication and promotion work

package of DIGICOM project will be rather focused, and exclude outreach

activities such as an ESS blog as well as training, workshops, awareness-

raising activities which are already currently being undertaken by the

European Statistical Data Support19

(ESDS). The promotion of further

European Statistical Training Programme20

(ESTP) training is also not seen

as being part of the DIGICOM project. A tool for the assessment of

statistical literacy and a tool for literacy based dissemination are not

foreseen. The focus in the DIGICOM project will be in the development of

concrete joint products for increasing statistical literacy particularly in the

area of universities and schools.

A practice currently applied by a number of NSIs which could be expanded

in the area of Statistics Explained is the “statistical school”; websites could

be set up across the ESS by creating a library or a set of articles describing

and defining statistical concepts and methodology. However, this will not be

pursued as a separate action within the DIGICOM project.

4.5.3. Estimates based on models

The development of model-based estimates is not foreseen to be part of the

DIGICOM project. Activities along these strands are rather foreseen for the

ESS.VIP project on Big Data and Administrative Data (see 5.2.3).

A possible approach to get timely data on phenomena not covered

throughout the ESS by current official statistics would be to conduct

Eurobarometer surveys (or otherwise incorporate untraditional sources of

data) to allow products to be augmented by adding new dimensions and

conduct more timely releases. However, as the “blending” of such data and

official statistics would normally have to rely on modelling, this “augmented

input” approach is out of scope of the DIGICOM project.

From this it follows that while “daily statistics” would render an “official

statistics app” more likely to be consulted on a daily basis, it would

(considering that the underlying set of data would be updated far less

frequently) have to rely on modelling and/or “augmented input”; such “daily

statistics” are thus out of scope of the DIGICOM project.

19

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/help/support

20 http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/european-statistical-system/training-programme-estp

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/help/support

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/european-statistical-system/training-programme-estp


While crowdsourcing could serve simultaneously as a vessel for user

engagement and for improved statistics, it would also imply modelling to

achieve representativeness, and is therefore out of scope of the DIGICOM

project.

4.5.4. ESS coordination activities

While there could be synergies from using the communication and

visualisation expertise active in the DIGICOM project to improve the Vision

website, this is not viewed as a core task of the DIGICOM project itself, and

therefore considered to be out of scope. This doesn’t preclude the soliciting

of the individual expertise assembled in the DIGICOM project by other ESS

stakeholder for this, or similar, activities, but it would not be part of the

DIGICOM project.

One possible activity to enhance ESS coordination is the development of a

tool for rapid propagation/assessment across the ESS of new ideas. For

instance, if an NSI creates a new index (or set of statistics) on some area of

statistical interest, for national use, this index may be valid for the rest of the

NSIs. The idea is to create a mechanism (e.g. a software package) which

could advise on the applicability of the new index for other countries. This

could be used by other Member States’ NSIs to see if they also could deploy

the same index. Alternatively, it could be used “centrally” to assess whether

the index could be produced at European level. While promising, this idea is

not perceived as a high priority of the DIGICOM project, and therefore

deemed to be out of scope.

4.5.5. ESS-wide roll-out

The DIGICOM project will conduct proof of concept type development,

conduct inventories of (and develop) shareable solutions, develop an annual

ESS flagship product (with the associated activities), as well as a strategy on

communicating the value of European Statistics.

Whereas the DIGICOM project will include promotional activities, the

actual uptake of the output of the project is outside the control of the

DIGICOM project team, and has to be assured by the appropriate ESS

stakeholders.

4.5.6. Turning user needs into new data collection

The DIGICOM project helps the ESS to meet the Vision objective to

enhance the capacity of the ESS to be agile and responsive to user needs.

However, in certain respects it is a stepping stone: we will have more

information about who our users are and what they needs, but this

information will only become actionable if there are structures in place to

rapidly conduct new primary data collection.

The ESS also needs the technical dexterity to respond to user need quickly,

ahead of their expectations changing. The technical and organisational

infrastructure needed to enable fast turnaround of product development is


out of scope of DIGICOM project. The DIGICOM project would feed into

such infrastructures.

5. IMPACT ASSESSMENT

5.1. Stakeholder Analysis

In Annex 1, the stakeholder analysis of the DIGICOM project is presented.

As could be seen from that analysis:

While WP1 has users at its core, the outcomes will only serve users

indirectly, in enabling improved European statistics. The stakeholders in

direct need of for the outputs of WP1 (user profiles, user needs) are rather

those colleagues of the ESS who strive to meet user needs, and therefore

need to know who the users are and what they need.

The ESS flagship product foreseen in WP2 should be designed to meet

the needs of a wide range of users, from the institutional users to the

general public.

The improved tools for visualisation foreseen in WP2 would serve the

ESS colleagues in charge of developing, producing and disseminating

statistics, whereas the users would benefit from the actual outcome (i.e.

improved visualisation).

WP3 on Open Data Dissemination would serve the need of (very) heavy

users of statistics (including re-disseminators).

The outreach and statistical literacy activities of WP4 correspond to an

unmet (but unexpressed/unknown) need among “light users” and

“non-users” (as well as “heavy (mis)users”) of statistics in order to allow

them to, by becoming better informed, take better decisions.

5.2. Project Environment

The DIGICOM project will be carried out in a dynamic environment, with

several parallel activities ongoing which address issues closely related to the

DIGICOM project; a subset of those activities are presented in the following

sections. It has to be underlined that a number of DIGICOM project

activities depend on the output of such activities, and will only become

possible to launch (or conclude) if and when those activities have been

successfully concluded. This means that certain DIGICOM project activities

are only possible to launch during the latter half of the project, and that some

activities might not be launched at all (in the event of parallel activities not

rendering the expected output).

5.2.1. Related conferences

There are three important conference series which address issues connected

to the DIGICOM project. First, there is the conference of European Statistic


Stakeholders (CESS21

) which enhances the dialogue between European

methodologists, producers and users of European statistics and was held

2014 in Rome. Second, there are regular modernisation workshops that focus

on statistical modernisation activities within the ESS, the most recent one

was held 2014 in Valencia.22

Third, the biennial conference on New

Techniques and Technologies for Statistics (NTTS) which also addresses

issues related to the DIGICOM project. The most recent NTTS conference23

was held 2015 in Brussels.

5.2.2. The Dissemination Working Group

First, the Dissemination Working Group (DWG) works on Vision topics

and two task forces related to the working group are implemented, first a

task force on Visualisation and Infographics and second a task force on

Statistics Explained.

The Task Force on Data Visualisation and Infographics serves as a

platform to exchange practices and information on existing or planned data

visualisation tools and their reusability, as well as to identify possible fields

for cooperation between Eurostat and the NSIs. The aim is to propose

priorities and actions in the field of data visualisation as potential

components of the DIGICOM project.

The Task Force on Statistics Explained explores the possibility to use

Statistics Explained as a common electronic platform for disseminating

statistical articles. The Task Force will select a topic of interest for a large

public, assess the feasibility to release articles in all EU countries and define

working arrangements, such as technical requirements, translation and

validation.

5.2.3. The ESS Vision portfolio

The ESS.VIP project on Big Data (ESS.VIP BIGD) is likely to render output

of utility to the DIGICOM project – including the basis for certain

“experimental statistics”. Coordination between the two projects is needed to

ascertain that ESS.VIP BIGD renders output that is compatible with the

platform for “experimental statistics” that the DIGICOM project will put in

place.

The ESS.VIP project on Administrative Data (ESS.VIP.BUS.ADMIN) will,

as well as ESS.VIP BIGD, render certain model-based outputs (which is

why this is out of scope for the DIGICOM project).

With the emphasis on shareable solutions, the modalities for actually sharing

the output of the DIGICOM project are important. The principles under

21

http://cdss.sta.uniroma1.it/index.php/dssconference/cess2014/index.

22 http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/valencia-2014.

23 NTTS http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/ntts-2015.

http://cdss.sta.uniroma1.it/index.php/dssconference/cess2014/index

http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/valencia-2014

http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/ntts-2015


development in the ESS.VIP project on Shared Services

(ESS.VIP.CRC.SERV) will be important in this regard.

The Quality supporting framework of the ESS Vision 2020 Portfolio

(QUAL@ESS Vision 2020) investigates among others key quality elements

for the Vision which are relevant for the DIGICOM project. The exact

definitions of these elements will (once developed by QUAL@ESS Vision

2020 and adopted by the appropriate ESS body) feed directly into the

DIGICOM project, which will base its strategy also on these very key

elements in communicating the value of European statistics.

5.2.4. Eurostat project on renovation of the dissemination chain

Eurostat is currently running a major project on renovation of the

dissemination chain. This project is foreseen to render outputs of use to the

DIGICOM project.

5.2.5. Open Data

A number of initiatives and projects aimed at improving dissemination and

communication of European and national statistics as well as promoting the

value of official statistics are currently on-going in the Member States.

This vast experience should be further exploited in refining the scope of the

DIGICOM project.

5.2.6. Microdata access

Commission Regulation (EU) No 557/2013 on access to confidential data for

scientific purposes established new procedures of access at the EU level.

Access to confidential data is restricted to accredited researchers. The future

developments in the area will focus on confidential data users’ needs

(improved microdata transmission, development of metadata, organisation of

trainings for the users etc.)24

. Notwithstanding, the DIGICOM project will

focus on the development of public use files (PUFs) i.e. microdata available

for the general public. In December 2014 Eurostat launched a specific grant

agreement aiming at the development of PUFs (on EU-SILC and LFS data)

mainly for testing and training purposes. The first PUFs will be available in

the beginning of 2016 and will provide input for DIGICOM.

5.2.7. Research projects

Activities carried out under the EU research framework programmes (FP7

and Horizon 2020) may render outputs relevant to the DIGICOM project.

For example, OpenCube25

is an EU funded project involving partners from

the UK, Greece, Ireland, Germany and Belgium that aims to publish and

enrich linked open statistical data for the development of data analytics and

24

See more: item 15 of the 26th meeting of the ESSC " Implementation of the Commission Regulation

(EU) No 557/2013 on access to confidential data for scientific purposes".

25 http://opencube-project.eu/

http://opencube-project.eu/


enhanced visualisation services. Since 2013, there has been work on building

the first comprehensive software solution for data analytics based on Linked

Open Statistical Data. This project, which concludes in October 2015, might

provide useful input for DIGICOM.

5.2.8. High-level ESS stakeholders

The Vision was presented at the ESAC meeting in January 2015. The

Committee expressed its satisfaction and appreciation for the fact that users

of statistics have been determined as one of the five key areas in the Vision.

Since then ESAC has been exploring concrete ways to contribute to the

implementation of the Vision goals in particular related to:

i) establishment of electronic communication infrastructure (network)

connecting users and understanding their different needs;

ii) developing new forms of collaboration between users and producers;

iii) identifying different typologies of homogeneous users with the aim to

segment population of users according to their different needs;

iv) promoting the quantitative culture of statistics and need to invest in

official statistics.

A paper on users and communication26

was adopted by the ESAC 1 July

2015.

At the initiative of Eurostat, a small group of Heads of NSIs informally met

in Vienna on 12 February 2015 to brainstorm on the basis of a paper

produced by Eurostat. The key topics discussed by the group were the ability

of official statistics to adapt to user needs, marketing, the use of a European

statistics brand, communication on quality and value of official statistics, as

well as funding issues. The Vienna Group has held a second meeting in

Amsterdam on 3 July 2015 and the results of the discussions were presented

to the ESSC in September 2015. The Vienna group is expected to provide

strategic orientation on user analytics, marketing and European statistics

brand.

The DIGICOM project owner and the DIGICOM project manager are

coordinating with these initiatives, either personally or via the Eurostat

representatives in/attendees to these fora.

5.2.9. International organisations

There are existing initiatives on international level to be taken into

consideration.

26

The Users of Statistics and their role in the European Society, paper by Maurizio Vichi, Maria João

Valente Rosa and Frances Ruane. ESAC document 2015/1175;

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/european-statistical-advisory-committee-esac/activities/esac-documents.

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/european-statistical-advisory-committee-esac/activities/esac-documents


Following the UNECE Conference of European Statisticians (CES)

seminar on “What is the value of official statistics and how do we

communicate that value?” held in April 2014, the CES Bureau decided in

February 2015 to pursue work on the valuation of the impact of statistics.

The objective is to explain and promote the importance of official statistics

to government and private sector partners and stimulate appropriate funding.

The work will be organised in three work strands: first, marketing of the

value of official statistics: identification and sharing of good practices;

common priorities and tools for communicating the value of official

statistics. Second, the costs of official statistics production: valuation with

comparable measurement tools based on the Generic Statistical Business

Process Model (GSBPM); and third, the impact of official statistics:

common framework to measure and understand the benefits, impact and

economic value of official statistics.

The High-Level Group for the Modernisation of Official Statistics

(HLG-MOS) was set up by the Bureau of the CES in 2010 to oversee and

coordinate international work relating to statistical modernisation. The

mission of the HLG-MOS is to oversee development of frameworks, and

sharing of information, tools and methods, which support the modernisation

of statistical organisations. The aim is to improve the efficiency of the

statistical production process, and the ability to produce outputs that better

meet user needs. The Modernisation Committee on Products and

Sources is a HLG-MOS subgroup which undertakes activities of high

relevance to the DIGICOM project: development of the various products

needed to meet the increasing demands of users; communication and

dissemination, including access to micro-data; open data etc.

The UNECE workshop on Communication of statistics held in April 2015

identified the following key items for the future work in the Communication

area:

on social media (share strategies, develop indicators for measuring impact

and effectiveness of social media activities),

on apps, APIs and open data (international collaboration on standards,

introduction of global hackathon),

on digital publishing of statistics (share experience on topics such as

yearbooks, visualisation tools, games to promote statistical literacy, etc.)

and

on building and maintaining the credibility of official statistics (how to

ensure and maintain independence, guidelines on reputation/crisis

management).

In all areas there are already practices to be shared among countries but it is

indispensable to develop indicators for measuring and analysing the best

practices.


The OECD Data Lab27

invites the general public to explore the OECD data

tools and visualisations and provide their feedback, and thereby participate

in shaping the future of how OECD data is presented online. This is a

practice well worth considering for similar ESS initiatives.

The project Statistical Network – Innovation in Dissemination (SNID28

)

is an initiative of the Statistical Network which could provide useful inputs

to the DIGICOM project.

The International Marketing and Output DataBase Conference

(IMAODBC29

) may provide the DIGICOM project with new trends and

upcoming technologies on the dissemination of statistics.

5.3. Cost-Benefit Analysis

An analysis of the costs and benefits also needs to take into account the

“do nothing” alternative as well as an alternative of multiple projects and the

– clearly preferred and proposed – integrated version of the DIGICOM

project. In the following these three options are described.

The deployment costs for the ESS-wide DIGICOM project are reverse to the

saving costs for the Member States resulting from synergy effects from the

DIGICOM project. The intention is to develop ESS blueprints that allow

individual Member States to transfer deliverables into their own product

portfolio with only little or even no extra costs involved. Those transfer and

follow-up costs are dependent on the existing portfolio in each Member

State and are explicitly not part of the DIGICOM project.

5.3.1. Alternative A – do nothing

The DIGICOM project is the only ESS.VIP component directly addressing

the two Vision key areas “focus on users” and “improve dissemination and

communication”. If no actions are undertaken, the ESS is unlikely to deliver

European solutions on these objectives.

Even without European-level initiatives, specific solutions might be

developed in isolation by certain ESS members, but this would be inefficient

from a resource perspective.

27

http://www.oecd.org/statistics/datalab/

28 The Statistical Network of Innovation in Dissemination was looking to develop a Request for

Information (RFI) to put to the market jointly with SNZ, Stats Canada, Istat, ONS, ABS, asking for

information regarding products/services to help us run safe and effective APIs. An automated

Statistical Disclosure Control (SDC) System for Microdata Dissemination work stream were looking

to take the CSPA components which Stats Canada has produced (under the auspices of HLG) and test

them in their own environments.

29 http://imaodbc2015.insee.fr/

http://www.oecd.org/statistics/datalab/

http://imaodbc2015.insee.fr/


5.3.2. Alternative B – multiple projects

The DIGICOM project could be disassembled into its constituent parts, and

run as three independent projects (“Digital communication”, “User

analytics” and “Innovative products”). However, in that case, there is a risk

for suboptimal communication, and challenges regarding the demarcation

between the various components, as they are heavily interlinked.

5.3.3. Alternative C – integrated DIGICOM project

By running an integrated project, the fact that the components are interlinked

could be exploited to arrive at synergies between the various components.

The costs (see 6.3.1) of this integrated programme should be put in relation

to the benefits of directly addressing the two Vision key areas “focus on

users” and “improve dissemination and communication”:

allowing the ESS to engage proactively in a regular dialogue with users to

understand their needs (by “User analysis”);

meeting the need for providing policy-makers with reliable, comparable

and timely statistics to execute policies (e.g. by providing a statistical

portrait of Europe), responding to the need to offer right information in

the right way (e.g. by visualisation);

improving the dissemination and communication by recognising that

different users have different needs (e,g, by “Open data dissemination”)

and

responding to the Vision’s aim for a future-proof communication strategy

that underlines the value of official statistics and promotes the brand of

“European Statistics”.

The key benefits form the main DIGICOM project deliverables can be

summarised as the following: First there will be new access to data via an

open data gateway, second a flagship product will provide an innovative

analysis on Europe from a statistical point of view to allow a better

understanding of Europe. Third, the DIGICOM project will improve the

communication with users and stakeholders, rendering the ESS more able to

respond flexibly to their needs. Finally, it will yield a series of solutions and

tools, ready to be used within the ESS.

It needs to be emphasised that the actions that are planned for the latter half

of the project are often rather far-reaching in scope, and that the exact

definition of these actions are heavily dependent upon the outcome of

previous actions.

5.4. Risk Analysis

A considerable number of risks have been identified for the DIGICOM

project; they are listed in Annex 2. Some risks are “DIGICOM specific”,


whereas many risks are generic project management risks, which must be

managed for DIGICOM project.

Below, some salient features of the risks identified are discussed. The “R”

codes refer to the risks as numbered in the risk inventory.

5.4.1. Suboptimal development

There is a risk (R21) that the development of solutions takes place without

taking due consideration of already existing solutions in the ESS and

beyond. To mitigate this risk, the DIGICOM project includes several

stocktaking actions and (e.g. inventories of shareable practices) to make sure

that good/best practices in the ESS are taken as the point of departure.

There is also a risk for the solutions developed not meeting general quality

requirements (R5) or user requirements (R6). Therefore, actions to collect

requirements (high-level requirements as well as technical/functionality

requirements) are foreseen; possibly the outcomes of WP1 will be used to

cover parts of the user requirements aspect.

5.4.2. Standardisation

The members of the ESS are simultaneously the subject to two types

standardisation requirements. The risks of diverging from international/ESS

standards (R7) or national standards (R8, R9) or programmes (R24) do thus

require special attention, especially in situations where national and

international standards are incompatible. In situations of clear

incompatibility, the scaling down of certain activities might become

necessary. The DIGICOM project actions to establish new standards should

also be carried out with existing national and international standards in mind,

i.e. after a thorough ex-ante inventory and analysis of standards used on the

national level. The DIGICOM project will ensure that all tools to be built

follow enterprise architecture principles and comply with standards for

multilingual support of project outputs.

5.4.3. Implementation and maintenance

The risk of development results not being sustained (R15) or implemented

(R17) are common to many development activities, but are of particular

relevance to the DIGICOM project because of its non-mandatory nature.

While implementation of results cannot be imposed, the stocktaking actions

should include making sure that sufficiently many ESS members are likely

to implement the DIGICOM results (and that any requirements that would

be a prerequisite for implementation are collected during the requirements

specification action) – and the securing of the continued support of solution

providers.


6. APPROACH

6.1. Methodology

This project will follow the PM2 Methodology for all project activities.

6.2. General Description

Figure 2 outlines the typical flow of actions within each strand of the

DIGICOM project:

To avoid duplication, inventories of “ESS shareable” practices are

established wherever possible (normally in a two-stage procedure, with a

screening in the second stage). Whenever reasonable, such inventories are

augmented with the input from business intelligence activities to seek

influence from other actors and other disciplines.

The establishment of ESS guidelines, standards or strategies is included

whenever this could be achieved in a resource efficient way. This is a

high priority if applicable.

“Light development”/adaptation of solutions which in principle are

shareable is undertaken whenever this is necessary to render them

shareable in practice.

Major development is only conducted in instances where an unmet ESS

need is encountered. Certain actions depend on development results from

other activities, and would not entail any major development within the

DIGICOM project.

Whereas actual implementation falls outside the scope of this project,

piloting of solutions is conducted whenever applicable and resource

efficient.

Figure 2. General flow of the DIGICOM project

Inventory of practices

Assessment of practices

•Meeting ESS needs?

•Shareable?

Guidelines

•Good practices?

Piloting

•Rendering generic

•Actual sharing!

Development of solutions

Pilotingof solutions

Business intelligenceBest practices elsewhere?

•What do other disciplines do?

•What do our "competitors" do?

•What do re-disseminators do?


6.3. Resources and Lead Times

6.3.1. Resources

In terms of financial resources, it is foreseen that the DIGICOM project

would require 6.2 MEUR during its lifespan, with most of that amount

befalling the Commission (Eurostat) and approximately 600 000 EUR of the

costs to be borne by the Member States.

The largest overall amount would be distributed in the second and third year

of the DIGICOM project, the first and last project years will require less

resources. A simplified illustration can be found in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Financial resources needed over the DIGICOM project period

To this one should add the human resource efforts of the ESS members

devoted to the DIGICOM project without any compensation (participation to

WGs/TFs, compiling replies to questionnaires, contributing to inventories,

testing, validating outputs, etc.) as well as Eurostat’s human resources for

managing the project.

The post-project implementation costs remain to be estimated. Nevertheless,

certain elements will involve deployment costs such as the installation of

shared tools or providing national input for new ESS products. Another

example for such costs will be the ESS flagship product which will create

costs and the benefits will remain to be estimated. The estimation of the

deployment costs is foreseen to take place at a later stage, based on the

forthcoming model for implementation costs being developed by the VIG.

It should be noted that the duration and effective scope of the project is

dependent on the size of the budget and the amount of human resources the

Commission (Eurostat) can actually make available for this project.

Rescheduling and reduction of activities are the contingency strategy for this

risk (see R12 of Annex 2).


6.3.2. Roadmap

In Table 2 below, a synoptic overview is given concerning the timing of the

various WPs of the DIGICOM project. A detailed action-by-action roadmap

for the DIGICOM project is presented in Annex 3.

As part of the project management task, the DIGICOM project Steering

Group (see 7.2 below) will be charged with setting up several reflection

points throughout the DIGICOM project. These reflections should not only

take stock of project results so far (including updated user requirements

resulting from testing/user engagement), but also include an element of

business intelligence, i.e. monitoring of results (including technical

advancements) achieved elsewhere (see 5.2 above). By subsequently

updating and re-prioritising among the actions, aligning deliverables with

outside activities, revising project objectives and updating the roadmap, the

DIGICOM project will stay agile.

Table 2. Synoptic roadmap of the DIGICOM project

Work Package 2 0 1 6 2 0 1 7 2 0 1 8 2 0 1 9 2 0 2 0

Project management

WP1–User Analysis

WP1.1–User profiling exercise

WP1.2–Set-up of a social network platform for users of statistics

WP1.3–User surveys


WP2.1–Development of a new innovative biennial ESS flagship product

WP2.2–Development of tools to support ESS flagship product

WP2.3–Improving the visual dissemination of European statistics


WP3.1–Linked open data

WP3.2–Facilitation and harmonisation of APIs to European data

WP3.3–Development of a European re-use policy

WP3.4–Improved access to microdata

WP3.5–Search and extraction tools


WP4.1–Communication and marketing strategy

WP4.2–Outreach activities ()

WP4.3–Statistical literacy

WP4.4–Communicating the value of European statistics

Legend: = Interim/final report = Event () = Possible repetition = Stocktaking, inventories = WP ongoing = “IT development intensive” phase

Note: For WP4.4, it will be investigated during the detailed planning phase whether an early piloting, based on existing solutions, could be performed already during 2016.

6.4. Project Funding

6.4.1. Member State input

Three principal types of Member State involvement are foreseen for the

DIGICOM project: (1) steering of the project, (2) participation as

information supplier in the stocktaking exercise, and

(3) operational/development work mainly carried out by means of ESSnets.

While contributions all Member States are expected to supply information

about their own activities in the stocktaking exercises (2) work of type (1)

and (3) is completely voluntary. The impact in terms of workload is thus

essentially limited to the tasks that Member State NSIs are willing to take

on.

For tasks of type (1), the participation in the governance of the project (in

the steering group and the work package teams) is voluntary. Following the


traditional ESS governance approach, the costs for the work carried out by

an NSI in this regard is to be borne by that NSI, whereas costs associated to

physical meetings (travel etc.) are foreseen to be covered by the Commission

(Eurostat).

For tasks of type (2), all Member States are expected to fully participate as

information suppliers in the various stocktaking actions of the DIGICOM

project. The efforts needed here would be limited. For those actions no

financial flows are foreseen; the costs for the work carried out in this regard

are to be borne by the NSI itself.

Regarding the tasks of type (3), it is important that any solutions developed

in the DIGICOM project are extensively validated at national level. To this

end, the project will include actions carried out by means of ESSnets (see

Table 1). This will be the main form of participation by NSIs in the

operational tasks of the DIGICOM project. Participation to ESSnets is

voluntary. The ESSnets will be financed by means of grants from the

Commission (Eurostat) to a consortium of Member State NSIs. A small

percentage of the ESSnet costs will be borne by the grantees (i.e. the

participating NSIs).

6.4.2. External expertise

The DIGICOM project will also involve studies carried out by (e.g.

visualisation and communication) experts from outside the world of official

statistics. Those studies will be financed through procurement contracts

managed by Eurostat and funded by the European Commission (Eurostat).

There will also be a number of IT development actions in the DIGICOM

project. This development will be financed through procurement contracts

managed by Eurostat and funded by the European Commission (Eurostat).

7. PROJECT ORGANISATION

7.1. Project Manager

The DIGICOM project manager is Martin Karlberg, team leader for the

Research and Innovation in Official Statistics team in Eurostat unit B1

(Methodology and corporate architecture). The deputy DIGICOM project

manager is Britta Gauckler of the same team.

7.2. Reporting Structure

The VIG (Vision Implementation Group) oversees the Vision

implementation portfolio on behalf of the ESSC and it will thus play a

central role in the roll-out of the DIGICOM project activities. This includes

reports on a regular basis to the ESSC.

The governance for the DIGICOM project is as follows:


Within the European Statistical System, there is no ESS Directors’ Group

associated to the DIGICOM project due to its cross-cutting nature; the VIG

will thus perform this role.

A DIGICOM project Steering Group will be set up. It will assure

coordinated output of the various actions, the monitoring of the timetable,

regular reviews and revisions if necessary. The DIGICOM project Steering

Group will also report on progress at regular time intervals to the Working

Group on Dissemination, the DIME and inform other relevant Directors’

Groups as appropriate. Moreover it will consult as needed with ESAC,

PressNet, etc. It will also contribute to the VIG reports on the overall

progress of the Vision implementation portfolio. The DIGICOM project

Steering Group should be composed by approximately 10 senior ESS

colleagues (with priority given to the representation of NSIs that are not

intensively involved in the operational tasks part of the work package teams)

and shall serve as a reference group to give feedback to the work package

teams to help aligning the workloads in order to serve all ESS needs.

In each Work Package, there will be a Work Package Team composed of

colleagues from Eurostat and the ESS Member States, charged with steering

and monitoring the activities of that Work Package. Each Work Package

Team will be chaired by one of its members and will be responsible for the

implementation of the action. Moreover, each work package is supported by

a number of instruments, such as work carried out by means of contracts

(Eurostat procurement), ESSnets, financial support in the form of

contributions to useful trainings or the organisation of workshops and work

carried out without any financial instrument (using the own resources of

each ESS member).

In order to guide the DIGICOM project on an operational/working level,

“external” reference groups shall be consulted (whenever possible via the

social network platform; see WP1.2) to help guide and collect feedback for

the DIGICOM project. First, to benefit from external views a reference

group shall be introduced in order to collect feedback. This reference group

could consist of users external to the ESS. Certain groups internal to the

ESS, such as the DWG, would also serve as a reference groups to be

consulted. The feedback thus obtained shall help to guide the DIGICOM

project.

The project owner for the DIGICOM project is Emanuele Baldacci,

Director of Eurostat Directorate B (Methodology; corporate statistical and IT

services).

7.3. Project Team

The DIGICOM core project team, in charge of the day-to-day management

of the DIGICOM project, will consist of Eurostat colleagues, mainly from

the Methodology and corporate architecture unit (B1) and from the

Dissemination unit (B4). The team will be coordinated by the Eurostat

DIGICOM project manager. Day-to-day monitoring of work carried out by

means of financial instruments (including ESSnets, which are financed by


means of grants as well as outsourced work carried out by means of

procurement contracts) will be conducted by the Eurostat project officers in

charge of these instruments.

7.4. Project Documentation

Final versions of all official ESS.VIP DIGICOM documents, including key

correspondence, will be filed30

electronically via the Commission’s

advanced record system ARES. The responsibility for this resides with the

ESS.VIP DIGICOM project manager. For major subprojects (e.g. ESSnets

or procurement contracts) this task might be delegated to the sub-project

managers concerned.

For the purpose of ad hoc sharing of information within the project team, an

ESS.VIP DIGICOM subsection to the CROS portal has been set up. This

subsection might also be used for selected communication targeting e.g. the

ESS as a whole.

30

Filing will take place in ARES file no. 93120/2015/012, “ESS.VIP DIGICOM (Digital Communication

User analytics and Innovative products) Programme 2014-2020” (or one of its subfiles).


Annex 1. STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS

Users are at the core of the DIGICOM project, and actions tailored to the needs of specific user categories are a key success

factor. Therefore, the stakeholder needs and expectations (Table 1.1) have been analysed with particular emphasis on the users,

based on the taxonomies proposed in a recent ESAC paper (see the heading “A possible user taxonomy” below). Part of the

needs of this group of stakeholders (the users) will only become apparent once user sentiments have been gauged, in particular

during Work Package 1 of the DIGICOM project; an update of the below table might thus take place at that stage. It should be

emphasised that the categorisation of users applies to national as well as EU level. For instance institutional users could be EU

or national policy makers.

Table 1.1. Stakeholder needs and expectations in the context of the DIGICOM project

Need

Us ers ESS Part ers

1.In

stitu

tiona

l

user

s

2a. G

ener

al

inte

rest

use

rs

2b. S

peci

fic

inte

rest

use

rs

2c. R

esea

rch

user

s

Ver

y he

avy

user

s (ii

)

Hea

vy u

sers

(i)

Ligh

t use

rs (

iii)

Non

use

rs (

iv)

Pol

icy

(ES

SC

)

Dev

elop

men

t

Pro

duct

ion

Dis

sem

inat

ion

Com

mun

icat

ion

Sta

tistic

al N

etw

ork

for

Inno

vatio

n in

Dis

sem

inat

ion

Inte

rnat

iona

l org

s.

(UN

EC

E, O

EC

D)

Ope

n D

ata

Inst

itute

Sta

tistic

al

soci

etie

s

Gov

ernm

ent

Dig

ital S

ervi

ce

User needs (by user profile)

Rapid user feedback

An new innovative ESS flagship product

Inventories of solutions

Visualisation tools

Improved visualisation

More official statistics data in open data portal

ESS open data gateway

Improved APIs to European data

Improved search functionalities

Improved extraction tools

Communication strategy

Communication kit for Press Officers

Improved statistical literacy

Outreach

Experimental statistics

Label for experimental statistics

Compliance with existing standards


A possible user taxonomy

In their paper on users of statistics26

, Vichi et al. distinguish on one hand between (1)

Institutional users and (2) non-institutional users, with non-institutional users further

subdivided into:

2a. Users with a general interest (e.g., economic growth)

Journalists and media

Citizens

Students (by level of education, or age) and Teachers (by level of teaching

education)

2b. Users with a specific subject/domain interest (e.g., health)

Other decision makers

Policy analysts

Marketing analysts

Experts in a specific field

2c. Users with a research interest (e.g., innovation in enterprises)

Scientific community – academics and researchers at universities and research

institutions

Consultants and researchers in Governmental Agencies and private sector

This is then crossed with another taxonomy identifying users according to their

frequency of statistical usage and proficiency:

(i) Heavy users: researcher, specialist, politically or civically-engaged citizen, and

others that use statistics on a daily basis. Typically this is the person who knows

where to find data and how to interpret it. Within this category we can distinguish the

(ii) Very heavy users: researchers who would be routinely engaged in using

disaggregated and micro data (AMFs and RMFs) in their research and who could

contribute to the improvement of data quality by engaging with data producers

(iii) Light (occasional) users: user who from time to time checks some figures.

He/she would know the National Official Statistics and Eurostat websites but would

find some difficulty in getting the data he/she needs and would not be looking for

metadata.

(iv) Non-users who might be Potential-users: all people who do not go looking for

data believing it is something hard to understand and not being aware of data’s

relevance and richness.

Of course, as is often the case, these typologies are not independent; institutional users

would be more of heavy users; non-users are potential users with a general interest. Vichi

et al. provide a schematic overview combining the two classifications (see Table 1.2).


Table 1.2. Users classification by frequency and interest

1. Institutional

Users

2. Non institutional Users

a. Users with a

general interest

(2.a)

b. Users with

specific interest

(2.b)

c. Users with

research interest

(2.c)

Heavy users

Light users

Non users


Annex 2. RISK ANALYSIS

In the DIGICOM project risk inventory of Table 2.1, the standard convention is

followed for calculating the risk level (see the “I”, “L” and “RL” columns):

I (Impact) ranges from 1 (low) - 5 (very high)

L (likelihood) ranges from 1 (low) - 5 (very high)

The Risk Level is obtained as RL=I×L

An additional column “Type” has been added with the following possible values:

“WP1-WP4” – DIGICOM-specific risk associated with a Work Package

PM – generic project management risk

SRM – risk (relevant to DIGICOM) listed in the DGINS paper “Implementation

of the ESS Vision 2020 – ESS Vision 2020 Strategic Risk Management

(identification, assessment and mitigation actions)”


Table 2.1. Risks identified for the DIGICOM project

Type Risk No.

Risk If "risk" happens then…

I L RL Mitigation: Proposals to eliminate/minimise the risk (What you will do in any case to reduce/manage the risk)

Contingency: What you will do to respond (manage the impact) if the risk occurs

(What you already do when it happens)

WP1 R1

Divergent needs among users of European statistics Difficult to arrive at a single content strategy. This could also concern different level of statistical literacy among users across different countries.

3 5 15 Emphasis on segmentation in the user profiling in WP1 to allow for targeted activities.

WP1 R2 Incomparable user surveys Impossible to draw conclusions/conduct comparisons at the ESS level.

4 2 8 Centralised user satisfaction survey. Very clear, modest, goals should be set. It is also very important to decide what sections should be available and for what purpose.

WP1 R3 In-depth analysis Risk of resource inefficiency/large resorucee consumption/lack of focus.

2 4 8 Base analysis on existing, shareable practices

WP2 R4

New products fails to satisfy accessibility, information assurance & security requirements The benefits are not reaped, because results cannot be used/implemented throughout the ESS

4 3 12 Appropriate formulation of requirements specifications taking relevant national and European requirements into account

Ex-post correction of deliverables.

WP2 R5 DIGICOM products fails to meet user needs

4 3 12 – Collect user feedback even for “beta” versions of the products in the design phase. – Incorporate feedback functionality (Action 2.2-3).


WP2 &

WP3 R6

Technology choices do not comply with international standards The benefits are not reaped, because results cannot be used/implemented throughout the ESS

4 2 8 Implement a strict adherence to the international standards agreed by the ESS.


WP2 &

WP3 R7

Technology choices do not comply with national standards The benefits are not reaped, because results cannot be used/implemented throughout the ESS

4 4 16 Explore opportunities for simultaneous compliance with all relevant standards in force.

Explore opportunities to obtain derogations from national standards (on the grounds of international standards being applied)

WP4 R8

Incompatibility with national strategies The ESS communication strategy may be inconsistent with the various national communication strategies

3 3 9 Involvement of DWG in the definition of the strategy. Identify elements of the strategy that cause conflicts and discard or reformulate them

WP4 R9

Confusion of experimental statistics with European statistics Risk that the “European statistics” brand is “tarnished”

2 4 8 Put "experimental stats" in a dedicated website. Clear branding strategy taking the distinction between “experimental statistics” and European statistics into account.

Ex-post damage control and communication actions.

WP4 R10

Linguistic issues If solutions are too “hard coded” for one language, the results cannot be used/implemented throughout the ESS

4 1 4 Make “linguistic portability” part of the requirements for all solutions, with language de-coupled from technology (and other portability strategies for non-technical deliverables).

Ex-post correction of deliverables. Limitation of deployment to languages served by the deliverables.

WP4 R11 Resistance to change and fear of depending on sources outside the statistical system

3 4 12 Good communication on the scope and objectives of the project Constant contact with Member States throughout the lifetime of the project.

PM R12 Insufficient financial resources The DIGICOM project delivers late or with insufficient quality

4 2 8 Re-schedule, re-focus or scale down the concerned parts of the DIGICOM project.

PM R13

There is insufficient staff with the necessary skills in place/recruited/retained. The DIGICOM project delivers late or with insufficient quality

4 2 8

– Commit to and allocate resources as planned – front-load recruitment to the greatest possible extent. – Ensure participation of NSI with relevant skills – Ensure inclusion of scientific community

Re-schedule, re-focus or scale down the concerned parts of the DIGICOM project; intensify recruitment efforts.

PM R14

No post DIGICOM sustainability The new products are not effectively sustained after launch due to resource restrictions

4 3 12

Prior to undertaking development activities, make reasonably sure that the solution providers confirm their willingness to maintain/curate results (secure a commitment to post-DIGICOM project work on sustainability)

Refer the results to the appropriate ESS stakeholders

PM R15 Member States are not actively involved in conducting the project

4 1 4 – Application of the governance model outlined in Section 7.2. – Ensuring that the ToRs of ESSnets match the skills profile offered by ESS NSIs

Foresee alternative instruments for implementation (contracts). Re-schedule, re-focus or scale down the concerned parts of the DIGICOM project.

PM R16

No post DIGICOM implementation The benefits are not reaped, because results are not used/implemented throughout the ESS.

4 3 12

– Prior to undertaking development activities, make reasonably sure that sufficiently many ESS members confirm their willingness to implement results (secure a commitment to post-DIGICOM project work on implementation) – Intensive communication with stakeholders – Develop convincing use cases

Refer the results to the appropriate ESS stakeholders


Type Risk No.

Risk If "risk" happens then…

I L RL Mitigation: Proposals to eliminate/minimise the risk (What you will do in any case to reduce/manage the risk)

Contingency: What you will do to respond (manage the impact) if the risk occurs

(What you already do when it happens)

PM R17 Adverse influence by external sources The DIGICOM project delivers late or with insufficient quality

3 2 6 Conduct business intelligence Re-schedule, re-focus or scale down the concerned parts of the DIGICOM project.

PM R18

Insufficient coordination The number of people involved slows down DIGICOM project delivery due to difficulties in planning and conflicting priorities or the difficulty in aligning various ESS stakeholders.

3 2 6 Application of the governance model outlined in Section 7.2.

PM R19 No suitable contractors are found (in terms of offering adequate skills and staffing)

4 2 8 -

Re-schedule, re-focus or scale down the concerned parts of the DIGICOM project. Accomplish some tasks internally in Eurostat if resources are available

PM R20

Duplication/repetition of previous work Waste of resources and possibly even counterproductive outputs from the DIGICOM project. Building of stovepipes/island solutions.

5 2 10

– Put emphasis on the various inventories of shareable solutions. – Prepare thoroughly; clarify expectations in the terms of reference; – Provide references to previous work – Foresee frequent review of the progress and exchange of information with other activities (in accordance with the governance model outlined in Section 7.2)

Reject deliverables of insufficient quality

PM R21 Lack of funding for face to face working and poor technology for remote collaboration

1 5 5 – Resources allocated for face-to-face meetings in duly justified cases.

– Technical collaboration in smaller groups (already foreseen in the governance model outlined in Section 7.2) to allow for better circumstances in terms of VC logistics.

SRM R22

Risk that the affordability of the DIGICOM project is wrongly estimated - budget risk The DIGICOM project delivers late or with insufficient quality

3 2 6

– Verify that the DIGICOM project provides clear definition of the detailed deployment actions, the timeline and the consequences for the MSs, in particular for the minimum requirements that are necessary for the successful implementation of the project. Recommend incremental approach to project development. – Application of the VIG methodology to estimate deployment costs (once available).

SRM R23 Lack of coherence between national and ESS modernisation programmes

4 3 12

Ensure that the DIGICOM project develop solutions that allow for different national adaptations taking into consideration the variations in national production systems and national modernisation programmes. For each deliverable, specify the detailed deployment actions, the timeline and the consequences for the MSs, according to the maturity of the project. Specify the minimum requirements for the MSs.

WP1,WP2,WP3, WP4

R24

Owing to the innovative nature of many actions, the conceptual/methodological work risks being to not have a sufficiently solid basis to be useful to the ESS The benefits are not reaped, because results cannot be used/implemented throughout the ESS

3 2 6

Introduce reflection/decision points to regularly evaluate the projected quality of innovative deliverables and subsequently re-define the deliverables and re-prioritise among the project actions so that the DIGICOM project stays agile and the deliverables stay relevant.

Ex-post modification of deliverables.


Annex 3. ESS.VIP DIGICOM ROADMAP AND DELIVERABLES

This annex is organised as follows:

Table 3.1. Roadmap of the DIGICOM project

presents the timelines for each of the foreseen actions.

Table 3.2. Deliverables of the DIGICOM project

presents the deliverables for each action, as well as the financial instrument

(Contract or ESSnet) used to carry out the action.

Under the headings WP1, WP2, WP3 and WP4, the actions of each work

package of the DIGICOM project are briefly described in more detail.


Table 3.1. Roadmap of the DIGICOM project

Work Package / Action 2 0 1 6 2 0 1 7 2 0 1 8 2 0 1 9 2 0 2 0

Project management

WP1–User Analysis


Action 1.1-1–Inventory of shareable practices

Action 1.1-2–In-depth user analysis

Action 1.1-3–User profiling


Action 1.2-1–Requirements for social network platform

Action 1.2-2–Functional and technical specifications

Action 1.2-3–Develop and set-up of pilot social network

Action 1.2-4–Evaluation of pilot social network

Action 1.2-5–Roll-out of social network


Action 1.3-1–User survey based on user profiling exercise

Action 1.3-2–Evaluation with users



Action 2.1-1–Statistical portrait of Europe

Action 2.1-2–Design of multiple promotion channels

Action 2.1-3–Implementation of promotion channels

Action 2.1-4–ESS conference on the statistical portrait of Europe


Action 2.2-1–Repository of shareable tools

Action 2.2-3–Feedback functionality

Action 2.2-2–Requirements specification for tools

Action 2.2-4–Development/adaptation of pilot tools

Action 2.2-5–Evaluation of pilot tools

Action 2.2-6–Roll-out of tools


Action 2.3-1–Inventories of shareable solutions

Action 2.3-2–Participation to ESS visualisation event

Action 2.3-3–Piloting of embeddable visualisations

Action 2.3-4–Development of common visualisation guidelines

Action 2.3-5-Development of visualisation tool(s)



Action 3.1-1–Linked Open Data – stocktaking and requirement gathering

Action 3.1-2–Standards, ontologies and technical LOD solutions

Action 3.1-3–Publishing Eurostat data to Pan-European OD Portal

Action 3.1-4–Development of LOD portals

Action 3.1-5-Semantic format converter service

Action 3.1-6-ESS open data gateway


Action 3.2-1–Inventory of existing ESS APIs

Action 3.2-2–Definition of ESS standard for APIs


Action 3.3-1–Development of a strategy

Action 3.3-2–Promotional actions


Action 3.4-1–Stocktaking

Action 3.4-2–Development of microdata access solutions


Action 3.5-1–Inventory of search and extraction tools in the ESS

Action 3.5-2–Requirements for search and extraction tools

Action 3.5-3–Development of search and extraction tools



Action 4.1-1–Communication and marketing study

Action 4.1-2–Development of a communication strategy

Action 4.1.3—ESS capacity building

WP4.2–Outreach activities ()

Action 4.2-1–Design hackathon

Action 4.2-2–Promote hackathon

Action 4.2-3–Run hackathon ()

Action 4.2-4–Gamification


Action 4.3-1–Inventory of existing outreach and literacy practices

Action 4.3-2–Development of statistical literacy products

Action 4.3-3–Promotion of statistical literacy products

Action 4.3-4–Discrepancy explanation tool


Action 4.4-1–Study and survey – the value of European Statistics

Action 4.4-2–Experimental data and statistics – platform requirements

Action 4.4-3–Experimental data and statistics – platform development

Action 4.4-4–Experimental data and statistics – population and roll-out

Legend: = Interim/final report = Event () = Possible annual repetition = Stocktaking, inventories = WP ongoing = “IT development intensive” phase


Table 3.2. Deliverables of the DIGICOM project

Work Package / Action Deliverable no. Deliverable

WP1–User Analysis


Action 1.1-1–Inventory of shareable practices DIGICOM.D1.01 Online inventory of shareable practices

Action 1.1-2–In-depth user analysis DIGICOM.D1.02 Report on the application of user analysis practices

Action 1.1-3–User profiling DIGICOM.D1.03 User profiling report, including profiling criteria and piloting


Action 1.2-1–Requirements for social network platform DIGICOM.D1.04 Report setting out requirements for an ESS social network platform

Action 1.2-2–Functional and technical specifications DIGICOM.D1.05 Report with functional/technical specifications for an ESS social network

Action 1.2-3–Develop and set-up of pilot social network platform DIGICOM.D1.06 Pilot ESS social network platform

Action 1.2-4–Evaluation of pilot social network platform DIGICOM.D1.07 ESS social network platform evaluation report

Action 1.2-5–Roll-out of social network platform DIGICOM.D1.08 ESS social network platform in production


Action 1.3-1–User survey based on user profiling exercise DIGICOM.D1.09 ESS user survey based on user profiling exercise

Action 1.3-2–Evaluation with users DIGICOM.D1.10 User evaluation of flagship product



Action 2.1-1–Statistical portrait on the state of Europe DIGICOM.D2.01 Statistical portrait on the state of Europe

Action 2.1-2–Design of multiple promotion channels DIGICOM.D2.02 Promotion channels for ESS flagship product designed

Action 2.1-3–Implementation of promotion channels DIGICOM.D2.03 Promotion channels platform for ESS flagship product put in place

Action 2.1-4–ESS conference on the statistical portrait of Europe DIGICOM.D2.04 ESS conference on the state of Europe held


Action 2.2-1–Repository of shareable tools DIGICOM.D2.05 Repository of shareable tools

Action 2.2-2–Requirements specification for tools DIGICOM.D2.06 Requirements specification for tools to support flagship product

Action 2.2-3–Feedback functionality DIGICOM.D2.07 Feedback functionality for ESS flagship product

Action 2.2-4–Development/adaptation of pilot tools DIGICOM.D2.08 Pilot version of innovative tools to support ESS flagship product

Action 2.2-5–Evaluation of pilot tools DIGICOM.D2.09 Evaluation report for innovative tools

Action 2.2-6–Roll-out of tools DIGICOM.D2.10 Innovative tools rolled out


Action 2.3-1–Inventories of shareable solutions DIGICOM.D2.11 Inventory of shareable visualisation solutions

Action 2.3-2–Participation to ESS visualisation event DIGICOM.D2.12 List of possible ESS visualisation actions

Action 2.3-3–Piloting of embeddable visualisations DIGICOM.D2.13 Report on piloting of embeddable visualisation

Action 2.3-4–Development of common visualisation guidelines DIGICOM.D2.14 ESS visualisation guidelines

Action 2.3-5–Development of visualisation tool(s) DIGICOM.D2.15 Visualisation tools rolled out



Action 3.1-1–Linked Open Data – stocktaking and requirement gathering DIGICOM.D3.01 ESS requirements for Linked Open Data

Action 3.1-2–Standards, ontologies and technical LOD solutions DIGICOM.D3.02 ESS standards, ontologies and technical solutions for LOD

Action 3.1-3–Publishing Eurostat data to Pan-European OD Portal DIGICOM.D3.03 Eurostat data published to Pan-European Open Data Portal

Action 3.1-4–Development of LOD portals DIGICOM.D3.04 LOD portals developed

Action 3.1-5–Semantic format converter service DIGICOM.D3.05 Semantic format converter service developed

Action 3.1-6–ESS open data gateway DIGICOM.D3.06 European Open Data Gateway rolled out


Action 3.2-1–Inventory of existing ESS APIs DIGICOM.D3.07 Inventory of existing (shareable) APIs across the ESS

Action 3.2-2–Definition of ESS standard for APIs DIGICOM.D3.08 ESS standard for APIs


Action 3.3-1–Development of a strategy DIGICOM.D3.09 ESS re-use policy

Action 3.3-2–Promotional actions DIGICOM.D3.10 Promotional actions for the ESS re-use policy


Action 3.4-1–Stocktaking DIGICOM.D3.11 Plan for developing microdata access solutions

Action 3.4-2–Development of microdata access solutions DIGICOM.D3.12 Microdata access solutions for the ESS


Action 3.5-1–Inventory of search and extraction tools in the ESS DIGICOM.D3.13 Inventory of search and extraction

Action 3.5-2–Requirements for search and extraction tools DIGICOM.D3.14 Report setting out requirements for search and extraction tools

Action 3.5-3–Development of search and extraction tools DIGICOM.D3.15 Search and extraction tools rolled out



Action 4.1-1–Communication and marketing study DIGICOM.D4.01 Report on communication and marketing

Action 4.1-2–Development of a communication strategy DIGICOM.D4.02 Communication and marketing strategy

Action 4.1-3–ESS capacity building DIGICOM.D4.03 Communication kit, ESS trainings

WP4.2–Outreach activities

Action 4.2-1–Design hackathon DIGICOM.D4.04 Hackathon design

Action 4.2-2–Promote hackathon DIGICOM.D4.05 Hackathon promotion

Action 4.2-3–Run hackathon DIGICOM.D4.06 Hackathon executed

Action 4.2-4–Gamification DIGICOM.D4.07 Gamification product rolled out


Action 4.3-1–Inventory of existing outreach and literacy practices DIGICOM.D4.08 Inventory of shareable statistical literacy products and outreach practices

Action 4.3-2–Development of statistical literacy products DIGICOM.D4.09 Statistical literacy products

Action 4.3-3–Promotion of statistical literacy products DIGICOM.D4.10 Statistical literacy product promotion

Action 4.3-4–Discrepancy explanation tool DIGICOM.D4.11 Discrepancy explanation tool rolled out


Action 4.4-1–Study and survey – the value of European Statistics DIGICOM.D4.12 Report on communicating the value of European Statistics

Action 4.4-2–Experimental data and statistics – platform requirements DIGICOM.D4.13 Requirements for a platform for experimental data and statistics rolled out

Action 4.4-3–Experimental data and statistics – platform development DIGICOM.D4.14 Platform for experimental data and statistics

Action 4.4-4–Experimental data and statistics – population and roll-out DIGICOM.D4.15 Platform rolled out and populated with experimental data and statistics


WP1. User Analysis

WP1.1. User profiling exercise

Action 1.1-1. Inventory of shareable practices

This action serves to establish inventories of shareable practices31

:

Current ESS CRM practices

Current ESS practices in user satisfaction/user need assessment

Current ESS practices in user profiling

Current ESS practices in user interaction via social media

Current ESS practices in web analysis

Action 1.1-2. In-depth user analysis

This action serves to pilot existing ESS solutions, in the field of in-depth

user analysis. A prerequisite is thus that shareable user analysis solutions

have been identified in Action 1.1-1. Depending on the solution identified,

this action may include different activities, both more technical, such as

paradata analysis, and more qualitative (such as focus group analysis and in-

depth analysis of actual user behaviour).

Action 1.1-3. User profiling

Taking existing ESS practices identified in Action 1.1-1 as the point of

departure, this action includes:

Development of criteria: Defining criteria to characterise profiles for

different user groups and testing them.

Develop a method of analysis of the statistics of visits of a Web site

(Web analytics), especially for a site of dissemination of statistics

(interpretation of reliable and comparable results (number and duration of

visits, number of visitors...)) & analysis of the Web (not only own sites,

whole web (gather and analyse information on what people think of our

products or expect from us)

Based on the outcomes: Develop a web analytics tool

Develop a strategy for how to approach the different users.

WP1.2. Set-up of a social network platform for users of statistics

Action 1.2-1. Requirements for social network platform

The general non-technical, requirements for an ESS social network platform

have to be established, taking current best practices32

across the ESS w.r.t.

31

Examples from the UK include:

https://userresearch.blog.gov.uk/

https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/user-centred-design/user-research

https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/user-centred-design/user-needs.html

https://www.brandwatch.com 32

Example from the UK: http://www.statsusernet.org.uk/home

https://userresearch.blog.gov.uk/

https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/user-centred-design/user-research

https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/user-centred-design/user-needs.html

http://www.statsusernet.org.uk/home


social media interaction with users as the point of departure. It should be

established in which respect the ESS social network will differ from a self-

selected web panel.

The inventory of re-useable CRMs in NSIs conducted in Action 1.1-1 should

also be used for this action; aspects of CRMs that could realistically be

integrated into the ESS social network should be identified. Moreover, the

possibility to integrate ESDS19

feedback data in the social network should be

considered.

Action 1.2-2. Functional and technical specifications

The general non-technical, requirements for an ESS social network platform

have to be established. What should it achieve? How could existing solutions

be used?

Action 1.2-3. Develop and set-up of pilot social network platform

A pilot social network, based on the requirements established in Action 1.2-

2, should be developed and tested.

Action 1.2-4. Evaluation of pilot social network platform

Before scaling up, the experiences from the pilot exercise of Action 1.2-3

must be evaluated.

Action 1.2-5. Roll-out of social network platform

Conditional on a successful outcome of the evaluation Action 1.2-4, the full-

scale, ESS-level, social network, based on the pilot developed and tested in

Action 1.2-3 is to be rolled out.

WP1.3. User surveys

Action 1.3-1. User survey based on user profiling exercise

Based on the user profiles established in Action 1.1-3 an ESSnet will

develop a user survey to (i) elicit user needs (web survey) and expectations

of users of European statistical data and, at the same time (ii) test the user

profiles. A model questionnaire will be developed and tested – based on the

user profiles.

Action 1.3-2. Evaluation with users

Depending on the outcome of Action 2.1-4 the final product (and tools-

depending on the outcome) shall be evaluated and tested by the users

themselves via a user feedback system (or a web survey – depending on the

product). This will be integrated into (or put in close proximity to) the

product to gather opinions and suggestions on the specific product or on

specific content published on the web.


WP2. Innovative and shareable products and tools

WP2.1. Development of a new innovative biennial ESS flagship product

Action 2.1-1. Statistical portrait of Europe

An ESS team will develop a statistical portrait of Europe and its social,

environment and economic trends.

Action 2.1-2. Design of multiple promotion channels

The content of the portrait will be communicated at a conference (Action

2.1-4), but it should be also rendered available online etc., and this aspect of

the communication should, whenever possible, rely upon the innovative

tools developed in WP2.2.

A possibility would be an ESS website, or any other platform of promotion

of the product. The multilevel dissemination would be combined with

simultaneous press releases in all ESS countries.

Action 2.1-3. Implementation of promotion channels

The promotion would take place prior to the conference (see Action 2.1-4).

Action 2.1-4. ESS conference on the statistical portrait of Europe

To pre sent the report, a biennial conference would be organised in an EU

country; the audience being different high-level stakeholders interested in

having a European statistical perspective on trends.

WP2.2. Development of tools to support ESS flagship product

Action 2.2-1. Repository of shareable tools

Following an inventory of shareable tools, a repository of sharable tools will

be developed and tested.

Action 2.2-2. Requirements specification for tools

Under this action, requirements for innovative tools will be elaborated.

These tools should fit to the product of WP2.1 – but at the same time, they

should be re-usable and possible to apply to other statistical products.

Action 2.2-3. Feedback functionality

Here solutions for feedback will be developed and tested for all the products

(i.e. a module to question about the satisfaction at the end of a product, a

figure, a service, an app, etc.). The release of early tested beta versions shall

be considered.

Action 2.2-4. Development/adaptation of pilot tools

Actual development and testing of the (re-usable) tool(s) to support the

flagship product.

Action 2.2-5. Evaluation of pilot tools

By means of application to the product WP2.1.


Action 2.2-6. Roll-out of tools

This is a pre-requisite for the full-scale roll-out of the product WP2.1.

WP2.3. Improving the visual dissemination of European statistics

Action 2.3-1. Inventories of shareable solutions

An inventory of shareable visualisation solutions will be established.

Action 2.3-2. Participation to ESS visualisation event

The DIGICOM project should be represented at the ESS visualisation event

to gather ideas.

Action 2.3-3. Piloting of embeddable visualisations

Member States will pilot and test the embeddable visualisations by

participating to the Task Force on Data Visualisation and Infographics or

(if not TF members) install or embed existing visualisations on their

respective websites.

This type of piloting is on-going for 3 Eurostat interactive infographics:

(Economic Trends, Young Europeans and Quality of Life), and would be

extended to other areas in this action.

Possibly, this action will also build upon outcomes on embeddable

visualisations from the Eurostat project on renovation of the dissemination

chain.

Action 2.3-4. Development of common visualisation guidelines

The already ongoing work in the Task Force on Data Visualisation and

Infographics will be complemented by work of external visualisation

expertise.

Action 2.3-5. Development of visualisation tool(s)

To be developed based on recommendations in the guidelines and build a

non-existing tool usable for the whole ESS. Releases of beta versions shall

be considered.

WP3. Open Data Dissemination

WP3.1. Linked open data

Action 3.1-1. Linked Open Data – stocktaking and requirement gathering

The ESS Linked Open Data (LOD) environment is wide and diverse. Even

when one ESS member is taken in isolation, there are multiple internal and

external stakeholders with possibly conflicting requirements. Any ESS LOD

initiatives must comply with LOD requirements.

This action will explore the national and European aspects of the wide and

diverse LOD ecosystem that are relevant to the ESS, and gather the

requirements of the various stakeholders.


Action 3.1-2. Standards, ontologies and technical LOD solutions

Based on the stocktaking exercise (Action 3.1-1), the standards, ontologies

and technical solutions for European and national LOD portals in the ESS

will be developed. This action is foreseen to render multiple intermediate

deliverables.

Action 3.1-3. Publishing Eurostat data to Pan-European OD Portal

Based on the stocktaking exercise (Action 3.1-1) and the development and

testing work (Action 3.1-2), Eurostat data will be published to the Pan-

European Open Data Portal.

Action 3.1-4. Development of LOD portals

Based on the stocktaking exercise (Action 3.1-1) and the development work

(Action 3.1-2), an ESSnet will support the development of LOD portals in

the ESS.

Action 3.1-5. Semantic format converter service

This action concerns the development of is contingent on the outcome of the

Eurostat project on renovation of the dissemination chain.

Action 3.1-6. ESS open data gateway

Based on the stocktaking exercise (Action 3.1-1) and the development work

(Action 3.1-2), an ESS open data gateway will be developed and rolled out.

WP3.2. Facilitation and harmonisation of APIs to European data

Improve extraction tools and APIs for access to European data.

Action 3.2-1. Inventory of existing ESS APIs

The APIs available throughout the ESS will be explored to identify

shareable practices, in particular in terms of functionalities.

Action 3.2-2. Definition of ESS standard for APIs

This action depends on outcomes from the Eurostat project on renovation of

the dissemination chain (as well as on Action 3.2-1), and aims to facilitate

and harmonise APIs to European data. It will produce an ESS standard for

API as a single data access layer towards the dissemination storage. Actual

adoption of the ESS standard by the ESS standardisation authority may take

place at a later stage.

WP3.3. Development of a European re-use policy

Action 3.3-1. Development of a strategy

A strategy to increase the re-use of statistics, taking the Common ESS

conditions for access to and re-use of data33

as the point of departure, will be

elaborated.

33

Common ESS conditions for access to and re-use of data, document ESSC 2013/16/03/EN; the

declaration in this document was unanimously supported by the ESSC of 7 February 2013.


Action 3.3-2. Promotional actions

Based on the promotion strand of the strategy (to be elaborated in Action

3.3-2), the re-use of statistics will be promoted.

WP3.4. Improved access to microdata

Action 3.4-1. Stocktaking and plan for microdata access solutions

Based on the various current and previous activities concerning microdata

access (see 5.2.6), a plan for developing access solutions will be established.

These could include either or both of PUFs and infrastructures for secure

remote access to confidential microdata.

Action 3.4-2. Development of microdata access solutions

Contingent on a favourable opinion on the plan (Action 3.4-1), development

of improved microdata access solutions will be carried out (consider beta

versions and testing).

WP3.5. Search and extraction tools

Action 3.5-1. Inventory of search and extraction tools in the ESS

This action concerns the review of best practices in the ESS for search

engine capabilities and semantic search of statistical concepts on ESS

websites. Regarding extraction, this action concerns the “end user” aspect

(as opposed to the APIs catering to the needs of “qualified users”; see

WP3.2). Releases of tested beta versions shall be considered.

Action 3.5-2. Requirements for search and extraction tools

Development of requirements (based on best practices).

Action 3.5-3. Development of search and extraction tools

Based on available solutions that are possible to adapt and render re-useable

in a “light” (and resource efficient) manner, reusable solutions for end-user

search and extraction will be developed and tested (releases of beta versions

shall be considered).

WP4. Communication and promotion

WP4.1. Communication and marketing strategy

Action 4.1-1. Communication and marketing study

A communication and marketing/promotion study, conducted by specialists

contracted by Eurostat will explore appropriate strategies for communicating

and marketing official statistics to different user groups. The study should be

based on shareable ESS practices, but also practices from outside the world

of official statistics – especially from competitors.

Action 4.1-2. Development of a communication strategy

Based on the communication and marketing study (Action 4.1-1) an ESS

communication strategy should be developed (for large parts based on


principles laid out in the Code of Practice (CoP)34

). This includes guidelines

for the development of an ESS identity.

Action 4.1-3. ESS capacity building

A communication kit, for use by Press Officers throughout the ESS (based

on the communication strategy; Action 4.1-2) will be developed. It includes

actions for capacity building such as the training of ESS staff (in alignment

with the ESTP courses) in particular for communication, but also for other

areas of the Table 3.1. Roadmap of the DIGICOM project.

WP4.2. Outreach activities

Action 4.2-1. Design hackathon

A European (or worldwide) Hackathon on statistical data will be designed,

seeking inspiration from similar events within35;36

and beyond the ESS.

Action 4.2-2. Promote hackathon

Based in the design (Action 4.2-1), the will would be promoted to the

appropriate group of prospective participants.

Action 4.2-3. Run hackathon

The hackathon will be run during “World Statistics Day”.

Action 4.2-4. Gamification

A gamification solution, possible to deploy across the ESS, should be

developed and tested (testing of beta versions and early release could be

considered), based on best practices identified (see Action 4.3-1).

A possible application could involve phenomena with a clear longitudinal

aspect (i.e. sustainable development, aging population…), since this would

provide meaningful “simulation”/“scenario” functionalities.

WP4.3. Statistical literacy

Action 4.3-1. Inventory of existing outreach and literacy practices

This action aims in particular at stocktaking of promotional/outreach

activities and experiences (including hackathons and contests), and to

34

CoP see: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/3859598/5921861/KS-32-11-955-EN.PDF/5fa1ebc6-

90bb-43fa-888f-dde032471e15

35 Example: Statistics Sweden is providing all statistics via an API to the statistical database, it is used in

many contexts, and to increase the use of this API, Statistics Sweden has together with other Swedish

authorities organised a hackathon, with the aim of new applications will be created based on the data

accessible through the API. This could be generalised to the ESS level, by letting others create apps

based on European statistics and thus increase the circulation and use of European statistics.

36 A “nowcasting” contest is currently being launched by the ESS.VIP BIGD project.


establish and inventory of statistical literacy products in the ESS – and

possibly beyond. Success stories as well as failures shall be reported.

Action 4.3-2. Development of statistical literacy products & strategy

Based on the shareable practices (Action 4.3-1) a strategy in this area will be

established and an ESSnet will develop joint products for increasing

statistical literacy (targeting universities and schools).

Action 4.3-3. Promotion of statistical literacy products

Joint products for increasing statistical literacy (targeting universities,

schools as well as journalism schools).

Action 4.3-4. Discrepancy explanation tool

An educational product which explains gaps between the data from the NSIs

and from Eurostat will be developed and tested.

WP4.4. Communicating the value of European statistics

Action 4.4-1. Study and survey – the value of European Statistics

This study will have as its main objective to explore how to communicate

the value of European statistics, also building upon the decisions taken

regarding the outcome of QUAL@ESS Vision 2020.

As an example, it will include reflections on how to disseminate

“experimental statistics” (or other statistics that do not fall into the category

European statistics) without “tarnishing” the European statistics.

The work of the Open Data Institute on promoting Open Data Certificates37

might provide valuable input.

It will include a survey on users to assess the level of trust in European

statistics conducted using the user social media platform developed under

work package 1.

Action 4.4-2. Experimental data and statistics – platform requirements

Based on the study (Action 4.4-1), as well as best practices elsewhere,

requirements for an ESS platform for experimental data and statistics will be

established (the release of beta versions shall be considered also to gain

feedback). In addition to providing the data/statistics and allowing users to

experiment with them, it should allow user feedback.

Action 4.4-3. Experimental data and statistics – platform development

The ESS platform for experimental data and statistics will be developed

based on the requirements established. Piloting will take place using

experimental output from e.g. ESS.VIP BIGD.

37

https://certificates.theodi.org/

https://certificates.theodi.org/


Action 4.4-4. Experimental data and statistics – population and roll-out

The platform will be rolled out and populated with existing experimental

statistics.

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