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M e t h o d o l o g i e s a n d W o r k i n g p a p e r s
ISSN 1977-0375
2013 edition
2013 edition
M e t h o d o l o g i e s a n d W o r k i n g p a p e r s
ESSnet projects
2013 assessment report
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doi:10.2785/43752 Cat. No KS-RA-13-019-EN-N Theme: General and
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Table of contents
Methodology and criteria of the assessment
......................................................................
6 Criteria of communication and quality of input to
ESS........................................................ 6
Criteria of coordination and project setup
...........................................................................
8 Criteria of applicability and sustainability
..........................................................................
10 Criteria of scientific value added
.......................................................................................
11
2. Assessment by
project.........................................................................................................
12 Projects finished in
2012...................................................................................................
12 Core – Common Reference
Environment.........................................................................
12 EGR – Eurogroup
register.................................................................................................
14 SAE – Small Area Estimation
...........................................................................................
16 SDMX II – ESSnet on SDMX - Phase
II............................................................................
18 Tourism – ESSnet on automated data
collection..............................................................
20 ICT Impact – ESSnet on assessing the
impact.................................................................
22 On-going projects in
2013.................................................................................................
23 Admin data – use of administrative
data...........................................................................
23
Consistency.......................................................................................................................
25 DARA (remote Access) – ESSnet
DARA..........................................................................
27 DCSS - Data
Collection.....................................................................................................
29 Data Warehouse – Micro data linking
...............................................................................
31 ESeG –European socio-economic classification
.............................................................. 33
Global Value Chains – Measuring global value
chains..................................................... 35 ICT
Piloting – Definition and piloting of specific modules
................................................. 37
MEMOBust........................................................................................................................
38 MESH – Manual for energy
statistics................................................................................
40 Net-SILC2 – Second Network of the Analysis
..................................................................
42 Profiling – Profiling of large and complex
MNEs...............................................................
43 Standardisation
.................................................................................................................
44
ESSnet projects – 2013 assessment report 4
Abstract This report documents results of the 2012-2013 assessment
of ESSnet projects. It includes results of an assessment of seven
architectural and nine sectorial projects. Reports and main
deliverables of all but one of the ESSnet projects that were
finished in 2012 have been assessed. Three on-going projects could
not be assessed due to absence of information published
online.
Several projects lack a scientific overview. A cost / benefit
analysis was rarely found. The success of the internal and external
coordination differs from project to project. Applicability and
inclusion of disciplines and stakeholders were found to be a
strength for all finished and on-going projects. Likewise, the
inclusion of non-participants within ESSnet is at a good level.
Underlining the scientific value added of several projects,
research papers were published within or after the project life
time. The annex of this document includes a summary overview on the
assessment details.
Editor:
]init[ AG für Digitale Kommunikation, Square Ambiorix 13, 1000
Brussels
Introduction
5 ESSnet projects – 2013 assessment report
Introduction The February 2007 SPC meeting stated that an ESSnet
project is based on “A network of several ESS organisations aimed
at providing results that will be beneficial to the whole ESS”.
ESSnet is the current format of what was formerly called “Centres
and Networks of Excellence” (Cenex).
As an instrument for pan-European knowledge transfer and technical
and methodological cooperation among Member States, ESSnet projects
are partly financed by Eurostat and have to fit the following
criteria to be eligible as an ESSnet project:
− Involves several partners and results diffused to
non-participating NSAs;
− Focus on issues that answer to a European interest (excludes
projects that do not contribute to the quality of ESS
statistics);
− Compatible with the 5 year programme;
− Cost effective (excludes projects that have not a sufficient
financial investment and where there is a duplication with other
initiatives in the ESS);
− Knowledge sharing, innovation and harmonisation;
− Sustainable (The project should be sustainable beyond its
duration; adequate measures should be foreseen at national
level);
− Actions must be carried out by ESS organisations.
Following these main principles, the European Statistical System
already saw ESSnet projects of very different kinds and natures:
ranging from software implementation projects over metadata
standardisation efforts to a comparison of statistical methods used
in the Member States.
1
ESSnet projects – 2013 assessment report 6
Scope of the assessment The following assessment of projects is
based on a common set of criteria that tries to overcome the
different nature of these projects by focussing the assessment on
common grounds. As a desktop analysis, the assessment takes into
account the documentation of major ESSnet project deliverables:
mainly project reports, handbooks and guidelines that were
available online on the web platform for “collaboration in research
and methodology for official statistics”, the new CROS portal
launched in 2012. The review was conducted in February 2013 and
represents the projects’ situation at this moment in time as it was
seen by the external reviewers.
Due to the short time allotted for the evaluation and the limited
resources available, it has not been possible to discuss the
assessments with the project teams concerned. Therefore, the
assessment must be dealt with in a similar spirit as the general
feedback from referees on a submitted manuscript. Thus, the authors
of this report are to understand it as a basis for discussion and
not as a final dictum on the projects.
Methodology and criteria of the assessment In order to ensure a
maximum of comparability between the ESSnet projects, a set of
general criteria was elaborated. It is explained in more in detail
in the remainder of this chapter.
The assessment takes into account ten criteria separated into the
following four different sections:
Section 1 — Communication and quality of input to ESS
Section 2 — Coordination and project setup
Section 3 — Applicability and Sustainability
Section 4 — Scientific value added
ESSnet projects are assembled as a joint effort from a coordinator,
co-partners and non-participating ESS NSIs. Their respective roles
and tasks are designed as follows:
Coordinator: The task of the project coordinator is to manage and
coordinate the project team. Mostly, one NSI is responsible for the
coordination. The coordinator is authorized to invite all project
members to meetings and to monitor the processes. The coordinator
is also responsible for the communication with Eurostat and should
take care of the dissemination of project information on the CROS
portal.
Co-Partners: These project members are responsible for the
realisation of the previously defined objectives. It is their task
to produce the content, documents, reports etc. Co-partners may
also be charged with coordinating one or more of the work packages
of the project.
Non-participating ESS NSIs: The NSIs which are not Coordinators or
Co-partners of the project are non- participating ESS NSIs. The
inclusion of non-participants is one of the key characteristics of
an ESSnet project is. The fulfilment or not of this requirement was
also part of the assessment process. Inclusion can range from pure
ideas of how to involve other non-participating Member States to
dedicated handbooks and print-out material for
non-participants.
Criteria of communication and quality of input to ESS The first
section of each assessment comprises four criteria. It refers to
the present body of documents of the respective ESSnet project. The
existence of a “state of play summary” will be relevant to comply
with the first criterion.
The primary function of the state of play is to sum up the main
developments of the project’s topic within the ESS. It is intended
to inform about topic coverage and backgrounds, the target group
and the adaption to the target audience. The reader should be able
to understand the main backgrounds of the topic and get
1
ESSnet projects – 2013 assessment report 7
information about the cooperation with ESS and Eurostat. Moreover,
the criterion “presence of a state of play” includes the connection
to other and prior projects which are relevant in light of the
current project aims. For software oriented projects or for
projects with only a limited scientific approach, the state of play
criterion may be regarded as of lesser importance.
Criterion 1 – State of play?
1: Is there a “state of play summary of the ESS”
1a) if yes, is it appropriate?
1b) if not is this motivated (e.g. not in project scope – and is
this exclusion motivated?)
The second criterion in the first section is the presence of a
scientific overview.
While the state of play criterion assesses the project’s
integration in the ESS context, the scientific overview is intended
to describe the project’s aims and goals with respect to the
current state-of-the-art in statistical science. It shall be
adapted to a scientific target group and shall comprise a short and
comprehensive problem statement including links to further
information. Like the state of play, the criterion “presence of a
scientific overview” might not be applicable to all projects to the
same degree, as the large variety of ESSnet projects includes
concrete software implementation projects. For those that focus on
implementation and technical infrastructure issues adding
scientific value cannot be regarded a criterion for a successful
project.
Criterion 2 – Scientific overview exists?
2: Is there a scientific overview concerning the topic?
2a) If yes, is it sufficiently exhaustive?
2b) If no, which elements are missing?
Each project is managed by one coordinator and involves a number of
co-partners. The non-participating partners should be able to
benefit from the project results too. The criteria “inclusion of
non-participating partners” assesses the extent of ideas, tools and
deliverables which allow non-participating partners to use the
project results.
Criterion 3 – Inclusion of non-participating partners
3: To what extent have concepts and strategies been developed that
enable stakeholders outside of the working group to benefit from
the project’s results?
The last criterion of the assessment of what can be checked by
means of a desktop analysis is that of the different dissemination
activities planned and / or realised by the ESSnet project:
Criterion 4 – Dissemination activities
4a) To what extent is project documentation available on / through
CROS-portal?
4b) Are there other websites or workspaces where dissemination
takes place?
4c) Did the project issue any online news / press releases
concerning the project?
According to the inclusion of non-participating ESS NSIs,
dissemination activities are useful to publish and distribute
project results. The main platform for the publication of results
is the CROS-portal.
Every project should use this platform to distribute and describe
their state of work. Depending on the objectives of the project and
its respective target audience, other more specific or even more
general websites can also be regarded as useful for additional
dissemination of results. Other typical dissemination activities
assessed using the desktop review technique comprise online news,
press releases, contributions to forums and discussions. Besides
the quantity of documentation also the overall quality, the timing
and the proper fitting of dissemination material to the
dissemination channel is relevant. The exploitation and combination
of suitable dissemination methods represent important aspects in
this criterion. This may cover previous, current or planned
activities.
1
ESSnet projects – 2013 assessment report 8
Criteria of coordination and project setup The 2nd section
“Coordination and project setup” focusses mainly on project
staffing, domain and geographical coverage and time planning
concerns. The 5th overall criterion therefore expresses whether or
not the project coordination was sufficient. This criterion
assesses the visible consistency between deliverables planned,
announced and provided. It aims to evaluate, whether good
management decisions were taken by the project coordinator whenever
the project had to face important changes like Member States
quitting the ESSnet project or changes in scope of the
project.
Another aspect of criterion 5 is to measure whether the respective
ESSnet project was sufficiently interlinked with similar preceding
and future projects.
Criterion 5 – Project coordination sufficient?
5a) Is the internal project coordination (and the consistency
between the deliverables) sufficient?
5b) Is the coordination with other European or international
projects sufficient?
The proper and exhaustive inclusion of participants from relevant
disciplines with respect to the aims and goals of the ESSnet forms
the sixth criterion. For the assessment it is important to note
that while one ESSnet project might benefit from the participation
of a large number of statistical disciplines, the progress of
another may advance significantly slower if the number of
disciplines involved is too large.
Criterion 6 – Inclusion of disciplines and stakeholders
6a) Does the project include the appropriate set of
disciplines?
6b) Has the project included all relevant stakeholders?
Another important criterion for a proper project setup is the
coverage in terms of Member States and geographical spread. An
ESSnet aiming to work on indicators for countries with large
economies should comprise these Member States already in the
initial project setup. Likewise, an ESSnet dealing with the large
variety of different languages and cultures should not be based on
a consortium made up of English- speaking countries only.
Figure 1 illustrates countries that have been a coordinator in one
or more ESSnet projects in 2012 and 2013 (marked in orange) while
the brown colour is used for Member States that have not been
coordinators but co-partnering on at least one ESSnet project.
Countries marked neither in orange nor in brown have not acted as
partners in ESSnet projects in the evaluation period
2012-2013.
1
ESSnet projects – 2013 assessment report 9
Figure 1: ESSnet Coordinators and Partners 2012-2013
Source: Annex: coordination and partner
While Figure 1 illustrates the mere fact whether or not a country
has acted as a coordinator or co-partner in an ESSnet project,
another view weights the different roles in every project. The
result shows very different levels of activity from Member States
in the ESSnet. In Figure 2, a Member State receives a score of two
points for each coordination activity while co-partnering increases
the total activity score of a Member State by one point for every
ESSnet project activity.
1
ESSnet projects – 2013 assessment report 10
Figure 2: ESSnet Member States activity in coordinating and
partnering ESSnet projects (2012-2013)
Source: Annex: coordination and partner
Criteria of applicability and sustainability The criteria in this
section assess factors which increase or decrease the likelihood
for third parties to apply project results. Aspects that positively
influence this indicator of “applicability” include case studies
conducted to evaluate the applicability of project results, concise
easy-to-read guidelines, the proper dissemination of free software
in relevant open source repositories or the absence of complex or
unclear licensing issues regarding the use of the project results
themselves.
Criterion 7 - Applicability: Which factors make it likely/unlikely
for the project results (or the results of follow-up projects) to
be applicable in the ESS?
7b) (If not addressed in 7a) Has the applicability been proven in
practice (case studies)?
7c) (If likely) Which impact would the project results have?
Criterion 8: Sustainability
1
ESSnet projects – 2013 assessment report 11
The ninth criterion addresses the presence or absence of a
cost/benefit analysis. A cost benefit analysis is often very
helpful and expressive but may also be cumbersome to make: While
defining costs may be an easier task, declaring quantifying
benefits often can only be based on individual assumptions
concerning potential synergies. The existence of a cost/benefit
analysis in the assessment is a plus, while the absence does not
have a negative impact on the result of the assessment of this
aspect.
Criterion 9: Has a cost/benefit analysis been conducted?
(yes/no/not relevant, because...)
Criteria of scientific value added The last section indicates the
existence of added scientific value with respect to the statistical
research community. Would the current state of the art be
considered unchanged, with and without results of the assessed
ESSnet project? This assessment is focussed on the determination of
scientific dissemination activity. The number of papers including
both, papers for conferences and papers published in journals will
be determined. The search is conducted:
− restricting time for publication not earlier than the start date
of the project;
− using Google Scholar and Google Search as instruments for
searching;
− including the ESSnet project title as a search criteria.
Criterion 10: Has the project added scientific value?
10a) Did members of the project publish project-related papers for
conferences?
10b) Did members of the project publish project-related papers for
scientific journals?
2 Assessment by project
ESSnet projects – 2013 assessment report 12
Assessment by project The following projects are logically grouped
by their respective project status. ESSnet projects that were
concluded in 2012 will be followed by the assessment of on-going
projects.
Projects finished in 2012
Core – Common Reference Environment
NB: At the beginning of each assessment, the Project type indicator
gives an overview of the project’s status with regard to all
criteria (1 – 10); Project type: A=architectural, S=sectorial
The ESSnet CORE (COmmon Reference Environment) continues the work
of a previous ESSnet called CORA (COmmon Reference Architecture)
CORA, which finished in October 2010, and produced the definition
of an architectural model together with proof-of-concept software
prototypes.
Communication and quality of input
The communication and quality of input of the ESSnet project CORE
is very satisfying. The documentation of deliverables is very
structured and comprehensive. The working area of the project was
the ISTAT wiki
https://www.wiki.istat.it/doku.php/start?idx=essnet_cra). In
addition to this dissemination effort, all deliverables were
published on the CROS portal, including additional presentations
and minutes. CORE disseminated a lot of material and documents, but
workshops or presentations dedicated to non-participants were not
found within the assessment for this criterion. The deliverable
“How to use CORE” (Del 2.4) was found to be rather shorter than
appropriate to the meet requirements of an easy to read step-in
document for non-participants.
Coordination
According to the available project documentation, the internal and
external project coordination was sufficient. Requirements
gathering was part of an own WP and interdependencies of working
packages were addressed accordingly. A few non-project critical
problems, such as an overlap with the predecessor CORA, could be
solved by adapting deliverables and restructuring work
packages.
Work package published/announced
Applicability
CORE represents an important architectural project for the ESS. It
produced and implemented software prototypes for all NSIs.
Therefore, the impact of the project is obvious. The software
prototype of CORE is already in use. The project did not include
case studies. No other documentation was found that may be used to
evaluate the usage of CORE.
A 1 2 3 4a 4b 4c 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 7c 8 9 10
Project type
project setup Applicability
Sustainability
It was decided to underline the technological independence of
CORE-compliant services by choosing an open source and a
proprietary platform for implementation.
Scientific value added
The main objectives of CORE did not include contributions that add
scientific value. The project officer published a paper for the
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Conference of
European Statisticians in 2011 titled “ESSnet CORE project report”.
The project team held three meetings besides the kick-off and the
final meeting in Luxembourg.
Project factsheet (taken as-is from the project description)
The first objective of CORE is to extend CORA model by defining the
new information model e-CORA. Specifically, we will take the CORA
model (including GSBPM) as a starting point, and turn it into a
fully elaborated information model that covers business concepts,
statistical goals and methods, as well as operational logic and
implementation aspects. The resulting model must have the power to
describe the relationships that link statistical goals to methods,
methods to operations, and operations to software tools. Elements
of process modelling, such as subdivision of processes in partial
processes and in steps, as well as interfaces between steps, must
explicitly be part of the information model. The role SDMX can play
in this model must also be taken into consideration. Specifically,
a possible mapping between SDMX and the e-CORA model will be
investigated in order to take into fully account results and tools
already available for SDMX. Moreover, besides SDMX, relationships
between e-CORA and other European standardization efforts
concerning statistical data will be also considered.
The second objective is related to the analysis of a list of tools
and to the study of the effort necessary to integrate such tools
into the e-CORA model. In particular, starting from the inventory
of tools that was prepared within CORA, we will select some tools
to be used within some statistical processes executed in the CORE
framework. Then we will perform a specific evaluation of the
feasibility and of the cost necessary to integrate such tools. The
third objective of the project is related to (i) the definition of
a way of exchanging data between tools designed inside GSBPM
sub-processes, and the (ii) development of components wrapping such
tools in order to integrate them.
Coordinator: ISTAT (Italy)
Costs/Funding: 300 000 EUR / 210 000 EUR
Project duration: 01/01/2011 to 31/01/2012
EGR – Eurogroup register
S 1 2 3 4a 4b 4c 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 7c 8 9 10
Project type
project setup Applicability
The main objective of the project was described as follows:
The EGR final objective is that of becoming a network of central
and national registers on multinational enterprise groups and to
provide a single and coordinated tool for statistics on
globalisation to different stakeholders.
Communication and quality of input
The ESSnet project EGR published only a few documents and
deliverables on the CROS portal. The following statements are based
only on an assessment of the final and intermediate report, and on
the description of the action. The final report was found to be
very comprehensive and provides a good view of the project’s
history, including challenges and changes to be made. The state of
play sums up the project’s background, but documentation on the
state-of-the-art of business statistics and information aiming at
the description of coordination with other ESSnet projects is
missing. A scientific overview was not given. The documentation on
the CROS portal is limited to the minimum. No group content or
publicly visible documents could be found. ISTAT has its own domain
for the EGR project (http://egr.istat.it), but the most recent
information there was not up to date (information on “where we are”
was last updated in 2011 and stopped with the 2011 EGR Cycle).
Several improvements for communication with Eurostat are outlined
in the final report regarding missing input to WP3 deliverables and
uncertainty about the possibility to process file formats that had
formerly been agreed on.
Coordination
The lack of deliverables on the CROS portal does not make it
possible to further assess the coordination aspect of the EGR
project management. According to the final report, national
legislations made it impossible for the ISTAT project coordinator’s
staff to travel between June 2010 to June 2011 .The description
mentions, as part of an external coordination effort, the
involvement of the ESSnet on International Profiling and the ESSnet
on Consistency to be on track with future innovations in the ESS
legal framework. The decision to migrate the EGR website to
EUROSTAT, which led to one person quitting the project, is cited as
one example of changes to the team. The changes in the team did not
affect the activity according the EGR project report.
Work package published/announced WP1 2 of 2
WP2 0 of 8
WP3 0 of 6
WP4 0 of 8
WP5 0 of 4
WP6 4 of 5
Applicability
The final report includes comprehensive explications on the
applicability of EGR. The coordination network between enterprise
groups, NSIs, and Eurostat is described as very important. It is of
significant impact.
Sustainability
Sustainability is ensured by a prior agreement on methodologies and
tools, and the further development of EGR in a new project group
with CBS as coordinator. Postponed actions are planned to be
carried forward as part of a new project.
Scientific value added
No papers, journal contributions or conference interventions are
recorded from the project team.
Project factsheet
During the last action period lasting 24 months from June 2010 to
June 2012, the ESSnet concentrated on the overall revision of the
EGR business model in order to develop an improved approach, taking
into account the results achieved during the first two EGR cycles,
the feedbacks coming from the Member States and EFTA countries, the
experience gained and the deficiencies emerged. A new and improved
version of the EGR (the version 2.0) was proposed to the Steering
Group with an implementation plan. The business process of EGR
version 2.0 was conceptually developed, most of the business use
cases were re-designed, the new logical data model created for the
target area. To serve the FATS users it was created a user
interface to consult and retrieve EGR final frames and proposals on
how users could use EGR frames in a coordinated way were made. A
feasibility study was carried out to propose a model estimation for
employment data of foreign affiliates outside EU from the input
commercial sources of EGR, in order to serve Outward FATS
statisticians. Dissemination of the EGR to the ESS improved by
launching a EGR web site providing general information to the
public on the EGR project and specific information to the
statistical users. The user interface was integrated into the EGR
web site that will function as a single entry point for the users.
The development of integration plans into the national production
processes requires a stringer involvement of all stakeholders
(National Accounts, SBS, STS) in addition to FATS and FDI, the
ESSnet created several occasions to involve stakeholders but the
process is still on-going. The adoption of EGR in the production
processes will depend very much on its quality improvement over the
next years and on the other hand the involvement of users is
crucial to improve its quality. Finally, new statistical concepts
have been proposed by the ESSnet on International Profiling that
cannot be immediately implemented into the EGR, as it needs to
contain the statistical units currently required by the ESS
legislation and in use in the statistical processes. Nevertheless
the ESSnet EGR coordinated its activities with the ESSnet on
International Profiling and with the ESSnet on Consistency in order
to be on track with future innovations in the ESS legal
framework.
Coordinator: ISTAT (Italy)
Project duration: 07/06/2010 to 07/06/2012
Deliverables: 6/33 http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/egr-sga3
SAE – Small Area Estimation
S 1 2 3 4a 4b 4c 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 7c 8 9 10
Project type
project setup Applicability
Sci. val.
According to the project’s description, the focus of the project
SAE is on the development and implementation of a framework
enabling the production of small area estimates in the context of
the European Statistical System (ESS).
Communication and quality of input
This ESSnet project required an overview of the current state of
methods and information about other projects dealing with the
statistical technique of “small area estimation” (SAE). WP 2 dealt
with the state- of-the-art in the application of SAE methods and
techniques in participating NSIs. Therefore a comprehensive
literature review and case studies were conducted.
In the same fashion, the “state-of-the-art” work package delivers a
comprehensive scientific overview, including aims and goals with
respect to statistical science.
The dissemination of results to non-participating NSIs took place
in WP7, a dedicated work package for knowledge and know-how
transfer.
Tools and instruments that were chosen to share information were
threefold, one training session on SAE, three on-the-job trainings,
and participation of the members in statistical conferences and
workshops.
The deliverables, results, and project steps are well documented on
the CROS portal (http://www.cros- portal.eu/content/sae). No
external websites (except a closed wiki) or press releases were
found using Google in February 2013.
Coordination and project setup
The project coordination was sufficient. The project coordinator
ISTAT regularly maintained the web page and coordinated several
project meetings. In line with best practices, agendas were sent in
advance, meeting minutes were made available soon after the
meeting, and lists of participants and follow-up actions regarding
the meetings were provided. Sub-coordinators for the work packages
facilitated the dissemination of competences. Resource problems due
to the cancellation of partnership by one Member State were
compensated by the coordinator.
In terms of inclusion, the project group found an appropriate
spread of disciplines. The project acknowledged important prior
projects such as EWORSAE or EURAREA. Geographical coverage was
appropriate, including large and small countries representing
different languages and socio-economic characteristics.
Work package published/announced
Applicability and sustainability
The outcomes of the project include a comprehensive literature
review of the state-of-the-art, a guideline document and a review
of software for SAE implementation. Applicability was proven in
practice with concrete case studies in 7 of 31 EU+ EFTA states
(equalling 23%). A cost / benefit analysis for the whole project
was not conducted.
The impact of project results can be seen in further implementation
of methods and software for small area estimation. The potential is
therefore vast. The project analysed just a part of the
possibilities to implement small area estimation.
Scientific value added
No papers published as a direct outcome of the project were found.
The scientific overview may represent added value from a scientific
perspective.
Project factsheet
The general objective of the project is to develop a framework
enabling the production of small area estimates for ESS social
surveys.
The specific objectives are:
− Complete the state of the art produced in the EURAREA project,
update the documents available on small area estimation, describe
the current application in UE NSIs and non-UE NSIs, create a common
knowledge on application of small area estimation methods;
− Review and develop suitable criteria to assess the quality of SAE
methods for the choice of proper model and the evaluation of
MSE;
− Make available software tools for SAE to the ESS;
− Foster knowledge transfer by the development of case studies and
associated recommendations on representative problems in small area
estimation in the ESS;
− Provide practical guidelines in ESS social surveys context;
− Transfer knowledge and know-how to non-participating NSIs and
disseminate results.
Coordinator: ISTAT (Italy)
Project duration: 22/12/2009 to 21/03/2012
Deliverables: 34/34
http://www.cros-portal.eu/group-documents/125
SDMX II – ESSnet on SDMX – Phase II
A 1 2 3 4a 4b 4c 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 7c 8 9 10
Project type
project setup Applicability
Sci. val.
In relation to the aims and objectives of the predecessor project
SDMX Phase I, the ESSnet project on SDMX Phase II has the following
main objective:
The ESSnet on SDMX phase II moves a step forward and besides
continuing some of the work of a previous ESSnet on SDMX phase I
(see WP2 and WP3), wants facilitate the rationalization of the
current offer of the SDMX software in order to foster both a
community of SDMX developers and users.
Communication and quality of input
This architectural ESSnet project deals with the standardisation of
statistical tools. Therefore the main objectives of the project are
more technical than scientific, and a comprehensive scientific
overview is not relevant. A state of play showing the relationship
to SDMX I, and the statistical and technical background was not
found. Project representation lacks information.
Coordination
In terms of coordination and project setup, the processes were
found to be sufficient. Most of the deliverables are published on
the CROS portal. Numerous minutes and meeting presentations as well
as an interim report summarize the main processes and discussions.
However, a concluding report as a closing document for the whole
project is missing. According to information found the
communication flow within the project and between the project and
Eurostat was sufficient. A risk management plan listed six major
risks which may have arisen during the project.
Work package published/announced
Applicability and sustainability
The project results are applicable for the ESS and their members.
Software, tools, and the SDMX handbook support the usage of effort
already invested in SDMX Phase I. Case studies were not part of the
project aims. The project includes a better understanding of SDMX
by users as an objective. A description on how the community of
SDMX developers will be fostered is not given.
Scientific value added
SDMX II builds on the existing SDMX NSI Reference Infrastructure
and therefore cannot be expected to contribute added value for
statistical science. The infrastructure, a step-by-step tutorial,
support and workshops for users are the main milestones to measure
the success of this project.
2 Assessment by project
Project factsheet
At the beginning the main aim of the development of the "SDMX NSI
Reference Infrastructure'' was to provide the countries with a
non-invasive infrastructure that could "wrap" existing statistical
dissemination/reporting architecture and make them SDMX compliant.
Now that the "SDMX NSI Reference Infrastructure" is available and
enough mature, the next step is to foster a community of developers
from the National Statistical Institutes and other statistical
Organizations with the main aim to encourage further developments
based on that Infrastructure, so to provide to the SDMX community a
set of software that can be re-used partially or as a whole, but
that they can guarantee homogeneity and interoperability.
The ESSnet on SDMX phase I, which will finish at the end of March
2011, has already adapted some of its objective, in order to fit
the aims, described above, of the "SDMX NSI Reference
Infrastructure" produced by Eurostat. Two representative examples
are documented in WP4 (Generalized SDMX Framework) and in WP7
(PC-Axis with SDMX-ML).
The ESSnet on SDMX phase II moves a step forward and besides
continuing some of the work of a previous ESSnet on SDMX phase I
(see WP2 and WP3), wants facilitate the rationalization of the
current offer of the SDMX software in order to foster both a
community of SDMX developers and users. In this context the SDMX
NSI Reference Infrastructure, more than the ESSnet phase I, will
have a central position in all the tasks.
Coordinator: ISTAT (Italy)
Costs / Funding: 595 000 EUR / 417 000 EUR
Project duration: 28/03/2011 to 28/09/2012
Deliverables: 20/21
http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/final-deliverables
ESSnet projects – 2013 assessment report 20
Tourism – ESSnet on automated data collection
S 1 2 3 4a 4b 4c 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 7c 8 9 10
Project type
project setup Applicability
Communication and quality of input
This sectorial project dealt with the specific topic of XML data
harmonisation between software of the NSIs, and started with the
aim of creating an overview of existing traveller data in software
for tourist accommodation management. The communication during the
project processes appears to be very satisfactory. The coordinator
and co-partners produced plenty of results with statistical
evidence in their countries. Nevertheless, the project did not
include case studies or results for other ESS NSIs, such as
additional information to enable other non- participating ESS NSIs
to reuse the project’s outcomes. The goal of the project was
changed from developing a common European XML file to the
development of an XML/XBRL file in each country.
Coordination
As described above, project communication was very successful. As a
result the internal and external project coordination was also
satisfying. The project team had three face-to-face meetings during
the project. In addition, a multitude of meeting minutes,
presentations and interim reports were produced and published on
the CROS portal. Only the intermediate report is missing.
Work package published/announced WP1 4 of 5
WP2 2 of 2
WP3 1 of 1
WP4 1 of 1
WP5 2 of 2
WP6 1 of 1
WP7 1 of 1
Applicability and sustainability
The results of the project are comprehensive. There are eight case
studies for each partner country which participated in the project.
There is, however, a lack of information on non-participating
countries. A comprehensive report on costs and benefits is missing.
The choice for the eXtensible Business Reporting Language can be
seen as positive regarding sustainability of the project’s results.
Some of the partnering countries have developed their own
websites.
Scientific value added
The scientific value for non-participating countries is rather
limited. Within the project, a list of variables needed to fulfil
the European statistical requirements included in the Regulation
692/2011 and national statistical requirements was created and
might be reusable in other cases. The paper “Automated data
collection in accommodation statistics: a European overview”,
admitted for the 11th Global Forum on Tourism Statistics, cannot be
found in the Internet. No other project-related scientific
publications were found.
2 Assessment by project
Project factsheet
The main object of this project is to agree a common XML file
structure useful for the European countries.
During the 22 months of the first phase of the action, this group
is going to carry out a research on the existing software installed
in the tourist accommodation establishments in different countries.
The group is going to design the structure of a common XML file and
to define some validation rules to ensure the quality and coherence
of the data contained in the XML file.
The work to be carried out was divided into eight work packages,
the second one being the more important, where NSIs had introduced
the project to the other stakeholders such as establishments,
software companies, associations, etc., the fourth one, when all
the technical documents to develop the application were produced.
During the fifth and sixth WPs NSIs had to make technical decisions
and develop the applications needed to receive the XML files and
include the data into the database. Finally, in the seventh WP the
feedback report was designed, as were the tools necessary to create
and send them to the establishments.
Coordinator: INE (Spain)
Costs / Funding: 341 000 EUR / 239 000 EUR
Project duration: 21/12/2010 to 21/10/2012
Deliverables: 12/13
(http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/tourism)
ICT Impact – ESSnet on assessing the impact
S 1 2 3 4a 4b 4c 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 7c 8 9 10
Project type
project setup Applicability
Sci. val.
Due to missing information this project could not be assessed using
the criteria this report is based on.
Project factsheet
The general concept of the Action is to update and to develop
further the methodology for conducting ICT impact analysis that was
developed in the 2006-08 Feasibility Study (Grant No.
49102.2005.017- 2006.128).
The general feasibility of the concept and methodological approach
of the Action has been demonstrated by the Feasibility Study.
Data linking software developed in the Feasibility Study will
provide the starting point for the proposed Action. Although the
scope and boundaries of the proposed Action extend beyond those of
the Feasibility Study, the knowledge base of participants in the
Action is far greater than was the case at the outset of the
Feasibility Study, and the risks and uncertainties are
commensurately significantly reduced.
Coordinator: ONS (United Kingdom)
Costs / Funding: 1 111 000 EUR/ 1 000 000 EUR
Project duration: 01/12/2010 to 01/10/2012
Deliverables: 2/-
(http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/ict-impact)
ESSnet projects – 2013 assessment report 23
On-going projects in 2013 The following projects were not finished
as of December 2012. The assessment of these projects took into
account the respective project runtime, deadlines and current
project status according to the information available for the
purpose of this report. The assessment of these projects will be
repeated for the assessment report 2014.
Admin data – use of administrative data
S 1 2 3 4a 4b 4c 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 7c 8 9 10
Project type
project setup Applicability
Sci. val.
The sectorial project Admin Data is split into three project
periods from 2009 to 2013. The following assessment refers to the
last period, from 2011 to 2013.
Communication and quality of input
The viewable situation of the communication and input quality
exhibits some problems in terms of documentation on the CROS
portal. The description of the work is not available and therefore
the deadlines of deliverables are missing, as is other information
about the project. The website http://essnet.admindata.eu/ gives
some background information on the project’s objectives.
Coordination
The internal and external coordination and the project setup were
found to be appropriate to the tasks. The absence of an overview of
deadlines for deliverables and the working structure of the work
packages makes it impossible to further assess the coordination
aspect of the project. The interim report provides information
about current results and the working process, but a “managing
part” with a view of deliverables is missing.
Work package published/announced
Applicability and sustainability
The results of the last period of this ESSnet project show the
importance of the work in terms of administrative data. The
harmonisation of metadata and the standardisation of methods as
planned are expected to lead to better understanding and use of
administrative data in Europe. The current project did not include
case studies to evaluate the results in different countries. A
comprehensive cost and benefit report is missing at the moment. The
planned (technical) handbook may add sustainability to the project
results. The “Information Centre” made available to ESS (ESSnet
Admin Data Wiktionary) is an outstanding example of well organised
web-based knowledge and information management.
Scientific value added
The ESSnet project has conducted workshops to inform and allow
other ESSnet members to participate, and further workshops are
planned. Therefore some publications are planned which will yield
contributions to scientific discourse on statistical methods and
metadata. To date, there are no published papers or
publications.
Project factsheet
The main objectives of this project are to explore the
possibilities of the use of admin data for business statistics, to
make best practices in this area available to the NSIs, and to
prepare recommendations on the efficient ways of producing business
statistics by using data that are already available in the economy,
thus avoiding unnecessary reporting burden on businesses. The
ESSnet should focus on common problems that many NSIs have in this
area.
The project consists of 10 work packages covering different aspects
of the use of administrative data for business statistics, first of
all for Structural Business Statistics (SBS) and Short-Term
Statistics (STS).
The ESSnet AdminData is one of the projects of the programme for
Modernisation of European Enterprise and Trade Statistics
(MEETS).
The main objectives for the whole action are:
− To provide a clear picture about the use of administrative data
for business statistics in MS
− To help MS examining the usefulness of available administrative
data for business statistics
− To help MS by checking initial quality of administrative data
before introducing it into a statistical data base
− To provide MS with the methods of estimating business statistics
variables which cannot be obtained from administrative
sources
− To help MS to choose the most appropriate estimation methods of
Short Term Statistics (STS) on the basis of administrative
data
− To assist MS looking for the most efficient way of combining
different sources of administrative data with statistical
surveys
− To develop quality indicators for business statistics produced on
the basis of administrative data
− To identify the main differences in the concepts used in business
statistics from those in business accounting
− To provide MS with the latest available information on how best
to use administrative data for producing business statistics and
for this purpose to create an information centre (web-site).
− To facilitate the exchange of best practices in the area of use
of administrative data for business statistics
Coordinator: ONS (United Kingdom)
Costs / Funding: 3 511 000 EUR/ 3 085 000 EUR
Project duration: 01 July 2011 to 30 June 2013 (SGA III)
Deliverables: 8/33
(http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/admindata-sga-3)
Consistency
A 1 2 3 4a 4b 4c 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 7c 8 9 10
Project type
project setup Applicability
Sci. val.
Consistency is an architectural project split into three large
parts, all with different coordinators.
Communication and quality of input
The communication between Eurostat and the project can be seen as
satisfying. A few problems have been recognized regarding the
dissemination activities. The documentation on the CROS portal is
confusing and unstructured. A main field for improvement could be
the streamlining of project publications: So far, the three main
pillars of the project (MBGA I-III) have used different structures
and ways to publish deliverables. The project lacks a comprehensive
overview of all deliverables with deadlines.
Coordination
The missing information on deliverables and their deadlines
described above precludes further assessment of the project’s
achievements. Numerous deliverables (7 for WP 3, including an
interim inventory report) have been published, but cannot be
checked against a public list of actions, work packages and
deliverables. The documentation of meetings, presentations, and
workshops using meeting minutes and reports was found to be very
good.
Work package published/announced WP1 ?
Applicability and sustainability
No comprehensive case studies are planned within Consistency. A
cost-and-benefit report is missing. A plan for the production of
handbooks or other supportive information that may add
applicability and sustainability was not found.
Scientific value added
The project has not as yet published any papers or other
publications.
Project factsheet
The ESSnet on consistency of concepts and applied methods of
business- and trade-related statistics deals with issues of
coherence between the various statistical domains of business- and
trade-related statistics. Problems of inconsistencies result from
incoherent concepts and methods and from differing implementation
in the Member states.
Inconsistencies means that data are not fully comparable and wrong
conclusion might be drawn by the data users as differences between
statistical domains are not a picture of diverging reality but are
to some extent due to differing concepts, definitions and
methodologies. Different concepts, definitions and methodologies do
also increase the response burden and the production costs of the
respective statistics.
The “Consistency” project is part of the objective 2 of the
MEETS-programme, which aims “to achieve a streamlined framework for
business-related statistics”. The task of the ESSnet on consistency
is therefore: a.) to identify the main inconsistencies embedded in
the European concepts and methodologies, b.) to provide a
comprehensive inventory how the European concepts and methods are
implemented in the MS, c.) to evaluate the identified
inconsistencies, and d) to elaborate appropriate proposals of
changes in order to increase coherence in the European business-
and trade-related statistics.
2 Assessment by project
Coordinator: ISTAT (Italy), STAT (Austria), SCB (Sweden)
Co-partners: CSB (Latvia), CSO (Ireland), INSEE (France), STAT
(Austria), SL (Lithuania), SCB (Sweden), ONS (United Kingdom), FSO
(Switzerland), ESTAT (Greece), Eesti Statistika (Estonia)
Costs/Funding: 2 741 000 EUR / 2 564 000 EUR
Project duration: 21/08/2012 to 31/12/2013
Deliverables: http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/consistency-0
DARA (remote Access) – ESSnet DARA
A 1 2 3 4a 4b 4c 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 7c 8 9 10
Project type
project setup Applicability
Communication and quality of input
The project “Decentralised and Remote Access to Confidential Data
in the ESS” is based on the previous project “DA”. DARA is
considered as a software implementation project. A short documented
state of play in relation to previous projects and ESSnet exists,
but it is not comprehensive. The coherence between former projects
and DARA could have been explained in more detail.
Aside from the fact that a lot of deliverables have not been
published just in time, the external communication in this project
is satisfying. The project team disseminated structured meeting
minutes, schedules, agendas, and deliverables on the CROS portal.
Furthermore, the website www.safe-centre.info provides
comprehensive information about the project and its
deliverables.
Coordination
One external indicator for successful project coordination is the
timely publication of project deliverables. The intermediate
report, an important document to comprehend the project
coordination, and the manual for the scientific community should
have been published in October 2012 but neither is available at the
time of review at the beginning of February 2013. The security
requirements handbook (WP2) has draft status. Several deliverables
have not yet been published in a timely manner as of February
2013.
Work package published/announced WP1 0 of 2
WP2 1 of 1
WP3 0 of 1
WP4 0 of 1
WP5 3 of 4
WP6 0 of 2
Applicability
The project results are highly applicable and sustainable for the
ESSnet community. It is the project’s main objective to implement a
remote access client for all NSIs to connect to and view community
statistics held by Eurostat which would otherwise require physical
presence at Eurostat premises. The aim is to provide a secure
infrastructure and decentralised access points for accessing
confidential data. The pilot of this tool has been proven in
practice in a test phase.
Scientific value added
The project DARA lays the basis for a secured access channel from
Member States to confidential information on Eurostat’s servers.
The project’s scope comprises common software development phases
such as requirements engineering, implementation, piloting, testing
and rollout.
As this project aims to develop reusable software for all members
of ESSnet, the focus is less on scientific value added and more on
usability and functionality of the client.
Project factsheet
The aim of the ESSnet project “Decentralised and Remote Access to
Confidential Data in the ESS” (ESSnet DARA) is to establish a
secure channel from a safe centre within a National Statistical
Institute (NSI) to the safe server at Eurostat, so that researchers
can use confidential community statistics in their own Member
States (MS) without traveling to Luxembourg. The concrete task of
participating NSIs is to provide a secure channel to guarantee
access for data users to the remote access system at Eurostat,
and
ESSnet projects – 2013 assessment report 28
also to provide service and IT support for the researcher at the
local national level.
Eurostat is conducting the project “Secure Infrastructure for
Confidential data access and sharing” (VIP- SICON) with the company
ARHS to build a remote access system based on Citrix.
Coordinator: DESTATIS (Germany)
Costs / Funding: 428 000 EUR / 300 000 EUR
Project duration: 20/10/2011 to 19/10/2013
Deliverables: 4 /11
http://www.cros-portal.eu/projectdetail/1524
DCSS – Data Collection
A 1 2 3 4a 4b 4c 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 7c 8 9 10
Project type
project setup Applicability
Sci. val.
DCSS at the time of the assessment is a new sectorial ESSnet
project. It started at the end of September 2012. The following
remarks can therefore only be preliminary.
Communication and quality of input
The project started with a kick-off meeting, and the main results
and presentations were shared on the CROS portal. The documentation
on CROS portal should be completed with the description of the work
which includes the overview of deliverables and deadlines. With
regard to the added value for ESS, the project aims at addressing a
common interest for ESS to provide recommendations for web
questionnaires and the survey design for implementing mixed-mode
data collection.
Coordination
Up to now, the project coordination is successful. It is especially
commendable that the project team includes external consultants for
a broader spectrum and points of view.
Work
Applicability
A cost benefit analysis was not found. The possible applicability
of the project results cannot be assessed at the moment. However,
the project design indicates an intention to produce practicable
results and lasting outcomes for the ESS. At least two different
software packages for multimode data collection were identified in
the settings of ESSnet partners.
Scientific value added
The project team will participate in several conferences and
workshops according to the project’s description. Members of the
project published a working paper for the UNECE Conference for
European Staticians.
(http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/stats/documents/ece/ces/ge.44/2012/mtg2/WP27.pdf)
Project factsheet
The ESSnet Data Collection in Social Surveys has been initiated by
Eurostat based on the fact that several NSIs have started projects
to develop web-based data collection for social surveys. Eurostat’s
vision is to support early collaboration between countries. Apart
from facilitating the introduction of web-based data collection for
social surveys, the project second task will be research and
recommendations on mixed mode data collection in social
surveys.
The exchange of experience and knowledge, sharing tools and
identifying best practices are of major interest. The ESSnet is
shared by a consortium of several countries: Partners are
Statistical Offices of the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Finland,
Norway and Germany. Three NSIs are acting as support-group-
members: Denmark, Sweden and Italy. Destatis (Germany) acts as
co-ordinator. Two external consultants are also involved in the
project. The duration of the project is two years. A final public
workshop on the results of the project is scheduled at the end of
2014.
The project not only aims at offering guidance, but also
investigates possible opportunities for sharing tools and
knowledge, and identifying areas for common development. Moreover,
it is of common interest for ESS to provide recommendations for web
questionnaires and the survey design for implementing mixed-mode
data collection. Since follow-up projects might be required in some
areas, the project also serves to identify potential further
actions.
Coordinator: DESTATIS (Germany)
Costs/ Funding: 444 000 EUR/ 400 000 EUR
Project duration: 23/09/2012 to 23/09/2014
Deliverables: 0/8
(http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/data-collection-social-surveys-using-multiple-
modes-dcss)
Data Warehouse – Micro data linking
A 1 2 3 4a 4b 4c 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 7c 8 9 10
Project type
project setup Applicability
Sci. val.
The ESSnet project Data Warehouse is composed of two SGAs. In the
following description of assessment results, only the current part,
SGA 2, will be considered.
Communication and quality of input
The on- going ESSnet Data Warehouse can be classified as an
architectural project, due to the fact that the main objectives
deal with standardisation issues. Nevertheless, a scientific
overview would be useful in terms of description of the
state-of-the-art of data warehousing in Europe and the rest of the
world. Neither a scientific overview nor a state of play have yet
published.
Coordination
The coordination and project setup can be seen as successful up to
now. Most of the deliverables which should have been published by
now are available. Some deliverables due to have been published by
the end of 2012 have not published on the CROS portal, e.g. the
report on “modular workflow on the S- DWH”, and “intermediary
implementation report”.
Work package published/announced
Applicability and sustainability
The project results are of great interest for all NSIs. The planned
handbook promises to be especially useful in providing sustainable
input for future work. Short case studies with questionnaires from
all ESSnet members are available on the CROS portal, and were
integrated in the analysis work of the project. A “strong focus
will be on ensuring sustainability of all the results”, as stated
in the description of WP4.
Scientific value added
Project factsheet
The overall objective is to provide assistance in the development
of more integrated databases and data production systems for
business statistics in ESS Member States. The ESSnet has to work on
issues that are common for the majority of the ESS NSIs when
applying a data warehousing approach for statistics.
Its general objectives are:
− Review of current best practices in integrated business data
systems;
− Identification of problems and solutions in current practices and
the opportunities that a data warehouse might provide;
− Examination of ways in which data can be combined to support new
outputs;
− Provision of recommendations on how the ESS can improve data
warehousing;
− Dissemination of the ESSnet results to all ESS countries.
The ESSnet's main goal in daily statistical practice is to increase
the efficiency of data processing in statistical production systems
and to maximize the reuse of already collected data in the
statistical system.
Coordinator: CBS (Netherlands)
Co-partners: ONS (United Kingdom), SE (Estonia), ISTAT (Italy), SL
(Lithuania), INE (Portugal), SCB (Sweden)
Costs/Funding: 1 732 000 EUR / 1 615 000 EUR
Project duration: 04/10/2011 to 15/11/2013
Deliverables: 15 /39
(http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/data-warehouse-working-area)
ESeG – European socio-economic classification
S 1 2 3 4a 4b 4c 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 7c 8 9 10
Project type
project setup Applicability
Communication and quality of input
The architectural ESSnet project ESeG has not yet published a state
of play or scientific overview. The intermediate report partially
contains this required information. The project documentation is
available on the CROS portal, but lacks structure. The deliverables
are available on different pages and some links are empty. A clear
assignment would be helpful for a structured documentation.
Coordination
The project team used the CROS portal for the dissemination of some
of the deliverables, but there is a lack of an explicit plan with
deadlines for deliverables, e.g. a description of work. The
intermediate report provides an insightful view into the project
processes. With two thirds of the project duration already having
passed, only a few deliverables have so far been published. The
intermediate report referred to problems obtaining complete data,
and says that “the consultations with the NSIs show they are often
interested by our work but they do not have much time to devote to
us”.
Work package published/announced WP 0 ?
WP1 0 of 4
WP2 0 of 3
WP3 0 of 1
WP4 0 of 1
WP5 0 of 3
Applicability
The project plan does not include explicit case studies to prove
results in practice; however the development of prototypes for
standardisation includes a lot of information and data to get
wide-ranging results. Up to now, there is no handbook or user guide
for the further usage of the results. Both would add significantly
to the long-term sustainability of project results. No cost/benefit
analysis has yet been published.
Scientific value added
The project team has not yet published any scientific papers or
articles in journals.
2 Assessment by project
Project factsheet
The purpose of this ESS-net is to build a socio-economic
classification which will allow the grouping of individuals with
similar economic, social and cultural characteristics, comparable
lifestyles and patterns of behaviour, in order to produce
comparisons and analysis. Such a tool will be very useful to
produce analysis in a wide set of domains and to present social
statistics and comparisons in European countries, by the
Commission, Eurostat, the ESS and researchers in human
sciences.
Starting from the past works (i.e. the ESEC prototype and its
evaluation), the aim of the project is to build a classification
which allows the grouping of individuals with similar economic
social and cultural characteristics throughout the European Union
(European socioeconomic groups - EseG).
This classification is part of the harmonization of statistical
tools, improving the presentation of social statistics and allowing
international comparisons within the EU. The project must base the
classification on information obtained from existent data and allow
its use in the most important number of surveys. So, the
elaboration of ESEG is using ISCO 2008 (1 or 2-digit version) and
some core variables from European surveys (status of employment and
activity).
Coordinator: INSEE (France)
Costs/Funding: 483 000 EUR / 458 000 EUR
Project duration: 21/10/2011 to 21/10/2013
Deliverables: 0 /12
(http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/deliverables-4)
Global Value Chains – Measuring global value chains
S 1 2 3 4a 4b 4c 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 7c 8 9 10
Project type
project setup Applicability
Communication and quality of input
“Measuring global value chains” can be characterized as a
widespread methodological project. The main objectives contain a
number of identification and standardisation tasks which will
require a broad scientific background. Therefore, a comprehensive
scientific overview will be very useful. It has not yet been
published.
An important issue in the project is the inclusion of
non-participating partners by offering open workshops or by
supporting non-participants in upcoming surveys. One of the open
workshops was announced (1) in October 2012, one month after the
start of the project. The results of the workshop, including photos
of the participants and a summary on the proceedings, were
disseminated as ESSnet news and today can be found under the same
link as the former workshop announcement.
Coordination
According to the coordination and project setup there are some
changes in the timetable concerning the project’s deadlines. These
changes are well documented and were arranged with Eurostat.
However, numerous scheduled deliverables have not as yet been
published. 14 of a total of 30 deliverables have a deadline in
2013. 16 should already be published. As of the time of this
review, however, only 7 are available on the CROS portal.
Work package published/announced
Applicability and sustainability
The ESSnet “Global Value Chain” identifies current methods and
concepts, and develops its own surveys for Eurostat. Workshop
documentation and published project reports lay the basis for
sustainability of the project results. The main result (a prototype
of a handbook for a measurement framework for economic
globalisation) has not yet been created, as the project is still
on-going. A cost/benefit plan is available for WP 1. It is
recommendable to produce similar plans for assessing costs and
benefits of actions of other work packages. The project team will
publish results in various papers and survey reports.
Scientific value added
The project coordinator has published two papers. The first one,
“Direct measurement of Global Value Chains: Collecting product- and
firm-level statistics on value added and business function
outsourcing and offshoring” is part of a World Bank volume and
based on a Trade Workshop held at World Bank Headquarters, June
9-10, 2011. The second paper was published in 2011, entitled
“Measuring Global Value Chains in Business Surveys”.
(1)
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/pgp_ess/news/ess_news_detail?id=129439305&pg_id=2737&cc=ESTAT_EUROSTAT
Project factsheet
The overall objective of the ESSnet is to strengthen ESS capacity
(conceptually and methodologically) to measure economic
globalisation and the globalisation of business and to concretely
establish statistical evidence on the increasingly globalised ways
of doing business and organisation of the enterprises and the
impacts on the possibilities for Europe to create new jobs and
sustainable growth. This will enable the policy makers to make
better informed decision and to monitor the globalisation/
internationalisation of economies by developing and providing
indicators on economic globalization.
Identify and develop a set of standardised indicators on economic
globalisation to be collected and published as reference indicators
within the European Statistical System, subject to political
approval.
Furthermore the project will identify a set of supplemental
indicators which could be collected to measure more industry
specific elements of the globalisation process utilising existing
statistical sources.
The project will also identify possible experimental indicators
based on micro data linking. The project will further develop the
methodology for micro data linking and identifying different types
of statistical registers relevant for measuring globalisation. The
project will support the setup and implementation of the
methodology to carry out the micro data linking between different
types of statistical registers in participating countries.
The project will fine tune the survey methodology including
finalising the survey contents and establishing the required set of
harmonised definitions to be used in the survey. The project will
support National Statistical Institutes to set up and implement the
survey on global value chains and international sourcing in
participating countries.
The project will produce statistical analyses of the global value
chains and international sourcing survey and micro data linking
results to be published by Eurostat.
The project will test possible methods of improving the quality of
the Foreign Affiliate Statistics by utilising information available
within the European Statistical System related to the population of
foreign affiliates.
Coordinator: STSTDK (Denmark)
Costs / Funding: 892 000 EUR / 939 000 EUR
Project duration: 01/09/2011 to 31/12/2013
Deliverables: 7 /30
(http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/deliverables-3)
ICT Piloting – Definition and piloting of specific modules
1 2 3 4a 4b 4c 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 7c 8 9 10
Project type
project setup Applicability
Communication and quality of input
The project team did not publish deliverables or documents or
results on the CROS portal. Important documents are missing, for
instance the state of play, scientific overview and a description
of work.
Coordination
Planned deliverables are not published on the CROS portal, and
information on the internal or external coordination could not be
found.
Work package published/announced
The main objectives are:
− to test existing modules in order to optimize the definition of
indicators, the wording of questions and the structure of the
questionnaires. The testing would be carried out by the
participating NSIs in the Member States;
− to develop and test specific modules for a number of
subjects.
Coordinator: STATDK (Denmark)
Project duration: 01/10/2011 to 01/04/2013
Deliverables: no information available
(http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/ict-piloting-0)
MEMOBust
S 1 2 3 4a 4b 4c 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 7c 8 9 10
Project type
project setup Applicability
Communication and quality of input
The main objective of the Memobust project is to produce a
standardized handbook for the production of business statistics.
This handbook includes all the ideas and knowhow of participating
NSIs. On the one hand, it is an accumulation of expertise and a
good way to combine different perspectives. On the other hand, the
need for coordination can be considered vast.
The inclusion of non-participating ESS NSIs is an important aim in
phase 2 of the project. A course based on the handbook is planned.
However, the WP “dissemination” has not started yet.
The documentation on the CROS portal is structured and
comprehensive. There are no other websites or press releases. The
discussion on an online version of the handbook (wiki) led to a
deliberate decision not to operate an online-wiki
http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/memobust-deliverable-19-plan-next-phase.
Coordination
The coordination effort needed to meet the objectives is very high.
The workload of the first phase has been described as very high. As
a result, the project runtime was extended. After the first phase,
Greece left the project. This has led to new coordination
challenges, as work packages had to be rearranged as a result. All
but one of the first phase deliverables are available (20/21). The
missing document is the cost report. Regarding the second
(on-going) phase, 4 out of 23 deliverables are already
accomplished.
Work package published/announced
WP2 2 of 4
WP3 0 of 6
WP4 0 of 3
Applicability
With their goals of creating more efficiency and integrating
processes, the results of Memobust are genuinely provisioned to be
applicable for the ESS: It is planned to provide a standardisation
tool for the production of business statistics. This will be
accompanied by a comprehensive handbook. Stakeholders, mainly
subject matter experts, were involved in Memobust to ensure
business relevance and practicability of the outcomes.
The project has not been proven in practice yet. The handbook
addresses the needs of a very specific target group.
Scientific value added
In line with the objective of ESSnet projects to create scientific
value added, the project team published two papers. The first
paper, titled “Development and Structure of the Memobust Handbook”,
was published by Leon Willenborg, Sander Scholtus and Arnout van
Delden in 2012. The second paper was titled “Microintegration-
description in the Memobust Handbook”. It was published in
2012.
Project factsheet
The main objectives for this project are the identification of best
practices and the development of common methodology and ESS
guidelines supporting the production of business statistics aiming
at reducing respondent burden and fostering efficiency and
integration of processes.
One operational objective is to produce a methodological handbook
for the production of business statistics. This is intended to be
an update of the existing Handbook on design and implementation of
business surveys edited by Willeboordse in 1998. The new handbook
shall have:
− The entire domain of enterprise and trade statistics as its
scope;
− The ESS (including Eurostat) as its target;
− An integration perspective (in order to raise the quality and the
efficiency of European business statistics);
− A standardisation perspective by applying both the SDMX Metadata
Common Vocabulary and the Generic Statistical Business Process
Model (GSBPM) and a standardisation perspective by proposing
standard methods.
Coordinator: CBS (Netherlands)
Co-partners: SCB (Sweden), GUS (Poland), ISTAT (Italy), SSB
(Norway), HCSO (Hungary), SFSO (Switzerland)
Costs / Funding: 1 185 000 EUR / 1 066 200 EUR
Project duration: 27/12/2010 to 27/12/2013
Deliverables: Currently not available in the public domain.
2 Assessment by project
MESH – Manual for energy statistics
A 1 2 3 4a 4b 4c 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 7c 8 9 10
Project type
project setup Applicability
Communication and quality of input
The communication flow and input quality to ESSnet including
information on the project progress are satisfying. The working
area is situated on the CROS portal, and the structure of the final
handbook is very compelling. However, it is difficult to find the
deliverables. A scientific overview could not be found but can be
considered as important for this sectorial project.
Coordination
The project setup in terms of the external coordination, the
inclusion of disciplines and stakeholders was assessed with a
positive outcome. The matching of announcement and delivery of WP
results indicates problems for the “interim report” as an announced
deliverable of WP 1 with the deadline January 2013 could not be
retrieved at the time of assessment. Three other deliverables have
not been published as of February 2013 which means a deviation from
the planning.
Work package published/announced
Applicability
The ESSnet MESH will produce several applicable results for
Eurostat and countries in the ESS. The comprehensive handbook
should be particularly useful and relevant for future work. The
project team did not make any statements on the planning of case
studies or other ways to prove the applicability in practice. A
cost/benefit analysis is given in a very short form within a
presentation. A comprehensive document was not found to date.
Scientific value added
The project team has not yet published any papers for conferences
or articles for journals.
2 Assessment by project
Project factsheet
Identifying the situation and the Member states users' needs in
relation to the needs established in task- force 2008.
Drafting a global inventory of the best methodological practices
for the statistics in the residential sector, both at EU level and
external to the EU.
Drafting and producing a manual setting the detailing statistical
information to provide greater insight into the use of energy in
the residential sector, the variations statistics techniques to be
applied, the best practices and methodologies used both at EU and
external level and the suggestions on the best options to use
according to the users' starting-off situation.
Carrying out a training session for all the users in the EU Member
states so as to enable them to migrate from their present situation
to future detailed information requirements for the residential
sector.
Spreading the information, the manual and the good practices found
in all Member State NSIs. (source:
http://www.cros-portal.eu/projectdetail/1528 )
Coordinator: DAE (Spain)
Costs / Funding: 497 000 EUR/ 552 000 EUR
Project duration: 01/01/2012 to 31/12/2013
Deliverables: 7 of 21
(http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/mesh-production-manual-statistics-energy-
consumption-households)
ESSnet projects – 2013 assessment report 42
Net-SILC2 – Second Network of the Analysis
1 2 3 4a 4b 4c 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 7c 8 9 10
Project type
project setup Applicability
Only a working paper summarizes some project information. A
comprehensive assessment was not possible.
Communication and quality of input
The working paper describes the project’s contents in a very
comprehensive way and includes a lot of deliverables. Nevertheless
a couple of deliverables are missing. There is also a lack of
information towards project processes, meeting minutes, deadlines
for deliverables etc.
Work package published/announced
WP D ?
Scientific value added
The project team contributed one paper named “Measuring material
deprivation in the EU” (2); part of a methodologies and working
papers collection of Eurostat.
Project factsheet
In line with the previous Network (Net-SILC1), the aim of Net-SILC2
is to develop methodology for the analysis of the EU-SILC data,
covering both cross-sectional and longitudinal dimensions, and to
develop common tools and approaches regarding various aspects of
data production.
The activities of the Network are set out in terms of 25 work
packages described below, but first we identify and describe a
number of overarching issues. It is important that the research
should be seen as an integrated whole, and active steps will be
taken to encourage cross-fertilisation.
Coordinator: CEPS/ INSTEAD (Luxembourg)
Costs / Funding: 1 127 000 EUR / 995 000 EUR
Project duration: 01/07/2011 to 01/07/2015
Deliverables: 0 of 25
(http://www.cros-portal.eu/content/net-silc2-0)
Profiling – Profiling of large and complex MNEs
S 1 2 3 4a 4b 4c 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 7c 8 9 10
Project type
project setup Applicability
Sci. val.
Information on this project was not provided at the time of
assessment.
Project factsheet
Main objectives are:
− To define the feasibility and the scope of ‘profiling’ large and
complex MNEs;
− The development of a common conceptual framework, methodology,
rules and standards for ‘profiling’;
− The development of process descriptions, tools, operational
guidelines and quality assurance of profiling;
− The development of models for the organization and financing of
‘profiling’;
− Testing and implementing ‘profiling’;
− The development of a model for sharing of ‘profiles’ (including
legal framework).
Coordinator: INSEE (France)
Costs / Funding: 2 472 000 EUR/ 2 290 000 EUR
Project duration: 23/10/2009 to 23/10/2013
Deliverables: Currently not available in the public domain.
2 Assessment by project
Standardisation
A 1 2 3 4a 4b 4c 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 7c 8 9 10
Project type
project setup Applicability
Sci. val.
Information on this project was not provided at the time of
assessment.
Project factsheet
Main Objectives
Clarification of the status of current ESS standards. The set of
standards shall be clearly defined and easily accessible to all
members of the ESS. To promote the use of standards, it should be
clear to all members that in what sense these standards are real
standards and how they bring quality and efficiency gains.
Development. The place, structure and the maintenance of the
inventory of standards should be clarified and developed so it can
serve as a common environment for the work of standardisation. An
important infrastructure of this common environment will be a
repository of standard statistical software tools for implementing
specific parts of the Statistical Business Process and for the
dissemination of standardisation activities
Modular architecture. Efficient and flexible management of
standards requires a manageable modular architecture where the
modules of the Statistical Business Process are supported by
standard methods and IT tools. The Sponsorship on Standardisation
is to define a broad schema for the framework but a common
architecture for standardisation shall be further detailed and
developed.
Practical implementation. The Sponsorship on Standardisation is to
develop a strategic view on standardisation and integration of
processes in the ESS. This ESSnet can assist the implementation of
the priorities and helps developing an implementation plan through
various operational tasks
Connection with projects of standardisation. The ESSnet on
Standardisation will provide inputs for the on-going projects
engaged in standardisation and provide some real examples of
standardisation of statistical methods through the sharing of
standards and guidance. The ESSnet shall also build connections
with on-going actions with relevant standardisation potential in
order to make sure that goals of standardisation are adequately
assured in these actions
Dissemination and use of action results. As standardisation itself
demands good communication and effective sharing of information on
available standards and practical experiences, active collaboration
with other parties is one of the most
Coordinator: HCSO (Hungary)
Co-partner: INS (France), INI (Italy), CSB (Latvia), SL
(Lithuania), CBS (Netherlands), ONS (United Kingdom)
Costs / Funding: 276 000 EUR/ 248 000 EUR
Project duration: 14/09/2012 to 13/09/2016
Deliverables: Currently not available in the public domain.
Annexes
Annexes: evaluation and assessment sheets
Annex: evaluation and assessment overview
Criteria / Project Name SA E
EG R
C O
R E
SD M
X II
To ur
is m
IC T
Im pa
1. State of play?
4. Dissemination activities
4b) other websites
4c) conference participation
Criteria / Project Name SA E
EG R
C O
R E
SD M
X II
To ur
is m
IC T
Im pa
5a) internal
5b) external
6. Inclusion
6b) of relevant stakeholders
7c) impact of project results
8. Sustainability
Annex: coordination and partner
n
BE (Belgium) P P BG (Bulgaria) P P CZ (Czech Republic) P DK
(Denmark) C P C DE (Germany) C C P P P P P P EE (Estonia) P P P P
IE (Ireland) P P EL (Greece) P ES (Spain) P C C FR (France) P P P P
C P P C P P IT (Italy) C C C P P P P P P C C P CY (Cyprus) LV
(Latvia) P P P LT (Lithuania) P P P P P LU (Luxembourg) P C HU
(Hungary) P P P C MT (Malta) NL (Netherlands) P P P P C P P C P P P
P P AT (Austria) C P P P PL (Poland) P P P P P PT (Portugal) P P P
P P RO (Romania) P P SI (Slovenia) P P P P SK (Slovakia) P P FI
(Finland) P P P P P P P SE (Sweden) C P P P P P P UK (United
Kingdom) P P P P C P C P P P P P NO (Norway) P P P P P P P CH
(Switzerland) P P P P Coordinator C Co-partner P
2
Annexes
ESSnet projects – 2013 assessment report 48
Annex: assessment of presence of deliverables The following tables
show the presence or absence of deliverables by working package.
Colour coding is used in function of due date and project
status.
SAE
WP2 0 of 8
WP3 0 of 6
WP4 0 of 8
WP5 0 of 4
WP6 4 of 5
WP2 4 of 4
WP3 3 of 3
WP4 2 of 2
WP5 2 of 2
WP6 2 of 2
WP7 2 of 2
WP2 3 of 3
WP3 5 of 5
WP4 5 of 5
WP5 3 of 3
Tourism
WP2 2 of 2
WP3 1 of 1
WP4 1 of 1
WP5 2 of 2
WP6 1 of 1
WP7 1 of 1