United Nations Economic Commission for EuropeStatistical DivisionUnited Nations Economic Commission for EuropeStatistical Division

UNECE Big Data Work

Steven ValeUNECE

steven.vale@unece.org

Big Data

Big Data

Data sources with high volume, velocity and variety of data, which require new tools and methods to

capture, curate, manage, and process them in an efficient way

Source: UNECE and UNSD

What does Big Data mean for official statistics?

Priorities:Partnerships – GuidelinesPrivacy – GuidelinesQuality – GuidelinesSkills – Survey Skills profileIT / methodological issues - Sandbox

Sandbox Irish Centre for High-end Computing is

hosting a Big Data ‘sandbox’ containing data and tools for international experiments

“Play is the highest form of research” – Einstein

Sandbox: Aims

Is remote access and processing a feasible approach for statistical production?

Can existing statistical standards / methods be applied to Big Data?

Which Big Data software tools are most useful for statistical organisations?

What are the potential uses, advantages and disadvantages of Big Data? “Learning by doing”

Can we build an international collaboration community on the use of Big Data for statistics?

Social Media

Mobile Phones

Prices

Smart Meters Job Vacancies

Web Scraping

Traffic Loops

7 Sandbox Experiment Teams

75 Individuals from 25 countries / organisations

3 Task Teams

Executive Board, Modernisation Committees

1 Project Manager

2 Coordinators

Partners

Results

Project output available on UNECE Wiki

http://www1.unece.org/stat/platform/display/bigdata/2014+Project

2015 Project

More sandbox experiments More data

• UNSD Comtrade

• Wikipedia

• Twitter

• Enterprise web site data

Future of the sandbox approach• “Sprint” – Cork, 22-24 June

2015 Project

Challenge from the High-level Group:

Produce and release a set ofinternationally comparable statisticsfrom one or more Big Data sources

By November 2015!

Get involved!Anyone is welcome to contribute!Contact: support.stat@unece.org

More Information Big Data Wiki: www1.unece.org/stat/platform/display/bigdataLinkedIn group:

“Modernising official statistics” Big Data Inventory:

http://www1.unece.org/stat/platform/x/XAeDBg