The standardization of statistical processes: a framework for methodological standards

One of the highest priority of the European Statistical System is to carry out the industrialisation of production processes of statistical information. Fundamental requirement for the achievement of this objective is to define standards valid for the entire community of official statistics; these standards should cover the various aspects of "statistical business architecture": statistic production processes, IT environment, operational-management framework and research and training. To ensure the start of the standard definition process, the European Statistical System Committee has launched a series of initiatives, including an ESSnet ("Preparation for standardization"), with the task of exploring the issues relating to the standard definition, implementation and management. The ESSnet has concluded its works also producing, among other valuable outputs, a conceptual framework describing the constituent elements of a statistical standard. The role of ISTAT has been crucial in the definition of this framework, that has been implemented in a repository of rules and recommendations, used for the analysis of the methodological manuals in use by National Statistical Institutes, and potentially useful for the definition of common standards.