IT as a Strategic Resource

1
IT as a Strategic Resource

• Pronab Sen
• Chief Statistician of India

2
BACKGROUND

• Decentralised statistical system with
  considerable autonomy
• Early adoption of computers in NSO
• Number of experiments in IT application - Mixed
  success
• Considerable distance to go
• Rapid growth in IT use
• Rapidly growing commercial IT sector

3
Experiences and LessonsCollection
Transcription

• Record-based data difficult to collect due to
  differences in extent of IT use and formats
• Lack of involvement of NSO in devising
  record-keeping systems
• Returns-based data suffers from non-compliance
• Problems in use of e-devices in surveys
• ICR technology holds hope but limitations

4
Experiences and LessonsValidation

• Manual validation can be reduced, not eliminated
• Use of artificial intelligence

5
Experiences and LessonsStorage Retrieval

• Most records still in paper form
• NeGAP nationwide effort at conversion of paper
  records
• Biggest concern Security
• Data corruption
• Need for RDBMS in all agencies maintaining data

6
Experiences and LessonsProcessing

• Need for high levels of technical discipline
• Statistical checks on processed data
• Availability of programmers familiar with
  official statistics

7
Experiences and LessonsDissemination

• National Data Warehouse and data marts
• User-friendliness of e-dissemination
• Redefinition of core statistics greater
  involvement with user community

8
Strategic Issues

• Manpower availability and retention
• Ensuring confidentiality
• Minimising the digital divide

9

• Thank You