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

DevStat provides data visualisation services in Moldova and Kazakhstan

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In the context of projects financed by the EU in Moldova and UNICEF in Kazakhstan, DevStat has provided support for the visualisation of data. In one case, a dashboard with regional development indicators has been prepared with the software “Tableau Public” for the Ministry of Regional Development. In the case of Kazakhstan, we have prepared a poster showing the results of the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2015. DevStat supports statistical offices in improving the communication with users by visual means, enlarging the accessibility to important data for non-specialists. In May 2016, DevStat organised for Eurostat the first workshop on Data Visualisation for the European Statistical System (link to the conference).

Conference of European Statistics Stakeholders (CESS 2016)

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DevStat participated at the second Conference of European Statistics Stakeholders (CESS 2016) organised in Budapest (Hungary) on the 20-21 October 2016.

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The aim of the conference was to bring together European methodologists, producers, and users of statistics to discuss users needs, to share best practices in the production of official statistics, and to present innovative ways of visualising and communicating statistics, among others.

With the occasion of the conference, the European Statistics Day was launched and celebrated for the first time on the 20 of October.

Florabela Carausu (International Projects Consultant at DevStat) presented at the CESS 2016 the results of a joint research on “Visualising and sharing statistical narratives”, discussing the concept of statistical narratives as an opportunity but also a challenge for official data providers, and a set of proposals for module based narratives.

CESS 2016 Website: http://www.ksh.hu/cess2016

This initiative builds on the experience that DevStat gained through the technical organisation of the 2016 Visualisation Workshop in Valencia (17-18 May 2016), which aimed at increasing awareness of the issue of visualising statistics.

 

IMO says results of Bosnia’s first post-war census are valid

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The International Monitoring Operation (IMO), mandated to monitor the compliance of Bosnia’s first post-war census, said on Wednesday 12th October that the results of the 2013 census are valid and were derived in accordance with international standards.

DevStat, through its Technical Assistance project for population and housing census data processing, has assisted the local Statistical Institutions since December 2014 in the design and implementation of the data processing and dissemination of the census data and it is now glad to have had the possibility to be part of this process and support the local Statistical Institutions in reaching this historical result.

DevStat signs a contract with the Agency on Statistics under the President of Tajikistan

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DevStat, as a leader of a consortium, has been selected to carry out a project by the Agency on Statistics of Tajikistan. The main objective of the Twinning Partnership under the ECASTAT Project Grant №TF017852 is to assist the Agency on Statistics under the President of Tajikistan in the provision of advisory services, training, surveys, monitoring and evaluation of the achievements for further capacity-building of the statistical system of Tajikistan in the preparation and dissemination of relevant, reliable and timely statistical data based on cost-effectively manner which comply with international standards and meet the needs of users.

DevStat consolidates its presence in the region of Central Asia adding this project to those already being carried out in Kazakhstan.

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DevStat spreads its projects to the Republic of Kazakhstan

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DevStat has been selected for two projects in Kazakhstan. The first one consists of providing technical assistance to the Committee on Statistics of this Central Asian country to develop a survey on the use of ICT in households. José L. Cervera, CEO of DevStat conducted a training course for all representatives of the 16 regions of the country (see photo).

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The second project has been granted by the national office of UNICEF in Kazakhstan to develop an indicators system about childhood and to elaborate the Statistical Yearbook of Childhood in Kazakhstan. DevStat has already collaborated with UNICEF in the Sultanate of Oman.

 

DevStat sponsors 1st International Conference on Advanced Research Methods and Analytics

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DevStat sponsors the 1st International Conference on Advanced Research Methods and Analytics held in Valencia on 6 and 7 July 2016.

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DevStat is one of the co-sponsors of the First International Conference on Advanced Research Methods and Analytics, organized by the Polytechnic University of Valencia held in Valencia on 6 and 7 July 2016.

The conference aims to become a forum for researchers and practitioners to exchange ideas and advances on how emerging research methods are applied to different fields of social sciences as well as to discuss current and future challenges.

José Luis Cervera, CEO of DevStat, participates as Chairman in the session of Official Statistics.

Link: www.carmaconf.org

Technical Assistance to the Central Administration of Statistics (CAS) in Lebanon

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DevStat, in consortium with ICON Institute, has been awarded the project “Technical Assistance to the Central Administration of Statistics (CAS) in Lebanon” to support official statistics in Lebanon. The technical assistance will cover the fields of National Accounts, social and demographic statistics as well as strengthening the capacity of staff through training. The project will last 18 months, during which technical support will be provided to CAS in order to improve the quantity and quality of statistical information in general.

The assistance is particularly important in the context of the Syrian crisis, which has obliged to about 1.5 million Syrians to move to Lebanon, thus adding stress to the socio-economic conditions of the country. Knowing better, through improved statistics, the living conditions and the impact on the economy will allow the Lebanese Government and the international community to address the needs of the population.