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Plenary session
Enhancing Trust in Official Statistics
5 June 2026
12:00 – 13:00
ŠIBENIK I
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Chair
Lidija Brković
Director General of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (CBS); Co-Chair of the Scientific Committee
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Lidija Brković is the Director General of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, a position she has held since 2019. In this role, she leads and coordinates Croatia’s national statistical system and serves as its representative before European and international statistical bodies. Before her appointment as Director General, Lidija held several expert and advisory positions at the Croatian National Bank, where she gained extensive experience in financial, monetary, and general statistics, as well as accounting operations. She also worked at the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Croatia. Lidija Brković is a distinguished leader in official statistics, known for her strategic vision, commitment to modernisation, and dedication to aligning Croatia’s statistical system with European and international standards. Through her active participation in numerous conferences and professional initiatives, she continues to promote innovation, collaboration, and transparency in statistical practices, advancing the role of data-driven decision-making in Croatia and beyond.
PANELLISTS:
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Mr Marek Rojíček has been with the Czech Statistical Office since 2001, when he graduated with a master's degree from the Prague University of Economics and Business. His professional focus has been on macroeconomic statistics, particularly national accounts. He contributed to the implementation of European national accounting standards at the Czech Statistical Office ahead of the Czech Republic's accession to the European Union. His scientific work focuses on examining the role of economic structures in the transition process from cost-oriented to quality-oriented competitive advantage, as well as analysing the macroeconomic and structural impacts of globalisation of economic flows. This was also the subject of his doctoral thesis. As part of his pedagogical activities, he participates in teaching macroeconomic analysis at the Faculty of Economics of the Prague University of Economics and Business. He is the author and co-author of several dozen scientific articles, textbooks, and research studies. He has been the President of the Czech Statistical Office since March 2018.Read more Read less
Dr. Markus Sovala is the Director General of Statistics Finland, with a term extending until 2031. In this capacity, he is a member of the European Statistical System Committee (ESSC) and the Bureau of the United Nations Statistical Commission. Previously, he held several senior civil servant positions across different departments of the Ministry of Finance and other ministries. He has also served as the Prime Minister’s Economic Policy Adviser and as Finland’s representative to the World Bank Group in Washington, D.C. Dr. Sovala has led several government ICT projects at a strategic level. From 2016 to 2019, he headed a project aimed at establishing a semi-autonomous region around the City of Helsinki. Dr. Sovala holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Helsinki. His expertise covers a wide range of policy areas and levels of government, including statistics, ICT, data and information policy, budgeting, economic policy and forecasting, development, international relations, monetary union, industrial and structural policies, entrepreneurship, health and social services, public administration reform, social security, labour markets, and incentive systems.Read more Read less
Roxane Silberman’s background is in quantitative sociology, with publications in the domain of labour market, migrations, and discrimination. She is an Emeritus Senior Researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in France and an Honorary Professor at GENES (Groupe des Écoles Nationales d’Économie et de Statistique). Since the 1990s, she has played a major role in France in opening access to official and sensitive microdata. As the representative of researchers in economics and social sciences from 2009 to 2019, and since 2020 as a qualified expert nominated by the Ministry of Economy, she has served on the board of the National Council for Statistical Information (CNIS, Conseil National de l’Information Statistique). Since 2015, Roxane Silberman has been the Scientific Advisor for international affairs at CASD (French Secure Data Hub), providing remote access to confidential data, particularly in the domain of official and administrative data. For her merits in scientific work, Ms Silberman was awarded the title of Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur in 2000. Roxane Silberman is the Chair of the European Statistical Advisory Committee (ESAC).Read more Read less
Athanasios C. Thanopoulos is the Deputy Director-General of Eurostat, appointed to the position in 2025. Previously, he had been serving as President of the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) since 2016. He also chaired the Partnership Group of the European Statistical System from 2022 to 2024. His former professional experience spans economic policy-advising, research and university teaching. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Pittsburgh, postgraduate degrees in Mathematical Economics and Econometrics from the Toulouse School of Economics, and a BSc in Economics from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.Hall location
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