Abstract

Although there are still debates going on about the why, what and how regarding the mix between the production of official statistics and implementing the data stewardship functions, we must keep our eyes in horizon. When embracing the idea that NSIs can and should lead the processes to create order and improve the quality and operability of the data at the national level, it becomes more that clear that this is big a serious function as well as task where there is lot to be explored, discovered and experienced. Nevertheless, already now, based on limited practical experience on data stewardship, we can say with certainty that data stewardship can be a catalyst for number of other “extra-curricular” activities new or not common to producers of official statistics. The leaders of the NSI’s are faced with broadly three strategic trajectories:
a) “official statistics first”: improving the production of official statistics by improving the data stewardship;
b) “the super (data) steward”: by becoming national champions of data stewardship within own e.g. statistical domain and/or in public sector data stewardship the relevance of official statistics as well as NSI will be improved or
c) “NSI re-designer”: using the momentum that has been created by the debate about the data stewardship, look beyond and redesign the whole concept of NSI in the context of digitalised and databased societies. While talking about data stewardship we also should consider what is there for NSIs beyond data stewardship.”