IMF Executive Board Supports New Strategy for Data and Statistics in the Digital Age
IMF News, March 20, 2018
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Bibliographic details
- Published: March 20, 2018
Overview
- Press Release No. 18/99
- Date: March 20, 2018
- On March 9, 2018, the Executive Board discussed the report, Overarching Strategy on Data and Statistics at the Fund in the Digital Age, supporting a forward-looking approach to gathering, processing, and sharing economic data and statistics.
- The paper is described as the Fund’s first-ever overarching strategy on data and statistics, responding to a fast-changing data landscape, evolving surveillance priorities, and member requests for assistance in improving economic data quality.
Strategy focus and guiding concept
- The strategy “focuses on three “I”s: integration, innovation, and intelligence,” said Louis Marc Ducharme, chair of the working group and head of the IMF Statistics Department.
- Integration: “bringing into alignment fragmented initiatives.”
- Innovation: “working to take advantage of Big Data.”
- Intelligence: “leveraging artificial intelligence for analyzing data and statistics.”
Six strategic priorities (as listed in the report)
- (i) agility in the identification of data needs;
- (ii) building the global data commons—an integrated network of member country websites publishing data essential for surveillance on a pre-announced schedule;
- (iii) supporting the use of Big Data and other innovations;
- (iv) securing seamless access and sharing of data within the Fund;
- (v) promoting the production of data that are comparable across countries;
- (vi) addressing weaknesses in official data.
Executive Board assessment — key findings and endorsements
- Directors welcomed the overarching strategy and its recognition of data as a strategic institutional asset.
- The strategy was characterized as both ambitious and pragmatic, enabling the Fund and members to respond to digitalization challenges and opportunities.
- The approach builds on findings of the 2016 IEO report on data at the Fund and strengthens linkage between data issues and upcoming policy reviews.
- Directors noted challenges from the new data landscape:
- Need to expand staff skills to analyze larger and more heterogeneous data sets as surveillance priorities evolve.
- Requirement to update methodologies and technology underpinning macroeconomic statistics due to expansion of the digital economy.
- Multilateral and macro-financial surveillance require more cross-country comparable data and integration of new data sources.
Views on specific strategic elements
- Integration objective:
- Directors agreed with integrating work streams on data provision by member countries, international statistical standards, capacity development, and data management.
- Global data commons:
- Supported vision for a global data commons—an integrated cloud-based network of country websites publishing key data needed by the Fund and markets.
- Expected benefits: decreased burden on authorities for data dissemination and provision; publication serves as a public good supporting transparency for policy makers, investors, and the public.
- Directors encouraged exploration of synergies with other international organizations that receive and disseminate similar data.
- Big Data and innovation:
- Directors saw merit in exploring Big Data to support earlier detection of risks and to complement official statistics compilation.
- Effective use of Big Data subject to challenges; requires quality assurance in the absence of internationally accepted standards, with attention to reliability and privacy concerns.
- Fund could facilitate peer learning across the membership on Big Data use.
- Data management and governance:
- Need to accommodate data diversity given the nature of Fund activities, while reducing duplication and increasing efficiency.
- New governance structure, including decision to move the Economic Data Team to the Statistics Department, expected to simplify organization, increase synergies, and pool expertise.
- Promoting compilation of data comparable across countries viewed as high importance to support robust multi-country analyses and projections.
- Enhancing staff incentives for data management functions could strengthen implementation.
Capacity development and assessments
- Directors emphasized continued efforts to build statistical capacity across the membership to address data weaknesses and strengthen surveillance.
- Directors welcomed plans for a more structured and transparent assessment of data adequacy for surveillance to help authorities and the Fund prioritize capacity development and promote meaningful dialogue on data issues.
- A few Directors cautioned against creating rankings of countries based on these assessments.
Budget, implementation, and reporting
- Directors indicated the need to implement the reforms in a budget-neutral manner, with trade-offs and re-allocation of resources carefully considered as needed.
- Directors looked forward to receiving progress reports on the implementation of the strategy in due course.
International Monetary Fund press release, March 20, 2018.