Abstract:

Nicolas Sarkozy wrote of his firm belief that “we will not change our behaviour unless we change the ways we measure our economic performance”. This is one of many expressions of a desire to go “beyond GDP”. We now have a proliferation of wider measures, but will they result in behaviour change? In this talk we focus on the role of official statistics, of which GDP is a well-known if little understood example. Official statistics are envisioned as an indispensable element in democratic society and certainly not just for use within government. Our research has found more about how official statistics should be used than about how they are used (or why they are not used). We explore how official statistics could be used more widely, recognising that they are part of an increasingly complex data ecosystem. Current calls to shift the emphasis from official statistics to public data appear to suggest a promising if challenging way ahead.

The webinar will provide an opportunity for:

Members of the audience to respond to an analysis of the role of official statistics, based on the Beyond GDP agenda.
People producing official statistics to discuss how they see their role.
People using official statistics to discuss their value and that of other data sources that they might draw on.