The document discusses the objectives and progress of the Generalized Process for Business Statistics (GPBS) project. GPBS aims to standardize methods, metadata, and IT tools across business survey production. It has designed a generalized architecture based on international statistical standards. This includes a metadata repository compliant with GSIM, standardizing survey data and metadata from legacy systems, and a statistical service proof-of-concept for selective editing. The project seeks to integrate existing ad-hoc applications into a standardized environment to improve business survey processes.

1. On the Design and Implementation of a
Generalized Process for Business Statistics
Advisory Board, 19/11/2018
M. Bruno, G. Ruocco, M. Scannapieco

2.  Objectives
 What have we done?
 GPBS Architecture
 Preliminary results:
 Metadata: GSIM compliant process metadata
 Working data: standardization of survey data and
metadata
 Statistical service proof-of-concept: data persistence,
metadata management and workflow management
Outline
2Generalized Process for Business Statistics – Advisory Board, 19/11/2018

3. Standardization of methods, metadata and
IT tools to be used in business surveys
production chain
[AS-IS] Business Surveys [TO-BE] Integrated Surveys
3
Objectives
«GPBS has the main objective of designing and
implementing a standardized system to support
business statistics»
Generalized Process for Business Statistics – Advisory Board, 19/11/2018

4. GPBS within the Advisory Board
 GPBS proposed to the Advisory Board in november 2017
 Main recommendations:
 data driven workflow
 generalized functionalities to integrate ad-hoc legacy
applications in a standard environment
 analysis of generalized tools developed by other NSIs
(e.g. BANFF from Stat. Canada)
4
What have we done? (1/2)
Generalized Process for Business Statistics – Advisory Board, 19/11/2018

5.  Selected a subset of Short-Term business Statistics (STS) and
Structural Business Statistics (SBS)
 Analysed International Standards in the context of Official
Statistics:
 EARF: Enterprise Architecture Reference Framework
 CSPA: standard for sharing statistical services
 GSDEM: standard for editing & imputation
 GSIM: information objects in statistical processes
 Started the design and implementation of the TO-BE
architecture
5
What have we done? (2/2)
Generalized Process for Business Statistics – Advisory Board, 19/11/2018

6. GPBS Architecture (1/2)
6
Source: ESS Statistical Production Reference Architecture (SPRA)
Metadata
Repository
Orchestrator
Statistical
Service
Data
Repository
Generalized Process for Business Statistics – Advisory Board, 19/11/2018

7. GPBS Architecture (2/2)
7
Source: ESS Statistical Production Reference Architecture (SPRA)
S-META
Orchestrator
SELEMIX
WORKING
DATA
Generalized Process for Business Statistics – Advisory Board, 19/11/2018

8. 8
GSIM compliant process metadata (1/2)
S-Meta component: conceptual level model
Generalized Process for Business Statistics – Advisory Board, 19/11/2018
Metadata Team

9. 9
GSIM compliant process metadata (2/2)
S-Meta component: logical level model
Generalized Process for Business Statistics – Advisory Board, 19/11/2018
IT Architecture Team

10. 10
Working data
Survey data and metadata modelling: from legacy systems to a
generalized data architecture
Generalized Process for Business Statistics – Advisory Board, 19/11/2018
Working Data Team

11. 11
Statistical service proof-of-concept (1/2)
Business process modelling: design and preliminary
implementation of the core functionalities of a statistical
service for selective editing
Generalized Process for Business Statistics – Advisory Board, 19/11/2018
Methodology Team

12. 12
Statistical service proof-of-concept (2/2)
Generalized Process for Business Statistics – Advisory Board, 19/11/2018
Recommendations and service architecture
 Analyse what each step in the processes to implement requires
from the legacy apps (‘Data repository’ and ‘Working data’);
 Capture the relevant (configurable) data processing parameters;
Specification of the decision points and how the parameters affect
the process; Lightweight solution to document the schema of
inputs/outputs (‘Metadata repository’).

13. Thank you!
13Generalized Process for Business Statistics – Advisory Board, 19/11/2018
Trying to Keep It Simple and Stupid
(KISS)