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It is planned to employ new information sources to compile the EAEU official statistics
As was highlighted by Sergei Glazyev, EEC Minister in charge of Integration and Macroeconomics, the matter of applying big data was a logical trend of technical and scientific progress.
"Nowadays, we have learned to foresee the future based on long-term patterns of economic development but this is more of qualitative foresight than economic and mathematical analysis. We need to learn to work with big data in a manner that includes comprehensive verification, problem-setting and result interpretation," noted Sergei Glazyev.
The seminar participants also discussed such promising areas for using big data as price statistics, financial statistics, demographic statistics, tourism statistics, agricultural statistics and retail statistics. The event featured an exchange of experiences and demonstration of successful cases.
At the same time, the seminar participants repeatedly pointed out that it would be possible to take advantage of those fundamentally new data sources for preparing the official statistics once the issues of methodology, quality, technology, data access, legislation, confidentiality, management, financing, etc. were resolved. In addition, it is required to perform a proper cost-benefit analysis.
The seminar participants expressed their willingness to continue the dialogue and organize a permanent platform for exchanging views and discussing international initiatives, best foreign practices and experience of the region's countries in using big data in official statistics. Moreover, a proposal was made to establish a regional hub for capacity building in using big data in official statistics, while also employing the capabilities of Eurasian Network University.
The seminar was attended by experts from the national statistical offices of the Eurasian Economic Union, Asia-Pacific region and the CIS, international organizations and the scientific community, including from China, Korea, Uzbekistan and other countries.
For reference
Big data are initially unstructured data on social and economic development and environment generated on the basis of information and communication technologies beyond official statistics.
Big data are characterized by such features as a large volume of information, a high speed of information change and diversity and heterogeneity of data.
The sources of big data are GPS navigators, CCTV cameras, satellite data, mobile phones, e-commerce, bank cards, social networks, search queries on the Internet, electronic messages, user area maps, etc.
The potential of big data sources lies in the possibility to obtain big data arrays from them timely, sometimes in real time, and usually with minimum expense.
