Modernising the production and dissemination of official statistics in the National Bank of Belgium

The National Bank of Belgium , being a key player in the production of official statistics in Belgium and in the context of the European Statistical System, needs to evolve in its provision data products, as well as improve their accessibility.

In that context, the development of an infrastructure that can progressively support data integration (bringing together disjointed data siloed domains into one harmonised space), enables improved internal data sharing, maintain reporting lines to international organisations, as well vastly improve the access to data for the National Bank’s statistics users. These objectives should ultimately lead to improved data user satisfaction, compliance with accessibility standards, as well as increased internal efficiency through automation and use of modern tools and techniques in the mid/longterm. This project provided the foundations for the National Bank of Belgium to undertake that journey in the years to come by developing:

• The design of a data governance mechanism whereby the National Bank’s domains have come to an agreement on harmonised data models.
• The design of a new open-source statistical platform – SALSA –, a partial version of which has been deployed and configured over the project timeframe.

Context

The National Bank of Belgium is pursuing a multi-year plan for the modernisation of statistics aimed at reorganising traditional data factories, developing new data products and improving engagement with stakeholders in an effort to improve evidence-informed policymaking for governmental authorities, and the public debate.

The National Bank of Belgium planned to replace its outdated statistical database with a new statistical infrastructure that is compliant with international standards and is able to respond to the demands of its stakeholders.

Support delivered

To achieve the modernisation of the National Bank’s data production and dissemination efforts, DG REFORM via the Technical Support Instrument collaborated with the OECD to produce a reliable and functioning statistical infrastructure that is compliant with international standards and allows for faster processing and validation abilities. The project, which lasted 22 months, successfully contributed to the National Bank’s multi-year plan for the modernisation of statistics by the development of the SALSA (Statistical database Administration Lifecycle using SDMX Artefacts) platform. 

Results achieved

The project enabled the National Bank of Belgium to set the foundations for modernising the data life-cycle through harmonised data models, better process integration and automation, use of modern tools that are compliant with international standards. 

The expected longer-term effect is to better inform the public debate (including academia, media, NGOs, businesses, groups with disabilities, public at large) and support the policy-making decision process (local and national governments, international bodies) with more accessible data. It will also contribute to the National Bank’s objective to reinforce its role as reference source of data in the area of socio-economic indicators within the Belgian and European ecosystem.