Item for Written Consultation

DIME/ITDG

JOINT DIME/ITDG PLENARY

Item for written consultation (closed on the 11/09/2015)

DIME/ITDG governance DIME/ITDG governance

1. BACKGROUND AND BRIEF HISTORY In its meeting in March 2014, the DIME-ITDG discussed a proposal on its governance. The discussion focused on three aspects: the regrouping of DIME and ITDG activities; the associated governance structure (directors, working group and expert group structure); and the roadmap towards the implementation of the proposed new governance. The reactions of the participants to the proposal were mixed. The DIME-ITDG concluded by acknowledging the need for DIME and ITDG to work together on strategic issues and stressed that further elaboration and time should be devoted to the evaluation of the implementation of the proposed new governance.

The DIME-ITDG Steering Group discussed the status of the integration of DIME-ITDG activities respectively in its June and December 2014 meetings. The DIME-ITDG SG made the proposal to make an inventory of the current mandates, participants and reporting lines of all entities in the pyramidal governance structure to clarify "who does what" in the current governance structure. At the same time the DIME-ITDG SG asked for the establishment of a clear picture of the "to be state" to facilitate the transition.

In its meeting in February 2015, the DIME-ITDG endorsed the mandate of the DIME/ITDG SG and discussed a fine-tuned complete proposal on its governance.

A written consultation took place with DIME/ITDG plenary, from the 17 of August 2015 to the 11 of September 2015.

The new DIME/ITDG governance shall be implemented by the end of the year 2015, and be fully operational as of the 2 nd of January 2016. After 2 years, an evaluation will be conducted in order to review the governance.

2.CONSEQUENCES FOR NATIONAL STATISTICAL INSTITUTES

The revised complete proposal on the governance structure, roles and responsibilities in the areas under the remit of the DIME and ITDG, is presented in section 3.1; the proposal incorporates the suggestions made in the DIME/ITDG plenary meeting held in February 2015 and in the DIME/ITDG SG held in June 2015. Table 1 recalls the main principles underlying the nature and the composition of each group in the new governance structure.

Table 1: DIME/ITDG governance framework (3 layers)

Layer Type Nature Members Representation Parent Note level 1 Director Group Senior Permanent All MSs ESSC Mandant (DG) Management 2 Working Group Middle Mandatary/ Permanent All MSs DG (WG) Management Mandant 3 Expert Group (EG) Permanent Some MSs Experts WG Mandatary 3 Task Force (TF) Temporary Some MSs Experts WG/EG Mandatary 3 User Groups (UG) Temporary Some MSs Users WG/EG Mandatary

Additionally:  groups for which the participation of all MSs is envisaged, shall have a mandate and rules of procedures. Whenever a limited number of Member States are represented, rules of procedures will not be necessarily required  parent group is "Mandant" for its respective child groups which are "Mandatary".  A mandate is prepared and given by the Mandant and received and accepted by the Mandatary.

3.1 GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE

Hereafter additional details on the new structure are presented. The structure shall consist of 3 layers .

Layer 1. Directors Group(s) The role of the directors groups is in line with the role of other Director Groups operating under the ESSC, i.e. to prepare all dossiers either in the areas of responsibility prior to the decisions to be taken in the ESSC. The DIME and the ITDG are two separate director groups working and meeting jointly on strategic issues of common interest. The DIME/ITDG steering group prepares the work for the plenary meetings. Nature: Permanent Members: All MSs Reporting line: To ESSC Mandate: Endorsed by the ESSC Layer 2. Working Groups Working groups deal with specific thematic areas and are in charge of the operational implementation of the strategic orientations identified and planned by the Directors Group(s) and to provide input to the Director Groups to formulate such strategic orientations. Additionally, the role of working groups is to consolidate and validate the work performed at technical level on specific thematic issues by dedicated operational sub-groups (expert groups, task forces and user groups). Working groups provide opinions and propose solutions on the subjects under their remit in view of the elaboration and presentation of proposals for the endorsement by the DIME/ITDG. The proposed new structure, foresees 4 Working Groups:  Working Group on Methodology (including statistical methods, confidentiality, seasonal adjustment, research and innovation) - Methodology WG, reporting to DIME. o Active, mandate given by DIME  Working Group on IT – IT WG, reporting to ITDG. o Active, revised mandate given by ITDG  Working Group on Data and Metadata Standards and Classifications – Standards WG reporting to DIME/ITDG o The two active Working Groups on Metadata and Working Group on Classifications will be merged, revised and broaden mandate to be given by DIME/ITDG  Working Group on Quality and Compliance – Quality WG, reporting to DIME. o Active, revised mandate to be given by DIME Nature: Permanent Members: All MSs Reporting line: To DIME-ITDG Mandate: Given by the DIME/ITDG

Layers 3.Expert Groups/Task Forces/User Groups The DIME-ITDG (and the 4 WGs mentioned under layer 2) may set up permanent expert groups and/or temporary task forces and/or temporary User Groups. These groups have either a specific relevance and/or special composition. Nature: Permanent/temporary Members: some MSs Reporting line: To DIME/ITDG or parent Working Group Mandate: by DIME/ITDG or parent Working Group

3.1.1. REPORTING TO THE WORKING GROUPS/EXPERT GROUPS

Working groups may delegate the preparatory and more technical work to dedicated permanent technical expert groups or temporary task forces/user groups. These groups deal with specific well identified thematic areas under the remit of the corresponding working group. They are mandated by the "parent" working group and report to it. The proposed Expert Groups/Task Forces/User Groups reporting to Working Groups are:  Statistical Disclosure Control EG – reporting to Methodology WG o Active, permanent  Seasonal Adjustment EG – SAEG– reporting to Methodology WG (within ESS) and to WG General Economic Statistics (within ESCB) o Active, permanent, revised mandate given by DIME in February 2015  Validation TF – reporting to Methodology WG o Active, temporary, it will expire end 2017  Statistical Classification TF – reporting to Standards WG o Active, it will expire end of 2016  Standardisation EG (ESS standardisation body) – reporting to Standards WG o Active, permanent, mandate to be revised by WG Standards  Information Models TF – reporting to Standards WG o Active, it will expire end of 2016  Security EG– reporting to IT WG o Active, revised mandate given by ITDG in February 2015  ESS.VIP IT TF – reporting to IT WG o Active, it expires at the end of 2016  Shared Services TF – reporting to IT WG o Activated, new mandate given by ITDG in February 2015, it expires at the end of 2016  SDMX Tools TF – reporting to IT WG o Activated, new mandate given by ITDG in February 2015, it expires at the end of 2018  QUAL TF –reporting to Quality WG o Active, mandate given by Quality WG in February 2015  Edamis and Validation Services User Group – EVUG -reporting to IT WG o Active, it will expire end of 2016  Seasonal Adjustment User Group – SAUG reporting to SAEG o Active, it expires in April 2016 4. Next steps

 Implementation of new governance structure to be fully operational in 2016 Figure 1: NEW governance structure List of Annexes

Annex I. MANDATE OF WG METHODOLOGY

Annex II. MANDATE OF WG IT

Annex III. MANDATE OF WG STANDARDS

Annex IV. MANDATE OF WG QUALITY Annex I. MANDATE OF WG METHODOLOGY

MANDATE OF THE

Working Group On METHODOLOGY

Title: Working Group on Methodology Acronym: WG Methodology Type: Working Groups SG Code (Register of experts groups): XXXXX Date of creation of the Group: 2015 Nature: permanent, all Member States Parent Group (mandant) giving the mandate: DIME Date of acceptance of the mandate by the Group: 7th of April 2016 Ending date of current mandate: not applicable Mandate: The group is responsible for thoroughly operationally and technically preparing all dossiers in the broad area of Methodology for Official Statistics prior to the decisions to be taken in the DIME in preparation to the work of European Statistical System Committee (ESSC) within the governance system of the European Statistical System (ESS).

The Group:  Provides a forum for exchange of views, in the areas under its remit by coordinating the operational and technical activities, presenting the new priorities envisaged and the possible fields where simplification, reprioritisation and/or phasing-out of certain work could be envisaged.  Addresses the issue and ensure the links between the areas under its responsibility and other domains.  Facilitates the capacity building and knowledge management in the areas under its responsibility.  Facilitates and promotes the modernisation of the ESS.

Areas of responsibilities (including some areas of shared interest with other Groups) are:  Statistical methods  Confidentiality and micro data access  Research and Innovation  Data analytics Frequency of meetings: Once a year.

Participants: Number of participants: up to 40  Member States and candidate countries at the level of middle management  EEA/EFTA States participate fully in the group meetings on all EEA-relevant matters. For the matters which are only EU-relevant, they have the status of observers. Switzerland participates fully in the group meetings on all Swiss/EU-relevant matters. For the matters which are only EU-relevant, it has the status of observer  Representatives from accession countries are observers  International organisations and other Commission services can also be invited to participate

Type of activities: technical drafting, Member States harmonization, exchange of views Related child-groups:  Statistical Disclosure Control Expert Group  Seasonal Adjustment Expert Group  Seasonal Adjustment User Group Related other groups:  Big Data Task Force Reporting authority: This group reports directly to the DIME (Directors of Methodology Group) by its Chairperson, the responsible Eurostat representative.

Additional information: --- Annex II. MANDATE OF WG IT

MANDATE OF THE

Working Group On IT

Title: Working Group on IT Acronym: IT WG Type: Working Groups SG Code (Register of experts groups): E0 1479 Date of creation of the Group: 2015 Nature: permanent, all Member States Parent Group (mandant) giving the mandate: ITDG Date of acceptance of the mandate by the Group: XXXX Ending date of current mandate: not applicable Mandate: The group is responsible for thoroughly operationally and technically preparing all dossiers in the broad area of IT for Statistics prior to the decisions to be taken in the ITDG in preparation to the work of European Statistical System Committee (ESSC) within the governance system of the European Statistical System (ESS).

The Group:  Provides a forum for exchange of views, in the areas under its remit by coordinating the operational and technical activities, presenting the new priorities envisaged and the possible fields where simplification, reprioritisation and/or phasing-out of certain work could be envisaged.  Addresses the issue and ensure the links between the areas under its responsibility and other domains.  Facilitates the capacity building and knowledge management in the areas under its responsibility.  Facilitates and promotes the modernisation of the ESS. Areas of responsibilities (including some areas of shared interest with other Groups) are:  IT infrastructure  IT tools  Information systems  Data exchange  Remote access  Security  Shared Services Frequency of meetings: Once/Twice a year.

Type of activities: technical drafting, Member States harmonization, exchange of views Related child-groups:  ESS.VIP.IT Task Force  Security Expert Group  Shared Service Task Force  SDMX tools Task Force  Edamis and Validation Services User Group Related other groups:  Big Data Task Force Reporting authority: This group reports directly to the ITDG (IT Directors Group) by its Chairperson, the responsible Eurostat representative.

Additional information: --- Annex III. MANDATE OF WG STANDARDS

MANDATE OF THE

Working Group On Standards

Title: Working Group on data and metadata standards and classifications Acronym: Standards WG Type: Working Groups

SG Code (Register of experts groups): E03417 Date of creation of the Group: 2015 Nature: permanent, all Member States Parent Group (mandant) giving the mandate: DIME/ITDG Date of acceptance of the mandate by the Group: 2016 Ending date of current mandate: not applicable Mandate: The group is responsible for thoroughly operationally and technically preparing all dossiers in the broad area of data and metadata standards and classifications prior to the decisions to be taken in the DIME/ITDG in preparation to the work of European Statistical System Committee (ESSC) within the governance system of the European Statistical System (ESS).

The Group:  Provides a forum for exchange of views, in the areas under its remit by coordinating the operational and technical activities, presenting the new priorities envisaged and the possible fields where simplification, reprioritisation and/or phasing-out of certain work could be envisaged.  Addresses the issue and ensure the links between the areas under its responsibility and other domains.  Facilitates the capacity building and knowledge management in the areas under its responsibility.  Facilitates and promotes the modernisation of the ESS.

Areas of responsibilities (including some areas of shared interest with other Groups) are:  Statistical Classification  Data models  Metadata models  Information models and business process standards  Standard implementation

Frequency of meetings: Once/Twice a year.

Type of activities: technical drafting, Member States harmonization, exchange of views Related child-groups:  Statistical Classification Task Forces  Information Models Task Force  Standardisation Expert Group Related other groups: Reporting authority: This group reports directly to the DIME (Directors of Methodology Group) and to the ITDG (IT Directors Group) by its Chairperson, the responsible Eurostat representative.

Additional information: --- Annex IV. MANDATE OF WG QUALITY

MANDATE OF THE Working Group “Quality in Statistics”

Title: Working Group “Quality in Statistics” Acronym: WG Q Type: Working Groups SG Code (Register of experts groups): E02995 Date of creation of the Group: 1998 Nature: permanent Parent Group (mandant) giving the mandate: DIME Date of acceptance of the mandate by the Group: December 2015 End date of current mandate: N.A. Mandate: The broad objective of the Group is to provide leadership, co-ordination and guidance on issues concerning quality management in the ESS, covering all aspects and dimensions of quality: from quality of the statistical production (quality assurance, process and product quality, quality reporting, etc) to quality for the institutions as a whole (quality management, institutional environment). In this regard, the Group plays a leading role in the conceptualisation, promotion and modernisation of the common quality framework in the ESS which is built around the European Statistics Code of Practice. The Group is responsible for thoroughly preparing all dossiers in the broad area of quality management prior to the decisions to be taken in the DIME in preparation to the work of European Statistical System Committee (ESSC) within the governance system of the European Statistical System (ESS). It is chaired by Eurostat.

The Group:  Plays a leading role in quality issues in the ESS  Provides a forum for exchange of views, in the areas under its remit by presenting the new priorities envisaged and the possible fields where simplification, reprioritisation and/or phasing-out of certain work are envisaged.  Addresses the issues and ensures the links between the areas under its responsibility and other domains.  Facilitates the capacity building, knowledge management and sharing in the areas under its responsibility.  Facilitates and promotes the modernisation of the ESS.  Is consulted on all quality issues which are relevant for the implementation of the ESS Vision 2020.

Areas of responsibilities (including some areas of shared interest with other Groups) are:  Provides leadership, guidance and co-ordination on issues concerning quality management in the ESS  Provides leadership and supervision of the Quality key area of the ESS Vision 2020 and its Implementation Portfolio Frequency of meetings: Once/Twice a year.

Participants: Number of participants: up to 60  Member States, EFTA/EEA and Switzerland, candidate countries at the level of middle management  Representatives from accession countries are observers  International organisations and other Commission services can also be invited to participate

Type of activities: Leadership, exchange of views , Member States harmonisation, technical drafting and consultation on papers and issues related to quality. Related child-groups: TF QUAL (created in February 2015 and active until the end of 2015); Steering Committee of the QUAL@ESS Vision 2020 supporting framework for the Coordination activities (from January 2016 until the closure of the work of the Vision Implementation Portfolio). In case the Steering Committee should deal with issues outside of DIME responsibility (e.g. related to human resources, enterprise architecture impacting the process map, etc.) it communicates with the respective Directors' Group,as appropriate. Related other groups Reporting authority: This group reports directly to its parent group DIME by its Chairperson, the responsible Eurostat representative.

Additional information: