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Developing a leading statistical ecosystem to empower decision makers in government, the private sector and broader society

National Bureau of Statistics manages all aspects of the government’s statistical work. It was looking to enhance the way in which it provides and communicates data to better meet the needs of users.

The National Bureau of Statistics asked Oxford Economics to redesign its existing statistical publications to make them more user-focused.  This included:

• Identifying the most relevant data for decision-makers in government, the private sector and wider society and how that can be provided.
• Making access to data user-friendly.
• Ensuring that the release of official statistics is timely.

The solution

Oxford Economics worked closely with the National Bureau of Statistics over a period of six months to develop 57 redesigned publication templates. The work was completed in two broad stages:

• Phase 1: prototype development. Oxford Economics developed a prototype publication template, including data workbooks, a report and a website template. The prototype was informed by user requirements gathered through meetings with public and private sector user groups as well as National Bureau of Statistics teams. The requirements were further refined by comparison with international best practices and Oxford Economics’ own expertise in communicating statistics and economics.
• Phase 2: template roll-out. Oxford Economics and the National Bureau of Statistics project management team worked together to redesign 57 publication templates based on the prototype developed in phase 1. The success of the template roll-out was predicated on the teams’ ability to jointly engage and manage input from a wide range of stakeholders in the National Bureau of Statistics including teams from branding, website development, automation and statistical teams.

The final templates included structured statistical workbooks accompanied by visually appealing reports. The content from the templates was designed to be transferable to the National Bureau of Statistics’ new website and easily updateable using advanced automation techniques.

The results

Oxford Economics’ work provided the National Bureau of Statistics with:

• 57 user-focused templates that provide a consistent suite of high-quality publications for the National Bureau of Statistics to use and publish for years to come
• A foundation for the National Bureau of Statistics to inform and influence key decisions by private and public sector leaders
• User-centric input to inform the National Bureau of Statistics’ ongoing publication and website development
• Templates designed to support the automation of future reports