DIME/ITDG Steering Group November 2015 Agenda item 09 ......DIME/ITDG Steering Group November 2015 Agenda item 09 Annex 1. Project Initiation Requests for 2017 ESSnets and Centres

DIME/ITDG Steering Group November 2015 Agenda item 09

Annex 1.

Project Initiation Requests for 2017 ESSnets and Centres of Excellence

This annex contains the PIRs of the six ESSnets for 2017:

1. Quality Assurance, Branding and Labelling/Certification (QUAL)

2. Development of the conceptual elements of a Common Quality

Framework for the ESS (QUAL)

3. Open data standards (DIGICOM)

4. User analytics and statistical literacy (DIGICOM)

5. Validation 2 (VALIDATION)

6. GEOSTAT 3

Commission européenne, B-1049 Bruxelles / Europese Commissie, B-1049 Brussel - Belgium. Telephone: (32-2) 299 11 11. Office: 05/45. Telephone: direct line (32-2) 2999659.

Commission européenne, L-2920 Luxembourg. Telephone: (352) 43 01-1.

DG Eurostat Unit D4

Project Initiation Request

ESSnet in support of Vision 2020: Quality Assurance, Branding and Labelling/Certification

Date: 10/09/2015 Doc. Version: 0.1

PM² Template v2.1.0 (Oct. 2013)

ESSnet in support of Vision 2020: Quality Assurance, Branding and Labelling/Certification Project Initiation Request

Date: 10/09/2015 2 / 4 Doc. Version: 0.1

Document Control Information

Settings Value

Document Title: Project Initiation Request

Project Title: ESSnet in support of Vision 2020: Quality Assurance, Branding and

Labelling/Certification

Document Author: Daniel RASE

Project Owner: Jean-Pierre PONCELET

Project Manager: Daniel RASE

Doc. Version: 0.1

Sensitivity: Basic

Date: 10/09/2015

Document Approver(s) and Reviewer(s):

NOTE: All Approvers are required. Records of each approver must be maintained. All

Reviewers in the list are considered required unless explicitly listed as Optional.

Name Role Action Date

Project Owner Approve 11/09/2015

Crista Filip (TF IP) Project and portfolio

management

Review 03/09/2015

Wim Kloek (B1) Management of ESSnets

and CoE

Review 01/09/2015

Document history:

The Document Author is authorized to make the following types of changes to the document

without requiring that the document be re-approved:

Editorial, formatting, and spelling

Clarification

To request a change to this document, contact the Document Author or Owner.

Changes to this document are summarized in the following table in reverse chronological order

(latest version first).

Revision Date Created by Short Description of Changes

0.1 10/09/2015 RASE Daniel 1st

draft

Configuration Management: Document Location

The latest version of this controlled document is stored in local D4 common drive.


Date: 24/08/2015 3 / 4 Doc. Version: 0.1

Project Title: ESSnet in support of Vision 2020: Quality Assurance, Branding and

Labelling/Certification

Initiator: Daniel RASE DG / Unit: Eurostat/D4

Project Owner (PO): Jean-Pierre PONCELET Date of Request: 10/09/2015

Solution Provider (SP): The solution will be

provided by an ESSnet to be

created after adoption of

the business case.

Approving Authority: Eurostat Directors’

meeting

Target Delivery Date: Two years

Type of Delivery: In-house Outsourced Mix Not-known

Context/ Situation (Business Need/ Problem / Opportunity)

The ESS Vision 2020 identifies Quality as a key area of long-term strategy and the statistical production process, emphasising the importance of user driven continuous improvement.

In 2015, the ESSC decided to consider quality as an overarching/supporting framework linking all relevant elements of the ESS Vision 2020. On this basis, a document called “Quality in the ESS Vision 2020 – implementation paper (QUAL@ESS Vision 2020)” was prepared by the Task Force QUAL, a subgroup of the Working Group on Quality describing how the Quality key area of the ESS Vision 2020 is proposed to be implemented.

The overarching framework was built around three main actions:

1. Coordinate quality in the ESS Vision 2020 portfolio; 2. Make quality assurance fit-for-purpose – differentiate the ESS quality approach, make

proposals on branding and labelling/certification; 3. Develop the conceptual elements of a Total Quality Management framework for the ESS.

QUAL@ ESS Vision 2020 was presented and discussed during the VIG meeting of 2 September 2015. Action 1 was approved in the meeting and it was concluded that for the two other actions more reflections would be needed in the ESS; therefore the Group asked to further develop the document.

In this context and in order to clarify the purpose of these two actions, Eurostat decided to launch a project in 2016. For the implementation of the actions 2 and 3, two separate ESSnets are proposed in the 2017 budget, as the implementation will require different competences and skills. This Project Initiation Request concerns action 2. It will containing the following tasks:

Establish a clear and modelled-based understanding of how quality is assured and monitored across statistical domains in the ESS. Provide a common basis for sharing knowledge and best practices for quality assurance across the ESS;

Investigate and analyse the pros and cons of setting up a mechanism which would support the branding and labelling/certification of European statistics. Clarify the terminology and make recommendations for attributing European statistics to the quality assurance layers/clusters proposed in the first task. Provide input to communication aspects in close cooperation with the ESS VIP DIGICOM programme.

Issue recommendations for the development of a framework for a fit-for-purpose, differentiated quality assurance mechanism in the ESS. On this basis, propose different quality assurance for each layer/cluster. Make proposals for the implementation of the framework.

This work package will deliver reports, guidelines and recommendations for implementation. It does not include pilot experiments or activities directly linked to the implementation of the proposed solutions.

Therefore it is proposed to create an ESSnet to analyse and translate the contents of the deliverables of the 2016 project into concrete actions to be carried out at national and/or at ESS level. Taking into account the highly strategic nature of this work, high level steering and guidance from ESS senior management should be sought.

Legal Basis


Date: 24/08/2015 4 / 4 Doc. Version: 0.1

The mandate of this project, in the context of the revised Regulation 223/2009 on European statistics and the European Statistical Programme, stems more specifically from:

The Vision 2020 document, in particular the key area on the Quality of European statistics.

The conclusions of the February ESSC meeting relating to Quality under the ESS Vision 2020

The “QUAL@ESS Vision 2020” Implementation paper

Outcomes (high level)

The main outcome of the ESSnet will be to provide conceptual framework for fit-for-purpose quality

assurance, branding, labelling/certification as well as concrete recommendations and actions for its

implementation.

Impact (high level)

This activity will contribute to maintaining and strengthening public trust in official statistics

Success Criteria

The ESS finds an agreement on a common quality assurance, branding and

labelling/certification mechanism.

Assumptions (high level)

The following assumptions have been made:

The ESSnet is the better instrument to ensure an active participation of the ESS members.

The project will receive the appropriate financial resources (grants)

Constraints (high level)

The support for the project at ESS level will highly depend on the approval by the VIG of the revised

version of the “QUAL@ESS Vision 2020” document. The date for the presentation of the revised

document to the VIG should be fixed as soon as possible.

Risks (high level)

Insufficient support from ESS members;

No agreement on a common conceptual framework;

No agreement on the way to implement the conceptual framework;

Lack of resources in the ESS to implement the conceptual framework.

ESSnet in support of Vision 2020: Development of the conceptual elements of a Common Quality Framework for the ESS


Date: 28/10/2015 1 / 4 Doc. Version: 0.2

DG Eurostat Unit D4


ESSnet in support of Vision 2020: Development of the conceptual elements of a Common Quality

Framework for the ESS




Date: 28/10/2015 2 / 4 Doc. Version: 0.2


Settings Value


Project Title: ESSnet in support of Vision 2020: Development of the conceptual

elements of a Common Quality Framework for the ESS

Document Author: Daniel RASE

Project Owner: Jean-Pierre PONCELET

Project Manager: Daniel RASE

Doc. Version: 0.2

Sensitivity: Basic

Date: 28/10/2015





Project Owner Approve 11/09/2015


management

Review 03/09/2015


and CoE

Review 01/09/2015

Document history:




Clarification





0.1 10/09/2015 RASE Daniel 1st

draft

0.2 28/10/2015 RASE Daniel Removed reference to TQM


The latest version of this controlled document is stored in local D4 common drive.



Date: 28/10/2015 3 / 4 Doc. Version: 0.2

Project Title: ESSnet in support of Vision 2020: Development of the conceptual elements

of a Common Quality Framework for the ESS

Initiator: Daniel RASE DG / Unit: Eurostat/D4

Project Owner (PO): Jean-Pierre PONCELET Date of Request: 10/09/2015


provided by an ESSnet to be

created after adoption of

the business case.


meeting

Target Delivery Date: Two years



The ESS Vision 2020 puts Quality as a key area in the statistical production process emphasising the importance of user driven continuous improvement.

In 2015, the ESSC decided to consider quality as an overarching Framework linking all relevant elements of Vision 2020. On this basis, a document called “Quality in the ESS Vision 2020 – implementation paper (QUAL@ESS Vision 2020)” was prepared by the Task Force QUAL, a subgroup of the Working Group on Quality.

The document was built around three main actions:

1. Coordinate quality in the ESS Vision 2020 portfolio; 2. Make quality assurance fit-for-purpose – differentiate the ESS quality approach, make

proposals on branding and labelling/certification; 3. Develop the conceptual elements of a Common Quality Framework for the ESS.

QUAL@ ESS Vision 2020 was presented and discussed during the VIG meeting of 2 September 2015. Action 1 was approved and it was concluded that for the two other actions more reflection would be needed in the ESS; therefore the Group asked to further develop the document.

In this context, in order to clarify the purpose of these two actions, Eurostat decided to launch an in-house project in 2016. This project will include two work packages related respectively to action 2 and action 3.

The second work package (action 3) is containing the following tasks:

Create a knowledge base that will contain experiences, lessons learned and good practice in the field of Quality Management in the Members States;

Carry out a high level comparative study on the Quality Management Frameworks, identifying elements that would fit the ESS context. Based on this, make proposals on where and how existing Frameworks could be used to strengthen the Common Quality Framework for the ESS;

Describe a set of the core values, principles, model and a common vocabulary of a Quality Framework that would fit to the ESS. Propose a set of high-level requirements to build a Common Quality Framework for the ESS. The Framework will allow for a concrete implementation by the ESS members on various development levels – for this implementation, issue recommendations, proposals and include them in the Code of Practice;

Carry out a study on how risk analysis can be integrated in the Framework.

This work package will deliver reports, guidelines and recommendations for implementation. It does not include pilot experiments or activities directly linked to the implementation of the proposed solutions.

Therefore it is proposed to create an ESSnet to analyse and translate the contents of the deliverables into concrete actions to be carried out at national and/or at ESS level. Taking into account the highly strategic nature of this work, high level steering and guidance from ESS senior management should be sought. As the two actions are dealing with subjects requiring different competences and skills, a separate ESSnet is proposed to deal with the implementation of action 2.



Date: 28/10/2015 4 / 4 Doc. Version: 0.2

Legal Basis

The mandate of this project, in the context of Regulation 223/2009 on European statistics and the European Statistical Programme, stems more specifically from:

The Vision 2020 document, in particular the key area on the Quality of European statistics.

The conclusions of the February ESSC meeting relating to Quality under the ESS Vision 2020

The “QUAL@ESS Vision 2020” document


The main outcome of the ESSnet will be to find an agreement on the definition and use of Quality

elements aiming at strengthening the Common Quality Framework for the ESS and to define concrete

actions for their implementation focusing primarily on the ESS level, taking also into account the

diversity of situations in the Member States.

Impact (high level)

This activity is expected to be beneficial to the ESS, by driving future quality developments and its

members in view of meeting or even exceeding the objectives defined, taking into account their

capabilities and the context in which they operate. Effectiveness and efficiency gains for the ESS as a

whole will also be sought.

Success Criteria

The ESS finds an agreement on the Quality elements that could strengthen the Common

Quality Framework for the ESS as well as an agreement on the way to implement them in the

ESS.


The following assumptions have been made:

The ESSnet is the better instrument to ensure an active participation of the ESS members.

The project will receive the appropriate financial resources (grants)


The support for the project at ESS level will highly depend on the approval by the VIG of the revised

version of the “QUAL@ESS Vision 2020” document. The date for the presentation of the revised

document to the VIG should be fixed as soon as possible.

Risks (high level)

Insufficient buy in from ESS members

Too much diversity in the ESS to find a common solution

No agreement found on Quality elements to select

Lack of resources in the ESS countries to implement the enhanced Framework

Eurostat Unit B1

ESSNet “Open data standards in the ESS” (ODESS)




ESSNet “Open data standards in the ESS” (ODESS) Project Initiation Request

Date: 09/09/2015 2 / 4 Doc. Version: 1.1


Settings Value


Project Title: ESSNet “Open data standards in the ESS” (ODESS)

Document Author: Britta Gauckler and Martin Karlberg

Project Owner: Emanuele Baldacci

Project Manager: Martin Karlberg

Doc. Version: 1.1

Sensitivity: Basic

Date: 09/09/2015





Project Owner Approve


management

Review 03/09/2015


and CoE

Review 01/09/2015

Document history:




Clarification





1.1 9/9/2015 Britta Gauckler Update following the review of C. Filip and W.

Kloek

1.0 24/8/2015 Britta Gauckler First version


Main versions of this controlled document are filed1 in the Commission’s advanced record

system ARES.

1 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).


Date: 09/09/2015 3 / 4 Doc. Version: 1.1

Project Title: ESSNet “Open data standards in the ESS” (ODESS)

Initiator: Martin Karlberg DG / Unit: B1

Project Owner (PO): Emanuele Baldacci Date of Request: 24.08.2015


provided by an ESSNet to

be set up after adoption of

the DIGICOM and ODESS

business cases.


meeting

Target Delivery Date: 30/06/2019



The potential for statistical data to be published as (linked) open data is immense. It is a growing area

where a handful of governments around the world have advanced digitally to share services, data and

technology for reuse to enable innovation across governments and the society as a whole. Nevertheless

numerous promises on open data remain open.

This is also the case in the area of statistical open data. Up to date there are several initiatives ongoing –

also in the statistical data domain – although they are hardly coordinated. A starting point needs to be

sufficient knowledge of the different stakeholders involved and a common understanding of the

direction in which open data in the statistical domain should lead.

There are multiple stakeholders involved

at ESS NSIs (INSEE, ONS, CBS, …) and in the national environment of each NSI (e.g. national

open data strategies and government digital services)

within the EU institutions (Publications Office – for the EU Open data portal, CONNECT – for the

Pan European portal, DIGIT, Eurostat, …),

internationally (W3C, UNECE, Open Data Institute etc.).

Those multiple stakeholders address multiple issues and a common strategy towards open data in the

statistical domain is missing. Despite the numerous activities ongoing in certain ESS institutions, for

others it is still a new and widely unexplored field where further development is needed. Once ESS

standards, tools and ontologies have been developed, national ESS Linked Open Data portals based on

common ESS standards can be developed.

Legal Basis

One of the Vision 2020 objectives in this area of dissemination and communication on European

statistics is to develop products that are giving as much freedom as possible to active users to create

their own products based on statistics. In order to respond to this need the programme Digital

communication, User analytics and Innovative products (ESS.VIP DIGICOM) has been initiated as part of

the ESS.VIP portfolio. The ESSnet ODESS is planned to be part of the “Open Data Dissemination” work

package.


The first deliverable will be ESS standards for Linked Open Data (including ontologies and technical

solutions). Based on the first deliverable the second deliverable is a proof of concept in national

implementation of LOD portals.

Impact (high level)

ODESS will

increase the availability of Linked Open Data in Europe through the creation of national Linked

Open Data portals.

Success Criteria


Date: 09/09/2015 4 / 4 Doc. Version: 1.1

The roll-out of Linked Open Data portals in the ESS constitutes the main success criterion of ODESS. The

use (in terms of the NSIs populating them with data and users accessing these data) are also an

important indicator of success.


ODESS depends on the successful outcomes of a number of actions both within the “Linked Open Data”

work package of the DIGICOM programme and elsewhere in the ESS. In particular, It depends on the

successful development of the first deliverable of ODESS on the development of standards, ontologies

and technical Linked Open Data solutions for the ESS.

With ODESS being part of the DIGICOM programme, a precondition for launching ODESS is the approval

of the DIGICOM Business Case by the ESSC.

Given the availability of Linked Open Data expertise in a number of ESS NSIs (and the need to include

this expertise in the development), and the need to have a close collaboration with the NSIs concerned

during the development phase, the ESSnet instrument is appropriate for achieving the objectives of

ODESS.


ODESS heavily depends on the outputs of other activities (such as the project on renovation of the

dissemination chain, Open Data initiatives at European and national levels, etc.) in this area, and the

stocktaking exercise (planned to be conducted in DIGICOM, during 2016, prior to the launch of ODESS)

constitutes a key input to ODESS to formulate an appropriate roadmap and avoid duplicate work.

Risks (high level)

The limited availability of in-house expertise at Eurostat is a major risk, to be mitigated by expert

contractors and the inclusion of ESS expertise in the ODESS consortium, and involvement of key

stakeholders from European Commission Directorates-General (e.g. CNECT and DIGIT) in the monitoring

of the ESSnet.

The failure to coordinate with parallel activities at EU and national level may lead to duplicate work and

inadequate solutions. Mitigating actions include the 2016 stocktaking exercise as well as continuous

business intelligence efforts.

Eurostat Unit B1

ESSNet “User analytics and statistical literacy in the ESS” (ULIT)




ESSNet “User analytics and statistical literacy in the ESS” (ULIT) Project Initiation Request

Date: 09/09/2015 2 / 4 Doc. Version: 1.1


Settings Value


Project Title: ESSNet “User analytics and statistical literacy in the ESS” (ULIT)

Document Author: Britta Gauckler and Martin Karlberg

Project Owner: Emanuele Baldacci

Project Manager: Martin Karlberg

Doc. Version: 1.1

Sensitivity: Basic

Date: 09/09/2015





Project Owner Approve


management

Review 3/09/2015


and CoE

Review 01/09/2015

Document history:




Clarification





1.1 9/9/2015 Britta Gauckler Update following the review of C. Filip and W.

Kloek

1.0 24/8/2015 Britta Gauckler First version


Main versions of this controlled document are filed1 in the Commission’s advanced record

system ARES.

1 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).


Date: 09/09/2015 3 / 4 Doc. Version: 1.1

Project Title: ESSNet “User analytics and statistical literacy in the ESS”

Initiator: Martin Karlberg DG / Unit: B1

Project Owner (PO): Emanuele Baldacci Date of Request: 24.08.2015


provided by an ESSNet to

be created after adoption of

the business case.


meeting

Target Delivery Date: 12/2018 for the 1st

part (SGA) of the

ESSNet

06/2018 for the 2nd

part (SGA) of the

ESSNet



The need to personalise the dissemination of products is increasing, especially in the world of data

revolution. The increasing availability of data and the growing competitiveness in providing statistical

data is changing the way we address our users and anticipate their needs.

Limited budgets and resources often result in products for improving statistical literacy being

categorised as “nice to have” as they do not belong to the core duties of communication like data bases,

website maintenance and press and user relations. As a consequence there is no common strategy and

there are only a handful NSIs working in this area. Once developed, products are not updated anymore

due to changing priorities. Nevertheless, the ESS has (repeatedly) identified universities, scientists and

schools as important stakeholders for official statistics and deemed statistical literacy to be the essential

ability to cope with the challenges of an information-based society. For a small part of the university

stakeholders EMOS provides input, although the large part of the university stakeholders not being

literate in statistics is in focus.

Legal Basis

In the area of dissemination and communication the ESS Vision 2020 aims to target the ever-changing

user needs and stresses the fact that different users have different needs and therefore need targeted

products and targeted communication. In the area of statistical literacy one of the ESS Vision 2020

objectives is to target the public at large to guide them through the pitfalls of statistics and enhance

statistical literacy.

In order to respond to these needs, the programme Digital communication, User analytics and

Innovative products (ESS.VIP DIGICOM) has been initiated as part of the ESS.VIP portfolio. It will consist

in two parts:

The DIGICOM programme work package “User analysis” aims to develop user profiles and the

work package “Innovative and shareable products and tools” develops a new flagship product

(a statistical portrait of Europe with accompanying dissemination products). Both outcomes

(user profiles, flagship product) will have to be applied and tested in user surveys. This part of

the application of the profiles and the test of the new developed product (user surveys) is the

first part of the ESSNet “User analytics and statistical literacy in the ESS” (ULIT).

The second part of ULIT develops a statistical literacy strategy (including a marketing approach)

as well as products in respect to particular stakeholders of official statistics in the educational

area.


Date: 09/09/2015 4 / 4 Doc. Version: 1.1


The profiles being developed in the work package “User analysis” of DIGICOM will have to be tested in a

user engagement (user survey). A model questionnaire will have to be developed and tested. Therefore,

the first outcome of ULIT is the results of user surveys (based on a user profiling exercise being carried

out in a preceding action in the DIGICOM programme).

The second outcome of this user engagement part of ULIT is the evaluation of the developed flagship

product with users (the actual flagship product will be developed in the work package “Innovative and

shareable products and tools” by the DIGICOM programme – but feedback from actual users should be

obtained).

The third outcome of ULIT is a series of products (such as videos, animated graphs or apps, information

papers/exercises that explaining how to use statistics, etc.) in the field of statistical literacy explicitly

targeted at students and teachers. To avoid parallelism ULIT will start with a stocktaking exercise to see

what has to be produced or only translated in national languages, i.e.. The outcome will be an ESS wide

(marketing) strategy to increase statistical literacy and communicate with scientific users.

Impact (high level)

The ultimate outcome of this ESSNet is the ESS wide usage of the statistical literacy products and the

uptake of its strategy towards statistical literacy. The second follow up is the implementation of the user

survey results based on the profiling exercise and the implementation of the evaluation on the flagship

products.

Success Criteria

An increase in statistical literacy and an improved, targeted communication with the users based on

their diversified needs.


ULIT is focussing on applying standards (user profiles) and setting standards for the ESS wide increase of

statistical literacy for educational stakeholders. With ULIT being part of the DIGICOM programme, a

precondition for launching the ESSNet is the approval of the DIGICOM Busniness Case by the ESSC.

Given the need to collaboratively develop ESS standards, and the availability of statistical literacy

expertise in a number of ESS NSIs, the ESSNet instrument is appropriate for achieving the objectives of

ULIT.


The user survey part on the ESSNet relies on prior completed activities from the DIGICOM programme in

the work packages “User analysis” and “Innovative and shareable products and tools”, such as the

existence of shareable solutions.

Risks (high level)

The missing uptake of proposed outcomes in the ESS level and of (potential) users. Mitigating actions

include continuous coordination efforts and the inclusion of ESS expertise in the ESSNet consortium.

Mitigating actions aiming at uptake of (potential) users will be part of the marketing strategy.



DG Eurostat Unit B1


ValiDat2 ESSnet



ValiDat2 ESSnet Project Initiation Request

Date: 17/09/2015 2 / 5 Doc. Version: 2.0


Settings Value


Project Title: ValiDat2 ESSnet

Document Author: Luca Gramaglia

Project Owner: Marcel Jortay

Project Manager: Luca Gramaglia

Doc. Version: 2.0

Sensitivity: Basic

Date: 17/09/2015





Jean-Marc MUSEUX EA Review – Optional 19/08/2015

Emanuele BALDACCI Dir. B Review – Optional 21/08/2015

Marcel JORTAY Dir. E – Project Owner Approve 23/08/2015


management

Review 03/09/2015


and CoE

Review 01/09/2015

Document history:




Clarification





2.0 17/09/2015 Luca GRAMAGLIA Change of foreseen budget and end date

1.0 14/09/2015 Luca GRAMAGLIA Clarifications after reviews by Crista Flip and Wim Kloek

0.3 23/08/2015 Luca GRAMAGLIA Addition of pilot implementations of VTL and of the methodological handbook as one of the ESSnet deliverables

0.2 20/08/2015 Luca GRAMAGLIA Role of the ESS.VIP Validation made more prominent

0.1 12/08/2015 Luca GRAMAGLIA First version of the document


The latest version of this controlled document is stored in .


Date: 3 / 5 Doc. Version:

Project Title: ValiDat2 ESSnet

Initiator: Marcel Jortay DG / Unit: Eurostat, unit B1

Project Owner (PO): Marcel Jortay Date of Request: 12/08/2015

Solution Provider (SP): ESSnet Approving Authority: Eurostat Directors’

meeting

Target Delivery Date: End 2017



In January 2013, the ESSC launched the ESS.VIP Validation project. The goal of the ESS.VIP Validation

project is to lay the methodological and architectural foundations to make validation in the ESS more

transparent and efficient. As part of the ESS.VIP Validation, the ValiDat–Foundation ESSnet was

launched in December 2014. The ValiDat–Foundation ESSnet has supported the objectives of the

ESS.VIP Validation by:

Developing an ESS methodological handbook for validation. The handbook provides common

ESS definitions, classifications and metrics for validation.

Providing an assessment of the suitability of version 1.0 of VTL (Validation and Transformation

Language) as an ESS validation syntax. This assessment will be taken as input in the

development of VTL version 1.1.

Both the ValiDat–Foundation ESSnet and the current ESS.VIP Validation project will come to an end by

the end of 2015. Further work will be needed to expand the ESS.VIP Validation deliverables and

implement them into statistical production. Eurostat will therefore propose a follow-up project, which is

scheduled to be approved by the ESSC in May 2016.

Active Member State participation is crucial in building support for changes to the way validation is

handled in the ESS. The success of the follow-up project will therefore rely on the mobilisation of

resources and expertise from the Member States. More specifically, Member State involvement would

be required to produce the following high-level deliverables:

Pilot implementations in several statistical domains of VTL version 1.1 and of the ESS

methodological handbook developed by the ValiDat–Foundation ESSnet. As regards VTL, this

would entail a "pencil-and-paper" exercise to translate existing validation rules into VTL 1.1.

An evaluation of VTL version 1.1, which is scheduled to become available by the end of Q3

2016. This work should take into account the outcome of the pilot implementations and should

result in a recommendation on the adoption of VTL as a standard ESS validation syntax.

An analysis of what would be required to support the integration of VTL in NSI-specific

validation systems (e.g. capacity building, IT building blocks, etc…).

The development of further elements to improve the cross-organisational communication on

validation (e.g. standard validation reports).

A refinement of the validation methodology developed by the current ESSnet. This work should

take into account the feedback coming from ESS members and from the pilot implementations.

The proposed ValiDat2 ESSnet would provide the administrative vehicle and the financial resources

necessary to ensure that the follow-up project to the ESS.VIP Validation can leverage the Member

States' technical competences on the topics listed above.

Although the current Project Initiation Request is for ESSnets to be financed under the 2017 budget, the

ValiDat2 ESSnet is designed to start in the second half of 2016, immediately following ESSC approval of

the follow-up project. This would guarantee that collaboration with the Member States does not suffer

from an excessive loss of momentum during the transition between the two projects. The 2016



financing decision already includes the necessary resources for this action.

Legal Basis

The ESS Vision 2020 outlines the strategic direction to be followed by the European Statistical System until the year 2020. The ESS Vision 2020 states that "We will intensify our collaboration by further intensifying the sharing of knowledge, experiences and methodologies but also by sharing tools, data, services and resources where appropriate. The collaboration will be based on agreed standards and common elements of technological and statistical infrastructure." The Validat2 ESSnet would contribute to addressing these goals in the area of data validation.


The proposed Validat2 ESSnet would have two main outcomes:

Increase in the quality of the currently available deliverables (i.e. methodological handbook

and VTL syntax).

Higher Member State acceptance of the deliverables of the ESS.VIP Validation project and

increased Member State commitment towards achieving the ESS Vision goals in the area of

validation.

Impact (high level)

The proposed ESSnet will not be responsible for the implementation of the deliverables it produces. The

implementation into production of the ESSnet deliverables will be handled by the follow-up project to

the current ESS.VIP Validation. Therefore, the ValiDat2 ESSnet itself will not have an impact on the

processes of either the ESS or Eurostat.

The proposed ESSnet may however have a direct impact on the current ESS organisational culture by

promoting the idea that validation, far from being simply an NSI-internal activity, is an issue which has

implications at European level and should therefore be subject to a higher level of harmonisation than

what is currently the case.

Success Criteria

For each of the two high-level outcomes described above, the success criteria will be the following:

Increase in the quality of the current deliverables:

o Increase in the number of positive user evaluations for both the methodological

handbook and the VTL syntax

Higher Member State acceptance and commitment:

o An increase in the number of ESSnet participants compared to the current ValiDat-

Foundation ESSnet

o Adoption of VTL as an ESS standard by Q1 2018


The ESSC will approve in 2016 the launch of a follow-up project to the current ESS.VIP

Validation.

The follow-up project will have the same target objectives and scope as the current ESS.VIP

Validation.

Version 1.1 of VTL (Validation and Transformation Language) will become available by the end

of Q3 2016.




The activities of the ValiDat2 ESSnet related to VTL will require close collaboration and

cooperation with the SDMX VTL Task Force, the body responsible for the design and

maintenance of the VTL language.

The ESSnet activities must be synchronised with the timetable of the follow-up to the current

ESS.VIP Validation project. This timetable is yet to be defined.

Risks (high level)

The time lag between the start of the proposed ValiDat2 ESSnet and the end of the current

ValiDat-Foundation ESSnet may lead to a loss of interest on the part of the currently involved

Member States. This would negatively affect the participation of Member States in the

proposed ValiDat2 ESSnet.

Version 1.1 of VTL is not available in time for the start of the proposed ESSnet.



DG Eurostat Unit Regional statistics and geographical information (E4)


GEOSTAT 3

Date: 29/09/2015 Doc. Version: version 1.0


GEOSTAT 3 Project Initiation Request

Date: 29/09/2015 2 / 4 Doc. Version: version 1.0


Settings Value


Project Title: GEOSTAT 3

Document Author: Ekkehard PETRI

Project Owner: Gunter SCHÄFER

Project Manager: PETRI

Doc. Version: version 1.0

Sensitivity: Basic

Date: 29/09/2015





Project Owner Head of Unit Approve


management

Review 29/09/2015


and CoE

Review 28 September 2015

Document history:




Clarification






The latest version of this controlled document is stored in R:\common\ADMIN\SIMPLE



Project Title: GEOSTAT 3 – Implementing the statistical-spatial framework in Europe

Initiator: Ekkehard PETRI DG / Unit: ESTAT E-4

Project Owner (PO): Gunter SCHÄFER Date of Request: 29.09.2015


provided by an ESSnet

through a Multi-beneficiary

grant.


meeting

Target Delivery Date: 2018



The United Nations Geospatial Information Management initiative (UN-GGIM) is currently working on the definition of a spatial statistical framework (SSF). This will be adopted by the UN statistical commission in 2016. Next the framework should be transposed into national and regional (e.g. Europe) frameworks. The framework will address the geocoding of statistical data, fundamental geospatial data, output geographies for statistics, metadata standards, other technical standards; it could also address legal and organisational issues such as confidentiality treatment of spatial statistics. The aim is to make statistics and geospatial information more interoperable.

The implementation of this statistical spatial framework requires a harmonised European approach and therefore an ESSnet grant should develop corresponding guidelines and recommendations. Without harmonised guidelines important aspects of the statistical-spatial framework such as confidentiality rules, administrative data to be geocoded, definition of Spatial Statistics products, set of fundamental geospatial data and their access conditions risk to be implemented in different ways in Member States. This would make the creation of European spatial statistics difficult.

Legal Basis

Statistical Work Program, ESS Vision 2020 with the commitment to explore alternative data sources including geospatial


The project will start from the global statistical-geospatial framework to be adopted in 2016 and analyse

its impact on existing national and European practices to geo-reference, to produce and to disseminate

spatial statistics. From this inventory of different starting points it will derive guidelines how to

implement the various aspects of the SSF for a better European harmonisation. It will consider existing

initiatives such as INSPIRE, SDMX, the NUTS regulation, previous GEOSTAT projects.

Impact (high level)

The recommendations produced by the project would need to be discussed in the responsible working

groups and then adopted by DIMESA and potentially ESSC for implementation within the ESS. The

spatial aspects would be followed-up through the UN-GGIM process, too, as mapping authorities will be

concerned. Open data and open standards activities might be impacted such as the DCAT standards for

metadata on open data.

This project proposes a multi-beneficiary grant, for the period 2017-2018. As follow-up, mono-

beneficiary grants would accelerate the implementation; a Centre of Excellence is an alternative way to

Multi-Beneficiary Grants to support the implementation.

Success Criteria

Approval of the implementation recommendations by the GISCO Working Group, DIMESA, potentially

ESSC.

NSIs and Mapping authorities from at least two thirds of the ESS Member Countries participate in the

inventory part of the action.



Mapping authorities from all ESSnet grant beneficiaries participate in the project e.g. by providing test

data.

During the project two conferences on the topic of spatial statistics will be organised with at least 75

participants from at least two thirds of the EU and EFTA countries.

The ESS.VIP.ADMIN project will consider the aspect of geocoding of administrative data.


It is assumed that the SSF will be sufficiently defined at the global level and UN-GGIM will have already

defined the fundamental data they want to make available for thematic communities. Eurostat is

following closely the work of UN-GGIM globally and in Europe and will make sure that essential aspects

of the SSF consider ESS requirements.


1. The timeline of the definition of the spatial statistical framework depends on the UN-GGIM and

UNSD processes, a first version of the SFF could be adopted in March 2016.

2. The new regulation on the definition of the NUTS and population based typologies will have an

impact on output geographies, potentially entering into force during 2016.

3. The related activities on metadata standards on open data and how they will be implemented

in NSIs and mapping authorities.

4. The project has to maintain coherence with the ESS.VIP.ADMIN project on the use of

administrative data for statistical purposes, notably if it proposes to geocode administrative

data.

5. The implementation of INSPIRE and its potential revision regarding access and use conditions.

6. The 2021 Census with the goal to use more administrative data sources, and geocode them.

Risks (high level)

Coordination between statistics and geospatial authorities insufficient.

Timing of UN activities

Timing of new NUTS regulation

0 Annex 1 Project Initiation Requests for 2017 ESSnets and Centres of Excellence1 PIR_DIME_ESSNET_QUAL_QA_Branding2 PIR_ESSNET_QUAL_QFrame3 B1_PIR-DIME_ESSnetOpenDataStandardsESS-ODESS-v1.14 B1_PIR-DIME_ESSnetUserAnalyticsStatisticalLiteracy-ULIT-V1.15 DIME_Project_Initiation_Request.ValiDat2.v2.06 GEOSTAT DIME 3 29-09-2015

Documents

DIME/ITDG Steering Group November 2015 Agenda item 09 ......DIME/ITDG Steering Group November 2015 Agenda item 09 Annex 1. Project Initiation Requests for 2017 ESSnets and Centres