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Commissioner Ryu Invited to IMSI Workshop to Deliver a Keynote Speech
Commissioner Ryu Invited to IMSI Workshop to Deliver a Keynote Speech
-‘Hub and Spokes Model for Governmental Data’-
□ Commissioner Keunkwan Ryu delivered his keynote address at the Private AI Workshop organized online by the Institute for Mathematical and Statistical Innovation (IMSI)* on February 7 to February 12 (between 5 a.m. and 8:40 a.m. Korean time).
* IMSI: A research institute funded by the National Science Foundation, which aims to apply mathematics and statistics to societal and scientific problems and to foster innovation
○ Under the theme of ‘Machine Learning on Encrypted Data’, the Workshop brought together many internationally recognized scholars and experts, including Vinod Vaikuntanathan of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Kristin Lauter of Facebook AI Research, and Shai Halevi of Algorand Foundation.
○ Participants at the workshop examined a range of solutions to technological challenges in applying innovative developments in machine learning and AI, with particular focus on privacy protection.
□ In his keynote speech titled ‘A Hub and Spokes Model for Governmental Statistics’, Commissioner Ryu presented the K-Statistics System currently under development by Statistics Korea (KOSTAT), in which public data are stored, linked, merged, and utilized in a safe manner. He also shared KOSTAT’s experience from a pilot project and suggested future direction for the K-Statistics System.
○ Through the K-Statistics System, data are currently being linked within the Statistics Data Centers of KOSTAT. Commissioner Ryu said the System will be employing leading edge technologies, such as homomorphic encryption, differential privacy, and synthetic data, for further enhancing its data protection mechanism. In addition, efforts are being made to revise the Statistics Act which will ensure legal grounding for the utilization of administrative data.
○ In addition, Commissioner Ryu introduced a pilot project which analyzed the survival patterns of SMEs using data linkage between KOSTAT’s statistical registers and the SMEs dataset of the Municipality of Gyeonggi-do. The pilot case attracted much attention from the participants of the workshop as it demonstrated logistic regression analysis, using linked data which remained encrypted throughout the process.
□ Commissioner Ryu concluded his remarks by sharing his prospects that the development of the K-Statistics System will boost data value for and cooperation among the government agencies, whereby it can further contribute to strengthening evidence-based policies. He added that technologies applied to the System will be shared with relevant international communities.
LINK : https://youtu.be/qlxahxBkOU8
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The 4th Annual Seoul Symposium on Ageing and Low-Fertility
Statistics Korea to Hold the 4th Annual Seoul Symposium on Ageing and Low-Fertility with The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
The Statistics Korea (Commissioner Kang Shin-wook) held the 4th Annual Seoul Symposium on Ageing and Low-Fertility at 8 pm Tuesday 8th December in cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
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The 6th International Conference on Big Data for Official Statistics
The Statistics Korea (Commissioner Kang Shin-wook) held the 6th Big Data Conference in cooperation with the United Nations for three days from Monday, 31st August to Wednesday, 2nd September.
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Statistics Korea held the Second Technical Meeting of the Titchfield City Group on Ageing
□ Statistics Korea held the Second Technical Meeting of the Titchfield City Group on Ageing(TCGA) in Daejeon, South Korea, 11-13 June 2019. The meeting was hosted by Statistics Korea and steered by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) of the United Kingdom.
□ Close to 50 representatives of the NSOs around the world and other stakeholders participated in the meeting and contributed to defining the stepping stones of different work strands of the future work program of the TCGA.
[ Commissioner Kang delivering his opening remarks ]
□ In the opening ceremony, the Commissioner of Statistics Korea, Kang Shin-wook, stressed that any contributions at this Meeting will serve to enrich the futures of none other than our won selves as well as our people. He also mentioned that shared expertise and insights during the meeting would make valuable contributions to well-being.
□ Introducing The Titchfield City Group on Ageing
The work programme of the TCGA will be conducted during the period 2018-2023, with the help of NSOs around the world, working alongside the UN agencies (UN Women, UN Dept of Economic and Social Affairs, UN Population Fund, UN Development Programme, World Health Organisation), International Civil society organisations, (HelpAge International and the AARP), UK’s DFID and Academia. The lead is provided by the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS).
□ Key features of ageing data
One of the themes emerging is to better appreciate three key features of age-disaggregated data and ageing-related statistics.
o Firstly, population ageing is often understood in a demographic context, in fact, population ageing brings changes across many spheres of society. The ageing data should therefore be cross-cutting, and it should concern multiple areas of social, economic and demographic statistics as well as government finances and public sector statistics.
o Secondly, the ageing data are often referred to as the information about the situation of people of a specific age group, such as the health and well-being of older persons. Instead, data and evidence is required about the timing of important transitions of life and how younger phase of life are important in determining outcomes in older ages.
o Thirdly, the ageing data should not be just about the individual attributes of older persons and their earlier lives, but it should also include information about the enabling environment in which they have lived. Therefore, the TCGA will develop a substantive conceptual and analytical framework to understand fully the multiple domains of ageing and the processes of ageing on which countries should aim to collect ageing-related data.
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KOSTAT co-hosts the ‘International Seminar on Indicators and Policies for Low Fertility’ with the UNFPA
□ KOSTAT (Commissioner Kang Shin-wook) hosted an international seminar with the topic of indicators and policies for low fertility in coordination with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) at the four seasons hotel in Seoul from December 10th to 11th in 2019.
□ The seminar provided a platform for discussing the impact of low fertility, which has become a serious social problem, on society and the economy. Also, it offered an opportunity to share knowledge and experiences with experts from international organizations and advanced countries which faced the low fertility issue earlier than Korea.
○ The seminar included four keynote speeches and five sessions for discussion with expert speakers and panelists from home and abroad who were invited by Statistics Korea, the United Nations Population Fund, the Population Association of Korea and the Korean Economic Association.
□ In the opening ceremony on the first day of the seminar, Kim Sang-hee, vice chairman of the Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy and Kang Shin-wook, commissioner of KOSTAT made opening addresses.
○ They stated that KOSTAT aims to strengthen statistical literacy by interpreting and providing a variety of information contained in indicators. This means going beyond simply measuring and providing information on population size and demographic changes, because it is very important to produce meaningful indicators which help identify the root causes of the low fertility problem, which can then be incorporated into policy making.
○ Also, they expressed the hope that the seminar would help better understand low fertility indicators in order to analyze the cause of the low fertility problem and come up with solutions.
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KOSTAT organized the 8th International Workshop on Innovative Statistical Methods
□ Statistics Korea (Commissioner Hwang, Soo Kyoung) organized the 8th International Workshop on Innovative Statistical
Methods in the Statistics Center in Daejeon on the 15th and the 16th of May in 2018.
□ In an effort to address the degrading conditions and changes of the survey environment, the workshop intended to share
the recent developments in research and practices in using the data science, such as big data and administrative register
for statistical productions.
□ Around 20 domestic and foreign experts participated as guest speakers in the workshop’s 5 sessions which included a
discussion session for data scientists and high-level officials in statistics.
○ Danny Pfeffermann, National Statistician of Israel, delivered his key note speech on the ‘problems and challenges in the
production of official statistics.’
○ The workshop also featured a presentation made by Jennifer Shin, a renowned data scientist from IMB Big Data Institute
who delineated the issue of ‘using data science for statistical purposes.’
□ Thematically the workshop looked into the following topics: 1) the use of small area estimation techniques for national
statistics, 2) practical survey methodologies and 3) the integration of survey and administrative data.
□ As a leading institute to guide the global statistical paradigm shift, Statistics Korea will continue to provide such platforms
as to promote discussions for statistical innovation toward data science and to develop the global agendas thereof.
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KOSTAT and the UNSD co-organized the International Seminar on Open Data for the SDGs
□ KOSTAT and the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) co-organized the ‘International Seminar on Sustainable Development Goals: Open Data Initiative’ at the Westin Chosun Hotel, Seoul, Korea on September 25th until the 27th in 2017.○ They have been organizing this series of international seminars since 2010 aiming to keep a dialogue going on key global issues concerning the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). * 2015: SDGs → 2016: Data Disaggregation for the SDGs → 2017: Open Data for SDGs○ Nearly 100 experts from international organizations and national statistical offices gathered at this year’s seminar to discuss issues surrounding the use of open data for implementing the Global Indicators Framework for the SDGs. The framework was endorsed at the General Assembly of the UN in July this year which will be improved and refined according to the results of this seminar. □ Program○ Opening Ceremony: opening remarks by the Commissioner of KOSTAT and the keynote address by the Managing Director of Open Data Watch○ [Session 1] Open data initiatives in support of the 2030 Agenda and the SDG indicators○ [Session 2] Supporting the role of national statistical systems in Open Data initiatives○ [Session 3] Balancing openness with risks, such as security and privacy○ [Sessions 4~6] Stakeholder involvement, data interoperability, and capacity building
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KOSTAT and the UNECE co-organized the High-Level Group Seminar for Modernization of Official Statistics
□ KOSTAT and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) co-organized the ‘High-Level Seminar on Process-Oriented Approach* to Statistical Production’ at the Plaza Hotel, Seoul, Korea between April 19th and the 20th in 2017. * The approach refers to a standardized business model for statistical production that includes the planning, data collection, data processing and analysis, service and quality assessment for statistics. It helps reduce the cost of statistical production and hopes to ensure the delivery of high quality statistical service.○ The High-Level Group for Modernization of Official Statistics (HLG-MOS) is a gathering of statistically advanced countries in the OECD which aims to lead the global statistical modernization. Since 2012, Korea has been the only Asian member country and it organized the HLG seminar for the first time in Asia. □ Program○ Opening Ceremony: Opening remarks by the Commissioner of KOSTAT welcoming remarks by the Director of the Statistical Division from UNECE○ [Session 1] Transition to Process-Oriented Structure○ [Session 2] Organizational Structure to Support Modernization○ [Session 3] Portfolio Management of Innovation Processes○ [Session 4] Providing Statistical Services to Government○ [Session 5] Tools to Support a Process-Oriented Approach (Introduction to Nara Statistics and Nara-pro)○ Meeting of the HLG MOS Members
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KOSTAT and the UNSD co-organized the International Seminar on Sustainable Development Goals
□ KOSTAT and the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) co-organized the ‘International Seminar on Sustainable Development Goals: Data Disaggregation’ at the Westin Chosun Hotel, Seoul, Korea on November 3rd until the 4th 2016.○ Each year since 2010, KOSTAT and the UNSD have jointly organized this seminar to contribute to and develop the discussion of international statistical community on major global agendas. - This year, the seminar put its focus on issues related to data disaggregation, reflecting especially on vulnerable groups such as children in poverty and women. In doing so, it resonated the ‘Leave no one behind’ principle of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of common global goals which shall be carried out during the period between 2016 to 2030. * The “Leave no one behind“ principle underscores the inclusiveness and participation of all nations in the global development.□ Program○ Opening Ceremony: Opening remarks by the Commissioner of KOSTAT and the key note address by the Director of the UNSD (delivered via teleconference)○ [Session 1] Leaving no one behind in the SDGs: Data disaggregation○ [Sessions 2,3] National experiences and challenges in producing disaggregated data *(Session 2) Categories of disaggregation (Session 3) Data sources and methodologies○ [Session 4] Innovative solutions to address the data needs of the 2030 Agenda○ [Session 5] Addressing the data needs of the 2030 Agenda○ [Session 6] Statistical capacity initiatives□ This seminar targeted experienced working-level statisticians from each nation in order to facilitate an in-depth discussion on the above mentioned agenda items. 70 experts from the national statistical offices in Denmark, Columbia, Serbia and Jordan as well as international organizations and private institutions participated in the meeting. * International organizations included the UNSD, UNICEF, UNDP and UN Women, and private institutions included the Community Systems Foundation (US), Development Initiative, Data Act Lab.□ KOSTAT expects that the organization of this seminar will contribute to strengthening the positioning of KOSTAT in the international statistical community. In addition, it aims to promote the relationship with relevant domestic entities from private, public and academic sectors to build on the domestic cooperations and partnerships for implementing SDGs.
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KOSTAT convened the 7th International Workshop on Survey Methodology
□ Commissioner Gyeongjoon Yoo of Statistics Korea convened the 7th International Workshop on Survey Methodology which took place at the Statistics Center in Daejeon on September 28th and 29th in 2016.□ The organization of the workshop, aligned with the 22nd anniversary of Statistics Day in Korea, aimed to exchange the experience and practices of advanced statistical organizations from around the world to explore ways of overcoming the worsening survey environment and addressing the changes driven by the data revolution, including the use of big data for official statistics. □ The workshop provided 5 sessions under the theme of the Challenges and Opportunities in the Affluence of Data. Distinctive speakers from an array of internationally renowned institutions including the Office of National Statistics of the UK, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, University of Manchester, University of Mannheim, and the US Mathematical Sciences Research Institute, were invited and 160 participants joined the workshop.During the workshop, special lectures were delivered by Dr. Barry D. Nussbaum, President-elect of the American Statistical Association for 2017, and Dr. Rob Kitchin, Professor of the National University of Ireland Maynooth as well.□ The workshop was comprised of 5 sessions that were [1] Data Revolution and Its Impact on Official Statistics, [2] Big Data for Official Statistics, [3] Innovation of Statistical Production Methodology, [4] Improvement of Data Quality, and [5] Disclosure Control and Information Protection.□ In his opening remarks, Gyunam Jeong, Deputy Commissioner of KOSTAT, underscored the importance of the insight of statisticians in capturing the essence from the surplus of data and adding values to it. Deputy Commissioner Jeong also called for the statistical community to provide perspectives needed for better understanding a society, as data becomes an asset for any given society. ○ In addition he called for experts from different sectors including government, academia and private sectors to gather their knowledge and experience during the workshop as constituents of a greater statistical society aiming to develop better statistics.□ KOSTAT is leading the paradigm shift in the international statistical community actively using and combining a variety of data sources for statistical purposes. Also, by exploiting the exchange of knowledge and experience with international statistical communities and continuing research activities of its own, KOSTAT aims to address the changing statistical environment and to expand its smart statistical service in the future.
Contact
Director for International Cooperation.
E-mail : kostatint@korea.kr