The Next Generation of Statistical Capacity Building
The digital revolution has changed the operatingenvironment for statistics and has increased competitionin the information space.The operating environment for NSOs has changed significantlyin the past decades. Computing power once prohibitivelyexpensive has become affordable even for low-income andlower-middle-income countries. Data that had to be collectedmanually are now ubiquitous because of digitalization ande-government initiatives, which have also created a constantflow of data from citizens and businesses to governmentagencies. The rollout of national ID programs, unique businessentity identifiers, and national address registers have createdthe potential for integrating data from disparate databases. However, the vast new technical possibilities have beenaccompanied by intense competition in the information space.NSOs that were once the main, or in some cases the only,providers of socioeconomic information, are being challengedby new, nimbler, and more data savvy players who are not boundby the rigid definitions and standards of official statistics. TheCOVID-19 pandemic amplified this trend, with a proliferation ofdata sites providing near to real-time data on the impact of thepandemic on public health, livelihoods, labor markets, and theeconomy