Report published by the Commission on Future Statistics with the participation of the RatSWD

The independent commission’s report contains thirteen specific recommendations for policymakers, statistical stakeholders and the Federal Statistical Office. The analysis shows that official statistics in Germany can become more effective and efficient under a modern legal framework and with adequate resources. At the same time, burdens can be reduced and data protection interests safeguarded. The Commission’s proposals also aim to ensure that a more flexible response to crisis situations is possible with the help of a better data basis.

Over a period of one and a half years, the KomZS, under the leadership of Prof Dr Walter Radermacher, former President of the Federal Statistical Office and former Director General of Eurostat, has been working on the future of official statistics. The committee consists of experts from various scientific disciplines related to official statistics, including Prof Dr Monika Jungbauer-Gans, Chair of the RatSWD, and Prof Dr Kerstin Schneider, Vice Chair of the RatSWD, as well as RatSWD member Dr Daniel Vorgrimler as a guest.

“The results of the commission are also very important for the work of the German Data Forum (RatSWD), as they provide concrete recommendations to policymakers on how official statistics can be fundamentally modernised, while at the same time taking into account the interests of science in this process. In particular, we very much welcome the statutory anchoring of the research mandate of the research data centres of the federal and state statistical offices accredited by the German Data Forum (RatSWD),” says RatSWD Chairwoman Prof. Dr Monika Jungbauer-Gans.

The full KomZS report is available at the following link: https://www.destatis.de/DE/Ueber-uns/Leitung-Organisation/KomZS/abschlussbericht.html?nn=674878 [German only]

The German Data Forum (RatSWD) has been advising the German federal government and the governments of the German states on questions of research data infrastructure for the empirical social, behavioural and economic sciences since 2004. In the RatSWD, ten representatives of the social, behavioural and economic disciplines, legitimised by election, work together with ten representatives of data production.

The RatSWD is part of the Consortium for the Social, Behavioural, Educational and Economic Sciences (KonsortSWD) in the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI). It sees itself as an institutionalised forum for dialogue between science and data producers and develops recommendations and statements. In doing so, it is committed to an infrastructure that provides science with broad, flexible and secure access to data. These data are provided by governmental, science-based and private-sector actors. Currently, the RatSWD has accredited 41 research data centres and promotes their cooperation.