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Session 9

Cooperation, Coordination and Certification

3 June 2026
14:15 – 15:45
ŠIBENIK V

Presentation title
Quality-Based Coordination within the Turkish Statistical System: Quality Logo Award
Decision-making processes based on official statistics play a critical role in policy formulation, monitoring, and evaluation in today’s world.

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Ensuring and sustaining the quality of official statistics directly affects users’ trust in statistical outputs and the effectiveness of evidence-based decision-making. In this context, initiatives aimed at assessing and maintaining quality principles and standards within national statistical systems are of great importance.

In the Turkish Statistical System, the quality of official statistics is assessed by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat). TurkStat evaluates and reports on the quality of both the statistics it produces and those produced by Other National Authorities (ONAs) within the system. This approach provides a comprehensive coordination and cooperation framework covering all official statistics within the national statistical system.

The assessment of official statistics produced by ONAs requires effective coordination and strong inter-institutional cooperation. Within this framework, official statistics are assessed against predefined quality criteria. Official statistics that meet these criteria are awarded a Quality Logo by TurkStat. The Quality Logo application is based on the principles of the European Statistics Code of Practice (ES-CoP) and aims to enhance the quality of official statistics while ensuring their sustainability over time.

This paper examines the Quality Logo as a quality-based coordination and cooperation mechanism within the national statistical system. It describes the technical framework and operational process of the application and demonstrates its contribution to strengthening inter-institutional cooperation and the consistent application of quality standards. In addition, the institutional and quality-related benefits gained by ONAs participating in the process are evaluated.

Main author / Presenter
Serdar Goren
Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat)

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I am Serdar Cihat GÖREN. I am from Ankara/Türkiye. I am working for the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) as Head of Quality Group. I completed my graduate and master education in statistics. I have finished my PhD in statistics at Ankara University. I have authored numerous scholarly publications about quality in statistics, quality management, and big data analysis.

Presentation title
Implementing a Rolling Programme of Statistical Certification
The Irish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is undertaking a rolling programme of quality certification of statistical products in order to quality assure and standardise EPA statistics.

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Statistical certification involves reviewing and documenting the EPA's statistical processes and institution-wide policies and procedures and comparing against the principles of the European Statistics Code of Practice (ESCoP). In the Irish public sector, the certification process is managed and accredited by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) as the Irish Statistical System Code of Practice (ISSCoP). The certification process involves documenting the processes and methods used to produce the statistical product. This includes documentation for internal users, like a process map of all the steps in the process. It also includes documentation for external users, like adding a document with a summary of the methodology to the EPA website. Certification also involves completing a Self-Assessed Questionnaire (SAQ) which addresses each of the principles and indicators under ESCoP. This document requires input from various parts of the EPA, including IT, Data Protection and Communications, as well as input from the team producing the statistical product undergoing certification. With the on-going programme of certification, the institutional parts of the SAQ need to be updated regularly, but at different frequencies. To coordinate the collection and maintenance of the information required to produce the SAQs, the EPA has developed a set of questionnaires and related R markdown scripts. This ISSCoP system allows each team to answer questions related to their area of expertise, according to the timeframe that best suits them. The information required for certification can then be extracted from this system and compiled into the required format. The EPA’s ISSCoP system is based in a SharePoint site which also includes all of the documentation associated with the certification process. This central repository allows each of the stakeholders and collaborators to access the information that is relevant to them. With each round of certification, areas for improvement are identified for the statistical process. Some of these need to be addressed before certification is granted, and others are included in the future action plans for the product. Areas for improvement are also identified at the institutional level. The EPA’s ISSCoP system stores these actions and related improvement plans, allowing progress to be tracked. Through streamlined data collection, information sharing and action plan tracking, the ISSCoP system is a key enabler of the on-going quality improvement programme for EPA statistics.

Main author / Presenter
Jillian Delaney
EPA

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Jillian is a statistician at the Irish Environmental Protection Agency

Presentation title
Strengthening Coordination and Quality in the Hellenic Statistical System: Insights from ELSTAT and experience of Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport
In national statistical systems with a decentralized structure, ensuring effective coordination and consistent application of quality standards across statistical producers remains a key challenge.

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This paper presents the experience of ELSTAT in exercising its coordination role within the Hellenic Statistical System (ELSS), focusing on the evolving coordinating role of the Statistical Head in strengthening cooperation, governance, and quality assurance.

The analysis combines institutional experience with empirical evidence derived from a national workshop involving Statistical Heads of Other National Authorities (ONAs) of the ELSS. During the workshop, the Statistical Heads engaged in a SWOT analysis, aiming to map the current implementation of the European Statistics Code of Practice (ESS CoP), highlight good practices and challenges, and collect suggestions for more flexible and effective implementation practices. The analysis was used to identify key opportunities and challenges related to coordination, cooperation, capacity building, and the implementation of common quality frameworks within the ELSS.

The empirical findings are further supported by a case study of the Hellenic Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, where the Statistical Head’s team coordinated the development of Quality Reports based on the Single Integrated Metadata Structure (SIMS) format. This initiative enhanced transparency, quality documentation, and dissemination practices, while strengthening cooperation with ELSTAT.

The results are discussed in relation to Principle 1a of the ESS CoP, which emphasizes coordination and cooperation within national statistical systems. The paper highlights the added value of clearly defined roles, participatory approaches, and standardized quality tools in supporting the effective implementation ESS CoP in National Statistical Systems. Conclusions focus on lessons learned and recommendations for reinforcing coordination mechanisms and the role of the Statistical Head in the production and dissemination of high-quality official statistics.

Main author / Presenter
Christina Pierrakou
Head of the Quality and Certification of Statistics Section, Methodology, Quality Management and International Relation Division, ELSTAT

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Christina Pierrakou is a graduate of the University of Piraeus in Statistics and Insurance Science and holds two Master’s degrees: one in Applied Mathematics from the National Technical University of Athens and one in Quality Management and Technology from the Hellenic Open University. She has been working at ELSTAT since 2004 and currently serves as Head of the Quality and Certification of Statistics Section, focusing on process and quality monitoring and statistical auditing. She was a member of ELSTAT’s National Coordination Team during the 3rd round of the Peer Review, a member of Working Group on Quality in Statistics, a member of ELSTAT’s SDGs Team and Project Manager for ELSTAT in the ESSnet Big Data I and II projects. Authored several publications on quality assurance in statistics, including a dissertation on the ESS Quality Assurance Framework and research on the use of Automatic Identification System (AIS) data for maritime statistics.

CO-AUTHORS:

Presentation title
Changing the Mode of NSI Coordination and Cooperation: Influencing, Ecosystems and the National Statistical Service
ESS identified its position on the future and strategic priorities of European statistics in 2025.

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The new strategic priorities of the ESS guide the National Statistical Institutes to strengthen collaboration and cooperation to develop new methodologies and technical solutions, as well as to engage in continuous dialogue with data users and data holders.

The tighter financial situation for statistical organizations has forced NSIs to develop ways to increase productivity. Enhanced cooperation and increased data holder engagement are important tools for this goal. When enhancing cooperation, the NSIs need new capabilities. In addition to traditional coordination and stakeholder management, the NSIs need ecosystem competences, such as how to better interact with policymakers and how to create partnerships beyond the national statistical system.

In the paper, we will focus on new modes of cooperation and influencing in the NSS and in broader data ecosystems. The ultimate goal of these new modes is to help NSIs adopt new methods and technologies and to ensure the relevance of statistics even under budget restrictions.

Traditionally, cooperation has been based on bilateral arrangements (such as director-general-level meetings with stakeholders and common agreements with data holders). The coordination function has been vital in the National Statistical System. Now, bilateral cooperation and coordination are developing towards ecosystems where all participants can contribute their know-how to common goals.

Statistics Finland’s main goals for influencing are to promote the implementation of national and EU information policy. The NSI can be a key player in influencing and promoting better data governance, the harmonization of metadata, the development of quality frameworks for data, and the re-use of administrative data for scientific and research purposes.

We will showcase how the novel ecosystem-based approach has been implemented in NSI stakeholder work and statistical coordination arrangements. We will also present real-life influencing examples to show how the ecosystem approach has worked and to highlight the challenges met.

Main author / Presenter
Pasi Piela
Statistics Finland

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Mr Pasi Piela is a senior adviser at Partnership and Ecosystem Relations of Statistics Finland. He has worked at the office for 27 years and has extensive international experience from quality management, statistical methodology, geospatial information, and regional statistics. He also leads the Quality Working Group of the Official Statistics of Finland, which is strongly related to his presentation.

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Presentation title
Facilitation of Open Data hosting on PxStat system, Central Statistics Office Ireland (CSO), challenges and opportunities.
Under the terms of Regulation 223/09 the CSO has a formal coordination role to play across the National Statistical System (NSS).

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The broad range of statistics produced across the NSS play an essential part in creating an informed society and are indispensable for making evidence-based policy decisions in Ireland. The Open Data Directive (EU) 2019/1024 mandates that public sector bodies make their data freely available for reuse in open, machine-readable formats. There’s increased demand to boost transparency, standards and trust in public data. CSO has responded to this demand by expanding its co-ordination role to provide supports and services to facilitate the hosting of Open Data on the CSO PxStat system. This enhanced support is due to the fact that many government departments do not have the required expertise or capacity to host open data on their own websites.

This paper describes the steps taken by CSO to successfully develop and implement a quality support service for Open Data hosting across the NSS. It outlines the facilitation process with the Quality Co-ordinator. It includes details of the supports and resources made available to the wider system choosing to host their data on the PxStat system.

The paper describes the development of the National Data Methodology Hub, where standard reports on methods and quality for statistical outputs from across the system are available. These reports are linked to the PxStat system and provide information to users on the methodology in place in the particular output. The Hub includes an assessment on quality of the statistical output in terms of the quality dimensions set out in the Code of Practice for official statistics.

The promotion and enhanced support for Open Data is a key deliverable of the newly published CSO Data Strategy. To support the CSO Data Strategy we are looking to enhance PXStat functionality to include more visible metrics on the scale of hosted Open Data across the National Data Infrastructure (NDI) and enhancing the user experience to allow for better navigation of hosted Open Data.

Significant progress has been made to date due to the continued engagement across the NSS. The CSO Quality Co-ordinator is promoting and providing guidance on advancing the quality of Open Data being hosted on the PxStat system. While both challenges and opportunities have been encountered to date the CSO continues to navigate and adapt to meet the needs of users and producers across the NSS.

Main author / Presenter
Caroline Barrett
Central Statistics Office (CSO)

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Caroline Barrett has worked in official statistics in the Central Statistics Office (CSO) in Ireland since 1999. She spent a number of years working in the Results, Analysis and Publication area for Social Statistics. In January 2024 she was appointed to the Quality Management Support and Assurance Division in CSO. She is currently Quality Co-ordinator for the National Statistical System (NSS). Her primary role consists of providing quality supports and services for the NSS. She is also the Secretary of the National Data Infrastructure (NDI) Champions group in Ireland.

Presentation title
Exploring organisational quality in a decentralised statistical system: A case study of Statistics Flanders
Monitoring and ensuring the quality of official statistics within a decentralised institutional system presents specific structural challenges.

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When statistical production and dissemination are distributed across multiple organisations, each with its own mandate, expertise, and operational culture, the coherence and reliability of the overall statistical system depend on a systematic evaluation and coordination of organisational quality. This study adopts an exploratory approach to examine how organisational structures, practices, and capacities shape the quality foundations of such systems. Using Statistics Flanders as a case study, the research investigates how decentralised producers understand and operationalise quality requirements within their own institutional contexts.

The study is based on a survey conducted among the organisations contributing to the Flemish statistical system. The survey explores two broad dimensions: (1) the presence and maturity of local statistical policies, including their perceived alignment with the applicable Code of Practice; and (2) organisational capacity, with a focus on both the availability of statistical staff and the self reported level of statistical competencies.

The first dimension maps the diversity of existing policy frameworks and quality mechanisms across organisations. Rather than assuming uniformity, the exploratory design highlights variations in governance, procedures, and quality awareness. These insights help identify areas where alignment with the European Statistics Code of Practice is perceived as strong, as well as domains where organisations in the statistical signal uncertainty, gaps, or the need for further guidance.

The second dimension examines capacity through the lens of the organisations. By analysing how organisations assess their own statistical expertise, ranging from methodological knowledge to data processing, quality assurance, and communication, the study uncovers patterns of strengths and weaknesses that may influence the functioning of the decentralised system. These findings point to potential opportunities for capacity development, such as targeted training or enhanced collaboration.

Taken together, the results provide an initial, exploratory picture of organisational quality within a decentralised statistical system. The case of Statistics Flanders illustrates how survey based inquiry can reveal both structural challenges and emerging opportunities, offering a foundation for future, more in depth research and for informed discussions on strengthening institutional quality assurance.

Main author / Presenter
Tom De Winter
Statistics Flanders

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Tom De Winter holds a Master’s degree in Statistics and a PhD in Sociology. Throughout his career, he has combined statistical and methodological expertise with a sustained interest in the quality of public data and official statistics, spanning their development, production, and communication. In recent years, he has served as Quality Manager at Statistics Flanders, one of Belgium’s regional statistical authorities. In this role, he works to promote the production of reliable, transparent, and trustworthy official statistics across the Flemish statistical system.

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