Concept for the development of service of official statistics intended for long-term preservation of digital records

Poljičak Sušec, Martina. (2016). Concept for the development of service of official statistics intended for long-term preservation of digital records. PhD Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of Information Science
Department of Information Science > Chair of Archivistics .
(Poslijediplomski doktorski studij informacijskih i komunikacijskih znanosti) [mentor Stančić, Hrvoje].

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Abstract

The aim of this doctoral thesis was to develop a model and guidelines for the development of official statistics services designed for long-term preservation of digital records. Research conducted in this doctoral dissertation is part of the research carried out on the InterPARES Trust, a multi-national interdisciplinary research project dealing with issues related to digital records and data entrusted to the Internet. The dissertation is divided in 6 chapters: 1) Introduction, the Aim and the Composition of the Research Paper, Hypotheses, Methods and Scientific Contribution, 2) Development of e-Government in the EU and Croatia – Aligning with Digital Agenda for Europe, 3) Official Statistics – Concepts and Principles, 4) Modernisation of European Statistical System (ESS), 5) Results of Comparative Analysis of e-Services in official statistics, 6) Model and Guidelines for the Development of Official Statistics Services intended for Long-Term Preservation of Digital Records. A wider overview of development of the concepts of e-government and the comparison of different solutions in e-services development was done. The paper also presents the context of official statistics within the European Statistical System (ESS) as well as a review of literature in long-term preservation of digital records. Theoretical overview presents the following topics within e-government, official statistics and long-term preservation of digital records: e-services sectors and categories, historical review of e-government development in the EU and Croatia, the participants in the ESS and the Croatian Statistical System, the tasks of official statistics in Croatia, the development of generic information systems used in official statistics: Generic Statistical Information Model (GSIM), Generic Statistical Business Process Model (GSBPM), Generic Enterprise Model for Statistics (GEMS), Open Archival Information Model (OAIS Reference Model), Statistical Disclosure Control Methods and Remote Access to Statistical Microdata. Relevant projects were presented and their results were discussed. The author conducted a "Comparative Analysis of Implemented Official Statistics e-Services" regarding e-services used for data collection. The comparative analysis is part of the study entitled "Comparative Analysis of Implemented Governmental e-Services" in the framework of the InterPARES Trust Project. Also, the author gives an insight into other types of services that provide access to statistical data for different groups of target users of official statistics and into services developed for access to confidential statistical microdata of the ESS, which are used for scientific research and secondary analysis. As part of the comparative analysis, the environment analysis was conducted using available results from relevant studies about e-government: UN eGovernment Studies, eGovernment Factsheets Reports, DESI Index Survey under Digital Agenda for Europe, Capgemini’s Benchmark Report for 2015. Results of the studies were used to compare e-government indicators of developed countries in the EU with the rest of the world, and analysis in particular deals with the Croatian case. The criteria for choosing the countries and the e-services for further research were the availability of information in public sources about characteristics of e-service, excellence in e-government, as well as excellence in information and communication infrastructure of the country. The final decision was to include the following countries in the research study of the InterPARES Trust Project: Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Lithuania, Sweden and the UK. For comparative analysis 10 services from abovementioned countries were included. A structured questionnaire with 52 questions was used and a comparative matrix for all 10 services together was prepared using filled-in questionnaires. The questionnaire consisted of 6 sections with questions about basic e-service information, users, business optimisation, technological solutions, storage and long-term availability and system operation transparency. A 5-stage scale was used to categorise e-services based on maturity level. Synthesis of the results enabled conclusions about examples of good practice in e-service development. However, further communication with responsible persons in official statistics institutions was initiated in order to obtain more information about storage and long-term availability of data. Results of direct communication indicated the need to establish more transparent system during long-term preservation of confidential data in official statistics. Examples of good practice in e-service development regarding official statistics data collection are those that use open specifications and enable establishing flows of data between different government institutions, at the same time ensuring that confidential data are secure. Those examples are evident in all researched countries. Standardisation of processes and reduction of administrative burden is mostly established in Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania and Sweden, all of which extensively use administrative sources to collect as much data as possible. Estonia uses modern data authentication methods. Examples of good practice in developing services for different users of official statistics are the ones in the following countries: Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Examples of good practice in developing services for remote access to confidential microdata of official statistics are present in the following countries: Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden and the UK. Based on the findings from literature reviews, analysis and synthesis of best practices in the EU and beyond, and established situation in the Republic of Croatia as well as the perceived need for further development, the author proposes a model for the development of official statistics service intended for long-term preservation of digital records, which relies heavily on the reference model for Open Archival Information System - OAIS and introduces specific additional features that are important to ensure the protection of confidential statistical information. The model is focused on meeting the defined principles of transparency of long-term preservation of digital records which, in the context of this doctoral thesis, include publishing information in publicly available sources on policies, locations, terms and ways of storing data and enabling access to confidential data of official statistics, and on the procedures for the data after the expiration of the prescribed period of preservation. Additional functions included in the proposed model are the following ones: 1) Statistical Disclosure Control Function, 2) Risk Management Function, 3) Transparent Public Relations Function, 4) Provenance Control Function and 5) Dissemination Control Function. Along with the developed model, the author presents guidelines for the development of efficient services for long-term preservation of digital records in official statistics. Further details are presented in the author's proposed Model for Development of Croatian Remote Access Service for Statistical Microdata. The model and the accompanying theoretical knowledge can serve as a reference point for further development of concepts and solutions regarding services for access to confidential information in official statistics or in other systems that are faced with similar needs and requirements of users in the modern information society. In addition to presenting the results and recommendations in the context of the research questions of the project InterPARES Trust, the dissertation gives an overview of other important theoretical areas, issues and dilemmas related to official statistics development, with the presentation of best practices and guidelines for the development of official statistics services.

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