Data 4 Policy: Is the Statistical Era Being Replaced by an Era of Data?

With Walter Radermacher
Munich, October 13th 2022

This workshop is part of the series “Statistics for the Public Good – Infrastructure Decision Making, Research and Discourse”, which introduces participants to public statistics as a process in which the design, production and communication of information (statistics) are an integral part. As with other products (architecture, furniture, food, cars, smartphones, etc.), the aim is to optimize the design (form) in relation to the use (function) of the products (“form follows function”).

In this respect it is about more than just the application of statistical methods. Rather, the focus must be on the questions that a society wants to have answered with solid statistics for its current, pressing and conflict-laden issues. Other aspects then play a role here, namely whether politics values and finances this infrastructure, whether corresponding data literacy is available in the population at large, and so on.

Various use cases relevant to current policy at international and national level will be used, in which the course participants will act as statistical stakeholders with distributed roles.

About the Instructor

Walter J. Radermacher is a Professor of Statistics at LMU Munich. Additionally, he serves as the Advisory Board Chair of the International Statistical Institute (ISI). His research focuses on statistics, sustainable development, governance, ethics, and data analysis. Furthermore, he has experience in public administration at national and European levels, having served as President of the Statistisches Bundesamt, Director-General of the Statistical Office, and Chief Statistician of the European Union.