Growing for new opportunities: DevStat’s new organization

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Data revolution and behavioural insights: possibly the most game-changing factors in modern decision-making in public and private spheres, requiring a combination of skills and methods. As any innovative company, DevStat has reorganized itself to become a relevant player in this fields. 

Upstream, DevStat will contribute to the development of methods linking traditional statistics, Big Data analytics and behavioural science, through the endowed “DevStat Chair” at University of Valencia, collaborating with associated researchers in fields such as statistics, microeconomics, neurobiology and computer science, under the guidance of Dr José Vila (University of Valencia) and other outstanding scientific advisors.

Downstream, DevStat will propose sound quantitative methods for improved decision-making by governments, international institutions  and companies, and increase its efficiency in managing transfer of know-how and capacity building projects, especially in developing and transition countries. Internally, DevStat will consolidate its three areas of work: quantitative consulting, technical assistance and trainings & events, under the technical coordination and managerial supervision of José L. Cervera-Ferri, senior statistician and consultant to international organisations.

Interested candidates to join DevStat’s team for positions of consultants – without restrictions on fields of specialisation – and project managers can send at any time their resumes to jcervera@devstat.com. Researchers interested in collaborating with the DevStat Chair can send theirs to jvila@devstat.com. 

DevStat accompanies a study visit of the Cuban National Statistical office…

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DevStat accompanies a study visit of the Cuban National Statistical office to the Colombian National Statistical Department on the production and use of statistics on self-employed and micro enterprises

DevStat has organized a study visit to Colombian National Statistical Department (DANE) for delegates of the National Statistical office of Cuba (ONEI). The visit took place between the 3-5 May, in the frame of a cooperation project signed between the EC and the FIIAPP (International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies). Mr. Ricardo Vila, scientific advisor of Devstat, accompanied the 6 representatives from the ONEI during the whole visit.

During the three days, the ONEI delegates could see from a practical point of view, how the DANE addresses the issue of statistics of self-employed and micro-enterprises and what solutions have been created to address the challenges that come from the emergence of new economic structures.

The visit covered issues such as: micro-enterprises surveys, the Integrated households survey but also field visits to see first-hand how interviews are carried out and data are gathered.

 

First GCC Statistical Forum 2017

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Guide to the statistical measurement of Green Production

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Under a contract with the UN- Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), José Cervera, CEO of DevStat, together with Mónica Luz, have published a guide to the statistical measurement of Green Production.

The guide allows countries to put in place a system of harmonised surveys to businesses to collect information on inputs, technologies, investments, processes and jobs related to sustainable industrial production. Greening the industrial processes is a key factor to achieve the environmental targets of the Sustainable Development Goals​.

Link: http://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/40967/S1700065_es.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

DevStat accompanies a study visit of Moldovan Statistical Office to Portuguese institutions…

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DevStat accompanies a study visit of Moldovan Statistical Office to Portuguese institutions on the production and use of regional and territorial statistics

DevStat has organized a study visit to Statistics Portugal (INE PT) and the Portuguese Agency for Development and Cohesion (AD&C) for delegates of the National Bureau of Statistics, the Ministry for Regional Development and Constructions and the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Moldova.The visit is taking place between 22-24 February, in the frame of the EuropeAid technical assistance project on “Improved Regional Statistics in the Republic of Moldova”, organized by Florabela Carausu, DevStat expert in local development and statistics.

The working sessions cover issues such as: principles and criteria for planning and implementation of the structural funds, national and international spatial analysis units to support territorial analysis, and interplay between regional and local policies and statistical indicators. The visit is benefiting also of DevStat’s experience in the production of territorial statistics and the use of statistics as support to decision-making at various geographical levels.

DevStat collaborate with Master in Data Science (UV)

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DevStat, within the line of research driven as a pillar for its growth in Big Data, Business Intelligence, Customer Experience and Business Analytics, is one of the entities collaborating with the University of Valencia in the University Master in Data Science. The objective of this Master is to train professionals in these areas to acquire a solid background in quantitative techniques and computational methods and to perform advanced data analysis. DevStat hopes to be able to welcome these professionals into its team in the near future.

Link: http://www.uv.es/uvweb/master-ciencia-datos/es/master-universitario-ciencia-datos-1285949661373.html

ESS Workshop on (Linked) Open Data – Malta January 17

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The ESS Workshop on dissemination of official statistics as open data, organised by Eurostat with the support of DevStat and the National Institute of Statistics of Malta, took place in St. Julian (Malta) on 18-19 January 2017.

The workshop aimed at bringing together the various stakeholders to explore and prepare the ESS future orientation in this area of work, with active involvement of the members of the DIGICOM Work Package 3 “open data dissemination” in its preparation and animation.

The workshop was open to all actors (from the statistical community but also from the open data community) of (linked) open data projects, staff with responsibilities in methodological and dissemination activities as well as managers. Experts from ministries/agencies in charge of open data portals, re-disseminators, data analysts and data archives were also present.

During the Workshop different themes were discussed: opportunities, use cases (linked data, linked metadata), added-value for the users, challenges and how to address them standards, thesaurus, Uniform Resource Identifiers and Strategy and policy.

The Workshop was a complete success: Malta received more than 55 participants from 27 different countries. For the first time, the Workshop was retransmitted in streaming during its two days and more than 100 people connected and followed it.

Top 2016 results and new resolutions for 2017

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2016 has been another important year for DevStat. We have continued our internal restructuring into three activity streams: quantitative consulting, technical assistance to statistical systems and technical events. We have also moved to new premises, with all the necessary technology to deliver our services in a friendly environment in the very heart of Valencia.

Our in-house experts have provided consultancy services to the European Commission (DG Trade, Eurostat), UNICEF, the regional government of Valencia, the regional statistical office of the Gulf Cooperation Council and other clients. In all cases, our services include the use of state-of-art quantitative methods for decision-making. A small but promising Data Science team has been created to take active part the Data revolution and make our clients benefit of it. With the new year, a consulting project with the DG for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs of the European Commission is just starting.

Two major events were organised for the European Statistical System: on Modernisation of Official Statistics (in Bucharest) and on Data Visualisation (in Valencia). Training events for official statisticians were organised in Valencia, Brussels and Vienna. We sponsored the Big Data CARMA Conference in Valencia, and we are now fully embarked on the preparation of the first conference on Linked Open Data for the European Statistical System in Valletta (Malta).

Our third stream of work, the provision of technical assistance to developing and transition statistical systems, has been increasingly global, with new projects in Cuba, Lebanon, Moldova, Sudan, Ukraine and Tajikistan. We have contributed to the validation of the Population and Housing Census data in Bosnia and Hercegovina.

All this is possible thanks to our qualified in-house staff, but also the many experts mobilised for our projects, and our partners including the statistical offices of Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Romania, to which we are grateful and with which we hope to continue our collaboration.

I hope that 2017 will bring us new, exciting opportunities for collaboration with international organisations, national institutions and private companies. My best wishes for all our collaborators and clients!

José Cervera, CEO