Today, October 20 2021, is European Statistics Day. Under the motto, 'Statistics, a vaccine to protect democracy and combat the virus of disinformation', the European Statistical Advisory Committee (ESAC) has released a statement (PDF) that highlighted the importance of statistics in combatting the Covid-19 pandemic, which concludes as follows:
'In summary, the heart of our message for European Statistics Day 2021 is the need to defeat disinformation by strengthening the production and use of high-quality statistical information with the highest standards of transparency and accountability, as a vital means of protecting freedom and democracy.'
First launched in 2016, European Statistics Day is celebrated by the European statistical community on 20 October.
Both the motto and the ESAC statement will be read by ESAC deputy chair Maria João Valente Rosa at the opening of a virtual workshop on digital transformation and official statistics.
There is also a livestreamed webinar taking place at 2pm (CET; 1pm BST) today looking at innovation in official statistics.
Follow #EuropeanStatisticsDay and #EurStatsDay on Twitter for more information.