WHAT THE RUSSIAN INFORMATION AND STATISTICAL SYSTEM SHOULD BE LIKE?

Information and communication technology has reached a level of development that official sites of statistical offices and information resources stored on them has become the major channel for the distribution of statistical data. Therefore issues related to dissemination of statistical information should now be discussed in the context of internet-based databases, i.e. information and statistical systems. Transition from statistical handbooks and publications to such systems can lead to a radical increase in the volume and quality boost of statistical information made available to the users along with drastic reduction in data access costs.

For several years now users have been able to access the official Rosstat website, the Central Statistical Database and the Unified Interdepartmental Statistical Information System that combined claim to the role of Russian information and statistical system. However it is safe to say that the users of all the abovementioned resources are not exactly content and satisfied with them.

The purpose of this article is to organize author's thoughts on what kind of information and statistical system will suit the users tasked with analyzing Russian economic dynamics more.

The article discusses what's required of such system and puts forward suggestions for structuring the process of its organization, maintenance and development. The author reviews information structures that this system should look up to, relationships between them, general logic behind the total data set in the database. Emphasis is being placed on ensuring the following requirements: completeness, non-redunduncy, consistency, actuality, accuracy and precision. The composition of non-numeric information in the database is discussed. The article examines system functionality, issues related to its establishment, maintenance and development. Because establishment of this system has a substantial economic and statistical component, it can not be done only by the efforts of IT specialists. It is necessary to organize interaction between system developers and its potential users.

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