Conference on “Strengthening ICT and human resources capacity in production of official statistics” held
A conference on the topic “Strengthening ICT and human resources capacity in the production of official statistics” was held today in Baku. The conference was co-organized by the State Statistics Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Statistics Committee of the Republic of Korea (KOSTAT).
The event participants first paid tribute to the memory of the national leader of our country, the architect and founder of our modern independent state, Heydar Aliyev and laid a wreath at his grave.
Speaking at the conference, Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies Ramin Guluzade said that the conference is very important in terms of developing official statistics in accordance with new challenges: “Holding a conference together with the Statistics Committee of the Republic of Korea increases the importance of the event. There is close cooperation between Azerbaijan and South Korea in all areas, and I would like to emphasize the special role of Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to our country Mr. Kim Tong Op”.
Noting the leading role of the State Statistics Committee in carrying out reforms in the country, providing information for various fields, the Minister stressed the importance of the statistical samples prepared by the Committee “Information Society in Azerbaijan”, “Telecommunications and Post in Azerbaijan”, and “Transport in Azerbaijan”.
According to Ramin Guluzade, in the era of digitalization it is impossible to imagine the management of statistical information without the support of modern information technologies. “Information technologies are widely used at all stages of statistical information management – collection, processing and dissemination of information, and contributes to the improvement of official statistics. Our ministry is also actively involved in these processes. We supported the integration of databases of government agencies into the statistical database of the State Statistics Committee, and joint efforts were made to apply electronic signatures in this process. Committee’s 500 computers have been equipped with a licensed Windows operating system and 200 Microsoft Office programs. The Government Cloud transition plan also takes into consideration the placement of information systems of the State Statistics Committee in the data center of the ministry,” the Minister said.
Ramin Guluzade noted that, as in many areas, statistical agencies have shown great interest in big data. According to him, in 2014 the United Nations Statistical Commission created a Global Working Group to study the possibilities of using big data in official statistics and organized several conferences and workshops.
The Minister recalled that the International Telecommunication Union is implementing a project called “Big Data for Measuring the Information Society”, the possibilities for accurate and detailed assessment of the information society are being studied: “It is gratifying that work is in progress on this in our country. The “State Program for the Development of Official Statistics in the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2018–2025”, approved by presidential decree, also provides for the study of international experience and recommendations on the use of big data for official statistical purposes. One of the executors of the program is the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies.”
Ramin Guluzade said that a number of steps must be taken to use big data for official statistics, legal, technical, methodological and other issues should be resolved. “All these development trends are changing, as well as the requirements for human resources in the field of statistics. New technologies create the need for new qualified personnel, and it is also important to include these specialties in curricula. The Ministry, in turn, is ready to actively participate in these processes and render all possible assistance to the wide application of information technologies in the field of official statistics,” the Minister emphasized.
Chairman of the State Statistics Committee Tahir Budagov, Commissioner of Statistics Korea Kang Shin-Wook, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Korea to Azerbaijan Kim Tong Op also spoke at the conference.
At the event, presentations were made on topics “Modernization of statistics – the Korean experience”, “Organization of the production processes of official statistics in the State Statistics Committee: implemented reforms and new challenges”, “Statistical training programs of a modular type”, “Brief overview of projects implemented jointly with the State Statistics Committee and the Statistics Committee of Korea”.
