Innovation during the COVID-19 crisis: Why it was more critical for official statistics than ever1

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, quantitative evidence was desperately needed in order to understand and manage an unprecedented situation, and to make important national, European and international decisions. Eurostat and the national statistical institutes (NSIs) played a key role in managing the pandemic, providing society with a high quality statistical information service. In particular, the crisis accelerated innovation in statistical production, steered complex processes of change towards the use of new data sources and privately held data for official statistics, enhanced the adoption of new statistical methods, and consequently the production of experimental statistics and dashboards. While the new data ecosystem provided opportunities for the production of official statistics, the importance of privacy preservation, data security and the development of adequate data quality frameworks remained a priority. Important strands of work for the future would be: satisfying the increased needs of users, as well as supporting decision-making and the delivery of government services in emergencies. NSIs would also do well to invest in innovation, collaborate and establish partnerships with the data providers and research communities that have worked closely with them since the beginning of the pandemic. This article is based on the experiences of six NSIs in the Netherlands, Spain, France, Italy, Germany and Finland during the pandemic.