essnet on standardisation - european commission · - 2 - introduction this project is the second...

This is a joint report of the ESSnet on Standardisation project partners: France, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, The Netherlands, United Kingdom

I NTERIM REPOR T

ESSnet on Standardisat ion

Spe c if ic Gr ant Agreemen t No . 2 . (SGA-2 )

http://cros-portal.eu/content/standardisation

Framework Partnership Agreement Number 61001.2012.003-2012.100

Specific Grant Agreement No. 2.: 11111.2013.003-2013.608

Period covered: 13.12.2013-12.07.2014

Name, title and organisation of the scientific representative of the project coordinator:

Mr. Csaba Ábry, metainformation system coordinator, HCSO, Hungarian Central Statistical Office

Telephone: +36 1 345-6517

E-mail: [email protected]

Prepared by:

Csaba Ábry (HCSO, Hungary) Jan L. Thomas, Becki Aquilina, Palvi Shah (ONS, United Kingdom) Zoltán Vereczkei (HCSO, Hungary) Deirdre Giesen (CBS, the Netherlands)

11th July, 2014

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Table of contents

Introduction........................................................................................................................................2

Information of the state of the art of Work Packages ..........................................................................2

Work Package 1: Inventory of normative documents and conceptual development ....................2

Current state of the art ...................................................................................................................4

Problems encountered ....................................................................................................................5

Remaining tasks ..............................................................................................................................5

Work Package 2: Standardisation process .......................................................................................6

Current state of the art ...................................................................................................................7

Problems encountered .................................................................................................................. 10

Remaining tasks ............................................................................................................................ 10

Work Package 3: Cost-benefit assessment .................................................................................... 12

Current state of the art ................................................................................................................. 13


Remaining tasks ............................................................................................................................ 14

Work Package 4: Communication and dissemination to the ESS .................................................... 14



Remaining tasks ............................................................................................................................ 18

Work Package 5: Management...................................................................................................... 18



Remaining tasks ............................................................................................................................ 20

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Introduction

This project is the second Specific Grant Agreement (SGA) of the Framework Partnership Agreement (FPA) on ESSnet on Standardisation, carried out with the active involvement of six European NSIs:, Hungary - HCSO, Italy - ISTAT, Lithuania - SL, Latvia - CSB, The Netherlands - CBS,

United Kingdom - ONS. The National Statistical Institute of France - INSEE is taking part in this action as a consultant. The duration of the FPA is 4 years and is divided to SGAs. This report covers the activity of the first half of SGA-2: from 13th December 2013 until 12th July, 2014.

Generally the task of this action is to support the establishment of the Integrated Statistical System within the ESS as outlined in the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the production method of EU statistics: a vision for the next decade, COM(2009) 404.

The action described in Specific Grant Agreement 2. has direct connection to the Sponsorship on Standardisation as it has been established in order to develop strategic guidance for standardisation at ESS level and already delegated tasks to this ESSnet, prior to its launch. According to its mandate, the Sponsorship on Standardisation finished its work in September 2013. As the Sponsorship on Standardisation forms a conceptual framework for standardisation in the ESS, the ESSnet on Standardisation is focusing on practical implementation, based on the guidance and the achievements of the Sponsorship on Standardisation with respect to other ESS and other international initiatives in this issue. The specific objectives of this action are defined under three major tasks that correspond to the logic behind the three pillars of the Sponsorship on Standardisation and the three work packages of the SGA-1 of the ESSnet on Standardisation: stocktaking, process and case studies.

The ESSnet on Standardisation started its work on the 13th of December 2013, when the Specific Grant Agreement of this project was signed.

Information of the state of the art of Work Packages

Work Package 1: Inventory of normative documents and conceptual development

Objectives

SGA-1 phase of ESSnet on Standardisation paid special attention to and spent significant resources on stocktaking activities and will end with the validation of the inventory. As a result, 197 normative documents were assessed against the criteria of being ESS standards in SGA-1. SGA-2, representing a continuation of previous work, sets goals for further development of the inventory of normative documents. Based on the feedback and the final results of the work in SGA-1, a proposal for the future extension of the inventory by other normative documents might be needed and also the template used for the assessment might need further refinement. Management aspects of the inventory also need to be settled. In

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order to speak the same language, the different concepts used for the standardisation activity at ESS level will also be provided by Work Package 1 of SGA-2 in the form of a vocabulary.

Description of work

The Sponsorship on Standardisation proposed an interpretation of ESS standards, based on the ISO definition of a standard. ESSnet partners gained experience during the SGA-1 activity that all key definitions related to the ESS standardisation have to be clearly defined. For this purpose, definitions with importance for ESS standardisation have to be selected and clear interpretation in the ESS context has to be given. As standardisation is a key area on the ESS level for the harmonisation and further integration, a common vocabulary of definitions and interpretations is necessary. The ESSnet on Standardisation will pay special attention to this topic during the SGA-2 phase. This task is in direct connection with all communication activites of the ESSnet project as they form the foundation for all communication. The vocabulary shall not limit itself to the factual definitions but should also provide interpretation to foster use of common language.

During the SGA-1 phase, the principles for the maintenance of the inventory are delivered. In SGA-2, a final recommendation on the platform that will support the inventory has to be found. For this reason, many aspects (accessibility, easy manageability, etc.) requirements need to be considered and a final recommendation has to be provided to support the development of the inventory.

In connection to this activity, detailed and clear guidance on the maintenance aspects of the inventory also has to be given, in close connection with the standardisation activity to make sure that all stakeholders in this stocktaking process know what, when and how they should update the inventory. This will be summarized in a business case, covering all the maintenance aspects.

In SGA-1, 197 normative documents have been assessed and made available on the CROS portal. These normative documents formed the basis of a status report on the current state of standardisation at ESS level. The SGA-1 action ends with the validation of these assessments by DIME. Based on the feedback received, the extension of the inventory might be needed; therefore SGA-2 will compile a list of additional normative documents for assessment and hand it over to DIME for further action.

Simultaneously to the work of further specification of the standardisation process (see Work Package 2 description), the assessment templates used in SGA-1 for the description of normative documents might need to be refined. If such need is justified, the refined templates and the guidelines for their completion will be provided by Work Package 1.

Deliverables

Deliverable 1, M7: Vocabulary of standardisation-related concepts

Deliverable 2, M7: List of additional normative documents for the extension of the inventory

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Deliverable 3, M7: Final recommendation on the platform and organisation of the inventory

Deliverable 4, M15: Business case for the maintenance of the inventory

Deliverable 5, M15: Refined templates and user guide for the assessment of all types of normative documents

Current state of the art

A Work Package plan has been produced for this work and an audio meeting has taken place on 30th May 2014, with documented actions, and another is due to take place on 18th July 2014.

Deliverable 1: Vocabulary of standardisation-related concepts – Led by Statistics Lithuania

Currently, within ESS normative documentation, there are references and concepts related to standardisation with different naming conventions. This deliverable has identified the priority items and proposed the agreed definitions to be adopted. The scope of the vocabulary contains only the essential concepts. The sources used were the documents produced by the Sponsorship on Standardisation, STAND-PREP and ISO as basic information for the vocabulary. The concepts which indicated relevance to the work of the ESSnet on Standardisation were be given priority and it is intended that the vocabulary will be used for all future work on ESS standardisation. It is anticipated that, eventually, the vocabulary and any future related work will be taken over by the permanent body on standardisation.

Deliverable 2: List of additional normative documents for the extension of the inventory – Led by ONS

This deliverable will provide a list of normative documents; however, there are no resources in the framework of the SGA-2 to add additional documents to the inventory. The first step will be the development of principles for the choice of additional normative documents but any candidates relating to historical documents are not expected to be included. Priority will be given to the most recent versions of ESS normative documents (which have been published since SGA-1 produced Deliverable 1) and then to other international normative documents.

The Work Package leader has received a debrief from the SGA-1 partner, which has helped in defining the scope of the work and the results of previous project discussions on what should be included in the inventory have been taken into account.

Deliverable 4: Proposals for the permanent body [Competencies required for the maintenance of the inventory and practical proposals for the operation.] – Led by HCSO

This deliverable should put emphasis on competences needed for the staff of the permanent body to perform its task, based on experience gathered so far. This task is also strongly connected to the standard making process (life cycle model), therefore inputs are required from Work Package 2 (standardisation process).

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Deliverable 5. Refined templates and user guides for the assessment of all types of normative documents – Led by Statistics Lithuania

SGA-1 Work Package 3 will be used as input and the guidelines on how to complete the template will be provided as part of this deliverable. The current Excel sheets will be further developed into a more user friendly solution.

Deliverable Due Date End Status

Deliverable 1, M7: Vocabulary of standardisation-related concepts-

June 2014

Draft completed and with partners for comment 1/7/14

Deliverable 2, M7: List of additional normative documents for the extension of the inventory

June 2014 (Extended to end July 2014 in agreement with project manager)

Plan for work produced. Handover visit to France

for debrief from SGA1 partner

Source documentation gathered

Draft report in progress

Deliverable 3, M7: Final recommendation on the platform and organisation of the inventory

June 2014 (Extended to end July 2014 in agreement with project manager)

Draft document with partners for comment 11/7/14

Deliverable 4, M15: Business case for the maintenance of the inventory

March 2015 Not due until 03/15

Deliverable 5, M15: Refined templates and user guide for the assessment of all types of normative documents’

March 2015 Not due until 03/15

Problems encountered

Unexpected workload within ONS had delayed the final production of Deliverables 2 and 3, but good progress is being made.

Remaining tasks

Finalise Deliverables 1, 2 and 3 and start work on Deliverables 4 and 5.

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Work Package 2: Standardisation process

Objectives

The Sponsorship on Standardisation provided the framework for the standardisation process and the SGA-1 activity of the ESSnet on Standardisation had an insight into the process by the formulation of case studies and focused analyses. Based on these two inputs, Work Package 2 will analyze the whole standardisation process in detail and specify all the elements in the process. The standardisation process will be tested by the involvement of new case studies that are decided in close collaboration with DIME and Eurostat.

Description of work

The SGA-1 action provides useful information on the standardisation process, based on detailed case study results and analysis of various standardisation processes in order to verify the related recommendations of the Sponsorship on Standardisation. As an important result of this work, the main areas of the standardisation process where special attention is needed, are highlighted. Bearing in mind these areas, the whole standardisation process will be analysed in detail. There can be missing elements in the standardisation process where more clarification and further specification of the detailed elements are needed. Work Package 2 especially aims at this final, detailed clarification of the standardisation process. This work has the whole standardisation process in focus, concentrating on the practical aspects of who, what and how should be provided in each stage and step of the process.

In SGA-1, the standardisation process was tested on normative documents that had already finished their development cycles. In SGA-2, more normative documents will be used to test the standardisation process. The selection of these normative documents will be done in close collaboration with DIME (responsible for the overall management of standardisation activities on ESS level) and Eurostat. In order to test the usability and practical implementation of the various elements of the standardisation process, these test cases have to be selected with great care.

Valuable experience has been gathered in SGA-1 with the standardisation process, but further refinement of the process might be needed based on the experience gathered by the additional testing. For that reason, the final refinement of the standardisation process and the specification of all necessary elements will be provided after all testing activites.

The final refinement of the standardisation process is closely related to the work of Work Packages 1 and 2. The concept of the inventory of normative documents has to be integrated in the process of standardisation in a way that close cooperation and link between the two are evident for everyone involved in the standardisation process. Also, as the cost-benefit assessment is an integral part of the standardisation process itself, the synergies between Work Packages 2 and 3 have to be found and exploited. This can be done by joining the test activites of both Work Packages and clearly mapping the possible connections and interdependencies between the two activities. This issue will be specifically addressed in the activities of Work Package 2 and throughout the whole SGA-2 action.

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Deliverables

Deliverable 1, M15: Detailed description and final refinement of the whole standardisation process

Deliverable 2, M15: Summary of testing experiences


Work Package 2, led by the HCSO (Hungary), consists of all ESSnet on Standardisation partners1. The two formal deliverables of Work Package 2 are both expected by the end of the SGA-2 action. A summary of these 2 deliverables and information on their status are as follows:

Deliverable Month of delivery

Status

Deliverable 1. Detailed description and final refinement of the whole standardisation process

Month 15

Work in progress.

Initial work plan agreed on 27th March, 2014 (telephone conference)

Division of labour, common structure for WP2 descriptions and refined work plan agreed on 24th June, 2014 (telephone conference)

Deliverable 2. Summary of testing experiences

Month 15 Work in progress.

Initial discussions about the role of the case studies and the connection between WP2 and WP3 case studies on 27th March, 2014 (telephone conference)

Agreement on the approach on how to collect information on the proposed case studies, on 24th June, 2014 (telephone conference)

Apart from the two formal deliverables, Work Package 2 has already produced additional deliverables:

work plan, describing the division of labour and the steps to be taken for the realisation of the expected Deliverables

1 Even though ISTAT is not listed for the Work Package 2 tasks in the signed ESSnet on Standardisation SGA-2 agreement, ISTAT volunteered to take part in Work Package 2 (for Deliverable 1).

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common structure template to support the descriptions to be produced for Deliverable 1.

Two audio conferences have been held so far on Work Package 2:

27th March, 2014 (discussion of Work Package plans, including Work Package 2) (see CROS-portal link: http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/minutes-telephone-conference-27-march-2014)

24th June, 2014 (discussion of Work Package 2) (see CROS-portal link: http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/minutes-telephone-conference-24-june-2014)

Minutes have been drafted for both telephone conferences. ESSnet partners provided comments on the draft minutes; the work plan has been updated and finalised according to the comments made by ESSnet partners.

Deliverable 1 – Detailed description and final refinement of the whole standardisation process – Led by HCSO

The main goal of this deliverable is to describe „what is happening in the life cycle model of standards” in practice according to the model of the process of ESS standardisation (the life cycle model developed by the Sponsorship on Standardisation).

ESSnet partners agreed to provide descriptions for the elements of the life cycle model in 3 stages

describe the activities (according to a common structure agreed by all ESSnet members in June-July, 2014)

describe the 5 stages and 3 main parts of the life cycle model (according to a common structure), based on the activity descriptions

describe the life cycle model as a whole (according to a common structure), based on the descriptions for the 5 stages

These descriptions are provided according to a common structure, agreed by all ESSnet partners. This common structure includes:

description of the activity (what is happening, who is doing what)

fulfilment of ESS standardisation principles and evidences

inputs of the activity

decision aspects (what decisions are made, who make these decisions and on what basis these decisions are made)

possible links to the inventory

possible links to the bodies (especially the permanent body)

possible links to the cost-benefit assessment

estimation of resources

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role and importance of the activity in the ESS standardisation process (what value it adds to the process)

outputs of the activity

connections to other activities (including feedback looks – reflection on the requirements set at previous activities)

ESSnet partners have the following expectations from the detailed descriptions (from Deliverable 1):

we should be able to see all the connections to the inventory

we should see where the different bodies are connected to the process

we should have a view on the value the process adds

be able to draw a decision tree-like description to show how the process is organised from the point of view of decision points and their effect on the process

the description should also be able to provide a clear picture on what information is available for decision making (where are the decision making points and what information is available)

These descriptions also have added value for defining another layer for common language for ESS standardisation-related activities and also for ESSnet partners. From the nature of the tasks of Work Package 2, there are clear connections with Work Packages 1 and 3.

For next steps actions, please see “remaining tasks”.

Deliverable 2 – Summary of testing experiences – Led by HCSO

Test cases will be used for testing the ESS standardisation-related elements in practice. During these tests, verifying and fine-tuning of the elements of the standardisation process is foreseen. As cost-benefit assessment is an integral part of the standardisation process, the same test cases are planned to be used both for Work Package2 and Work Package 3.

The Task Force on Standardisation (phase 1) proposed test cases for the ESSnet on Standardisation in March, 2014. The ESSnet partners discussed the options for the involvement of test cases in Work Packages 2 and 3 in the telephone conference on 27th March, 2014. Based on this, the ESSnet partners agreed that the state of the art information on the proposed test cases should be collected first to be able to assess their feasibility for the use of the ESSnet on Standardisation.

Regarding the connection of Deliverables 1 and 2 of Work Package 2, the ESSnet partners agreed to first draft descriptions for the actvities of the life cycle model and then involve case studies to verify the descriptions. As these first drafts are expected by end of August, 2014 ESSnet partners agreed to expect that case studies will be involved after the meeting in Titchfield (4th-5th September, 2014). The main goal with Deliverable 2 is, therefore, to have the full information base ready for discussion for the Titchfield meeting of the ESSnet on Standardisation.

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In order to support this, the state of the art information on the suggested test cases is currently being collected. Based on the outcome of this research and the following discussion by the ESSnet partners, there is a chance that final test cases will be different from the ones proposed by the Task Force on Standardisation (phase 1). In case of such changes, the Task Force on Standardisation will be informed.

For next steps actions, please see “remaining tasks”.


Regarding Work Package 2, the following problems can be highlighted:

The DIME/ITDG plenary meeting was held on 26th-27th March, 2014 where some deliverables of the ESSnet on Standardisation and the outcome of the work of the Task Force on Standardisation (phase 1) were discussed. The plenary meeting concluded that mandate of the bodies, the roadmap for ESS standardisation and a new business case for standardisation had to be created. ESSnet on Standardisation expected that the deliverables of the Task Force on Standardisation (phase 1) – the roadmap and the mandate of the bodies – would be accepted and the permanent body for standardisation would be set up. As a result of the DIME/ITDG plenary meeting, this did not happen in March; instead, a new need arised for defining a new business case for standardisation. As a result, the ESSnet on Standardisation had to redesign the picture of the working environment in which the ESSnet operates.

The issue of impact assessment / cost-benefit assessment was also not solved at the mentioned DIME/ITDG plenary meeting. This also resulted in rescheduling the corresponding actions of the ESSnet on Standardisation (also linked to Work Package 2).

Based on the decisions of the plenary meeting of DIME/ITDG, the Task Force on Standardisation has to continue its work (now called: Task Force on Standardisation – Phase 2). Some of the elements of the work plan of the Task Force are directly linked to the work of the ESSnet on Standardisation, especially Work Package 2. These connections have to be clarified in order to prevent duplication of work and realise the synergies.

Remaining tasks

The remaining tasks are summarised in the following table – broken down by Deliverables:

Deliverable 1 – Detailed description and final refinement of the whole standardisation process

Task Who does what When

Provide the description of the Corresponding activities of First draft available by

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activities according to the common structure

telephone conference planned for mid-July to discuss outstanding issues (if any)

„establish the need” part: CSB, HCSO

Corresponding activities of „development and adoption” part: ONS, HCSO

Corresponding activities of „implementation and revision” part: ISTAT, SL

CBS reflects on the description from the cost-benefit assessment point of view

22nd August, 2014 (motivation: material and lessons learned for discussion in Titchfield)

Discussion at the Titchfield meeting

All partners involved in WP2

4th-5th September, 2014

Finalisation of the activity descriptions

All partners involved in WP2 according to the division of work

Second draft available by the end of September, 2014 (basis for finalisation)

Start the description of the 5 main stages & 3 main parts

Corresponding activities of „establish the need” part: CSB, HCSO

Corresponding activities of „development and adoption” part: ONS, HCSO

Corresponding activities of „implementation and revision” part: ISTAT, SL

First draft available by mid-October, 2014

Finalisation of the stage and part descriptions

All partners involved in WP2 according to the division of work

Second draft available by the end of October, 2014 (basis for finalisation)

Description of the life cycle model as a whole


First draft available by the end of November, 2014

Provide abstracts from the model description (such as map of connections to the inventory;


mid-December, 2014

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connection to bodies; values added; etc.)

Deliverable 2 – Summary of testing experiences

Task Who does what When

Ask for a state-of-the-art of the proposed case studies of the Task Force on Standardisation

HCSO 31st July, 2014

Discussion of the case studies in the light of the state-of-the-art information

All 15th August, 2014

Propose final case studies and their involvement in our work by the Titchfield meeting

HCSO 27th August, 2014

Discussion of the case studies and their involvement in our work at the Titchfield meeting & set next steps

All partners

4th-5th September, 2014

The next Work Package 2 telephone conference is foreseen for mid-July, 2014 for the discussion of any problems with the activity descriptions.

Work Package 3: Cost-benefit assessment

Objectives

Work Package 3 aims at further developing the cost-benefit assessment approach used for standardisation activities. The aim of this work is to test the usability of the cost-benefit assessment in standardisation and to make final recommendation on the final cost-benefit assessment model, its scope and the scoring mechanism.

Description of work

The SGA-1 action of ESSnet on Standardisation provides an updated model for the cost-benefit assessment and various scoring mechanisms to be used for this purpose.

Work Package 3 of the SGA-2 action will test these different mechanisms in practice and based on the experiences, provides a final recommendation for the cost-benefit model used for standardisation activities. The test will focus on the applicability and usability of the cost-benefit model itself and the different scoring mechanisms proposed by SGA-1.

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The scope of this cost-benefit assessment activity is the standardisation activity at ESS level. A Task Force is currently working on the so-called Vision 2.0 and the results are not yet known to ESSnet partners. As the final results of the work of the Task Force might have an unknown impact on the work of the cost-benefit assessment activity (a topic of high importance at ESS level), it has to be stated that at this stage of planning, the ESS standardisation activity is defined as the primary scope of this work.

The cost-benefit assessment task is in close cooperation with the testing activites in Work Package 2. Preferably, the same test cases can be used for the testing of the cost-benefit model that are used for the testing of the standardisation process. For this reason, close cooperation between the two Work Packages is desirable. Possible cooperation between the testing activities in Work Package 2 and 3 will be identified and exploited in the whole SGA-2 action.

Work Package 3 of SGA-2 will provide a final, tested recommendation of cost-benefit assessment and a scoring mechanism as the main deliverable of its work. This final recommendation will be handed over to DIME for further action.

ESSnet partners are aware of the fact that different ongoing activites at ESS level are dealing with the issue of cost-benefit assessment. For this reason, ESSnet partners are to find ways of cooperation with these activities and expect DIME to help the coordination of the task at ESS level.

Deliverables

Deliverable 1, M15: Lessons learnt with the testing of different scoring mechanism

Deliverable 2, M15: Final detailed recommendation on the cost-benefit assessment model, its scope and the scoring mechanism


Following the discussions held amongst others in the joint meeting of DIME an ITDG on 26th March 2014 and the DIME/ITDG Steering Group of 18th-19th June 2014, Work Package 3 has adapted its scope as described in the SGA-2 agreement and now focuses on integrating the methodology developed by the Task Force on Impact Assessment, the list of criteria for assessing Vision 2020 projects and the cost-benefit checklist developed by SGA-1 of the ESSnet on Standardisation into a methodology that can be used in the context of the ESS Vision 2020.

Currently a proposal is being developed for this integration. We will seek collaboration with representative from Resources Director’s Group in this task – how this will be organised will be discussed as soon as possible.


The recent discussion of the desired scope and focus of the cost-benefit assessment in various ESS bodies has led us to postpone the further development and testing of the tool

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until recently (18th-19th June) the last DIME/ITDG Steering Group meeting has provided more clarity on the desired outcome.

Remaining tasks

Defining an integrated methodology (including scope and scoring mechanisms) for cost-benefit assessment. A proposal will be prepared for the Titchfield meeting in September.

Testing the proposed methodology. A concrete testing proposal will also be discussed at the Titchfield meeting.

Work Package 4: Communication and dissemination to the ESS

Objectives

Communication activity is a key area in the work of ESSnet on Standardisation. Apart from the “traditional” ways of communication of ESSnet deliverables, special attention will be given to the communication of the architectural framework for standardisation in the ESS and to the clear, attractive presentation of the information on the topic of ESS standardisation as a whole.

Description of work

Due to the fact that DIME plays a key role in the coordination of standardisation activity at ESS level, the ESSnet on Standardisation will work in close cooperation with DIME, especially the DIME Steering Group appointed with the task of the coordination of standardisation activities. In this sense, the communication and dissemination activities of the ESSnet project will be joint with the communication plan of the DIME Steering Group.

ESSnet on Standardisation provides a refined business architecture model in SGA-1 with reflections on the standardisation aspects of the model. In the SGA-2 action, the ESSnet on Standardisation project will focus more on the dissemination and communication of the role of standardisation in the business model. Therefore this task is considered more as a communication than a development action. For this reason a clear and coherent guideline on the interpretation of the business architecture from the point of view of standardisation will be developed and made available to the wider audience to serve as a clear guidance on how to treat standardisation at the levels of the business architecture.

For budgetary reasons, more importance will be given to the written and open, easily accessible information on standardisation-related activites. In order to use the available tools at higher efficiency, a new, updated website for the ESS standardisation-related activities will be developed and made available for public use. This website aims at clear and easy representation of the context and concepts of standardisation at ESS level.

Coordination meetings will be held to coordinate the work for SGA-2. These personal meetings will be supplemented by frequent audio and/or video meetings between ESSnet

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partners. The CROS portal website will also be kept up-to-date all the time, ensuring that visitors will always get up-to-date information on the current state of the art and the expected deliverables of the ESSnet on Standardisation.

We plan to disseminate our project and its deliverables at the meeting for the ESSnet projects in Valencia, at Q2014 in Vienna and there will be a joint ‘workshop’ with DIME.

Deliverables

Deliverable 1, M4: Updated communication plan in close cooperation with the DIME Steering Group

Deliverable 2, M15: Guideline for the interpretation of the business architecture model from standardisation point of view

Deliverable 3, M10: Final plans for an updated and animated website to communicate standardisation-related information to the wider audience.

Deliverable 4, M15: Updated, animated website content with attractive presentation of ESS standardisation-related information


In the first half of the SGA-2, the ESSnet on Standardisation concentrated more on the communication issues of the project, since for the professional work the ESSnet on Standardisation had to cooperate with other initiatives in order to elaborate ‘standardised’ deliverables at the end of this phase.

European Modernisation Workshop

Between 23rd-24th January 2014, there was a European Modernisation Workshop held in Valencia, Spain, where a lecture was given on the ESSnet on Standardisation project.

The presentation can be found on the CROS-portal under the following link: http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/european-modernisation-workshop-valencia-spain-23-24-january-2014

Q2014 conference

Between 3rd-5th June 2014, there was the Q2014 conference that was held in Vienna, Austria, where a lecture was given on the general state of the art of the ESSnet on Standardisation, on the cost-benefit approach of the project and on the Business Architecture model elaborated by the ESSnet on Standardisation.

The presentations and the background documents can be found on the CROS-portal under the following link: http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/q2014-european-conference-quality-official-statistics-03-05-june-2014

Beside these events, the ESSnet on Standardisation communicated with other initiatives concerning the issue of standardisation in order to make the deliverables of these initiatives more coherent.

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Task Force on Standardisation

The Task Force on Standardisation was launched in the beginning of 2014 in order to elaborate the roadmap for the implementation of the recommendations of the Sponsorship on Standardisation and to work out the mandate of the permanent bodies for standardisation. Three members of the ESSnet on Standardisation take part in this initiative (Mr. Peter Struijs, CSB, the Netherlands; Mr. Zoltán Vereczkei and Mr. Csaba Ábry, HCSO, Hungary). The kick-off telephone conference was held on 15th January 2014. The results of this Task Force were presented at the DIME/ITDG meeting held between 26th-28th March in Luxembourg.

According to the decision made by the DIME/ITDG meeting, the second phase of this Task Force has been launched in order to revise the mandate of the permanent bodies for standardisation respective to the present, existing organisation structure of the ESS. Other task for the Task Force is to simplify the life-cycle model for standardisation (elaborated by the Sponsorship on Standardisation and fine-tuned by the ESSnet on Standardisation) in close cooperation with the ESSnet on Standardisation.

DIME/ITDG

As the main strategic forum for the issue of standardisation is currently the DIME/ITDG therefore the ESSnet on Standardisation contacted this platform for several times. Unfortunately the joint workshop on standardisation with the DIME could not be held due to limited resources and time frame.

At the DIME/ITDG meeting held between 26th-28th March 2014 in Luxembourg several issues of the standardisation were on the agenda:

the work carried out by the Task Force on Standardisation

the impact assessment (cost-benefit models) elaborated by the ESSnet on Standardisation and the Task Force on impact analysis of the ESS.VIP projects.

After the meeting of the DIME/ITDG it was decided to go on with the work of the Task Force on Standardisation and that the merged impact assessment approaches for the cost-benefit analyses should be further discussed by the two involved parties (Resource Dirtector’s Group and ESSnet on Standardisation).

On 24th April 2014, the ESSnet on Standardisation wrote an e-mail to Ms. Mariana Kotzeva, the chair of the DIME in order to receive strategic guidance for the future work of the ESSnet on Standardisation and for standardisation in general at the ESS level. The project received a positive and supporting answer on the 12th May 2014.

Resource Director’s Group

The Resource Director’s Group elaborated the merged methodology of the cost-benefit model; with the cooperation of the ESSnet on Standardisation, since the Work Package 2 of the SGA-2 of the ESSnet on Standardisation handles this issue.

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In order to contact with the Resource Director’s Group, the ESSnet on Standardisation wrote an e-mail to the contact person (Ms. Christine Kormann) on 30th June 2014.

Meeting on the Management of Statistical Information Systems (MSIS 2014)

The last MSIS Meeting, organised by UNECE, Eurostat, OECD, ESCAP, was held in Dublin and Manila from 14th to 16th April 2014. In Dublin, a contribution entitled Business Architecture model within an official statistical context was presented in Session IV Architecture: it illustrated the Business Architecture model formalised, deliberated and approved by the members of the ESSnet on Standardisation; the model is characterised by three essential elements: (i) a formalisation of the production process; (ii) shared infrastructures; (iii) guiding principles.

The reference document and the presentation can be found under the following link: http://www.unece.org/stats/documents/2014.04.msis.html

Task Force on Enterprise Architecture

A representative of the ESSnet on Standardisation was invited to participate in the second meeting of this Task Force (21st-22nd May 2014, Luxembourg) to illustrate the Business Architecture Model. Starting from WP2 – Deliverable 3 (Refinement of the Business Architecture model elaborated by the Sponsorship on Standardisation) of SGA-1 of ESSnet on Standardisation, a further updated and improved version of the Business Architecture model was presented and deeply discussed. Particular attention was focussed on definitions, BA business lines with their related group of actions and specific activities, BA chain.

The reference document and presentation can be found under the following links: http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/istat-presentation

http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/business-architecture-and-principles

After this meeting, this Task Force was divided in two sub-groups: the first one is currently dealing specifically with Business Architecture, evaluating the possibility of deriving a simplified version of the model, useful both to be applied at ESS level and to facilitate the implementation of Vision 2020. In the light of the above, a common approach to develop the business line Capability is under evaluation.

UNECE CSPA implementation project, Work Package 2: Developing and implementing the CSPA catalogue

The mandate of this work package is to elaborate the catalogue of services (IT tools) for the members of the UN. This task is very similar to the work carried out by the ESSnet on Standardisation SGA–1, the Inventory of normative documents. One member (Mr. Csaba Ábry) of the ESSnet on Standardisation takes part in the actions carried out by this work package.

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The work carried out by the ESSnet on Standardisation was sent to this initiative as an input for the work and can be found under the following link:

http://www1.unece.org/stat/platform/display/pandp/Inventory%20of%20Inventories


There were no major problems during this first reporting period.

Remaining tasks

Deliverable 2, M15: Guideline for the interpretation of the business architecture model from the standardisation point of view.

Deliverable 3, M10: Final plans for an updated and animated website to communicate standardisation-related information to the wider audience.

Deliverable 4, M15: Updated, animated website content with attractive presentation of ESS standardisation-related information’

The ESSnet on Standardisation received an invitation letter to the Workshop on the Modernisation of Statistical Production and Services, to be held in Geneva, Switzerland between 19th-20th November 2014. Two members of the ESSnet on Standardisation will attend the meeting (Mr. Zoltán Vereczkei and Mr. Csaba Ábry, HCSO, Hungary)

Work Package 5: Management

Objectives

The SGA-2 phase of the ESSnet on Standardisation is carried out by several collaborating ESSnet partners, where each Work Package leader NSI will be responsible for its own Work Package and its deliverables. Thus, the management task is divided between the project coordinator and the Work Package leaders. The overall coordination and communication of the SGA-2 action are the tasks of the project coordinator.

Description of work

SGA-1 phase of the ESSnet on Standardisation proved that coordination between different Work Package deliverables is essential to utilise the efficiency in the joint work. Overlapping between actions is to be omitted completely and it is the overall responsibility of the project coordinator to make sure that connecting tasks join their efforts for the common project goals.

For that reason, the project coordinator will participate in all Work Package actions defined above.

As the interdependencies between Work Packages 1, 2 and 3 are evident even at the stage of planning of the SGA-2 action, focus should be put on the clear definition of road map and expectations of all Work Package actions in order to harmonise the schedule of work at SGA

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level. For this reason, special attention will be given to the overall management of tasks between Work Packages in order to identify and utilize all synergies.

As the standardisation activity at ESS level is a topic of high importance and many activities and initiatives are more or less connected to the activity of standardisation, the connections to these activities should be actively sought and used during the whole SGA-2 action. This is both a communication and management activity.

The findings of the SGA-2 will be summarized in an intermediate report at mid-term of the project and the final deliverables of SGA-2 will be included in the final report that will also be publicly available on the CROS portal.

Deliverables

Deliverable 1, M7: Intermediate report

Deliverable 2, M15: Final report


The kick-off meeting of the SGA-2 of the ESSnet on Standardisation was held on the 28th February 2014 in Riga, Latvia. The presentations and the minutes of the kick-off meeting can be found on the CROS-portal under the following link: http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/kick-meeting-28-february-riga

After the kick-off meeting a telephone conference was held on 27th March 2014 in order to determine the division of work among the partners of the ESSnet on Standardisation. The minutes of the telephone conference can be found on the CROS-portal under the following link: http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/minutes-telephone-conference-27-march-2014


The main problem for the management of the ESSnet on Standardisation was the overlapping between SGA-1 and SGA-2 of the project. As the final deliverables of the SGA-1 had to be done till 16th March 2014, there were just a few actions carried out by the SGA-2 during the first reporting period, due to using the same human resources for the two phases. Therefore the ESSnet on Standardisation mainly focussed on the communication issues of the project in order to make the stakeholders of the ESS aware of the issue of standardisation.

This required some regrouping of resources for the second half of 2014. In this meaning the ESSnet on Standardisation will mainly focus on professional issues in the second half of the SGA-2 action and less on communication due to limited time frame and resources.

Other issue is that several initiatives for standardisation exist and operate parallel to each other. The coordination and/or cooperation with these initiatives require time and resources from the project, which might slow down the work flow of elaborating deliverables of the ESSnet on Standardisation. The time tables of these initiatives mainly do not harmonise with each other. Therefore the ESSnet on Standardisation can take the outcomes of the

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cooperation with other initiatives into account till February 2015, since the deliverables of the project have to be finalised till March next year.

Remaining tasks

The coordination meeting that will be held in Titchfield, UK on 4th-5th September 2014

The closing meeting that will be held in Budapest, Hungary in January-February, 2015

Deliverable 2, M15: Final report

essnet on standardisation - european commission · - 2 - introduction this project is the second...

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