Page 355 - Invited Paper Session (IPS) - Volume 2

IPS277 Matthew Shearing
3.2 The strengths of the public, private, and other sectors
Individual technical experts (private sector)
These typically have experience working in a specific topic area(s) in an
NSO(s) and/or international organisation(s) and in working on capacity-
building projects in various countries. They bring in-depth technical expertise,
particularly in the day-to-day and long-term challenges of producing official
statistics, good (and bad) practices across the globe, working in and tailoring
inputs to individual countries and specific regional or national NSS contexts.

Advanced NSOs (public sector)
These bring in-depth and up-to-date knowledge of advanced techniques
and challenges in NSOs and can form very effective working relationships with
fellow professionals. Where NSOs are experienced in capacity-building
projects, such as Statistics Netherlands, they can also provide some of the
benefits of independent technical experts. However, the availability of their
experts during the project is often limited due to the demands of their
domestic responsibilities, naturally high costs, and their expertise may be
focussed on technical solutions that are inappropriate for certain developing
countries. Project management, including financially transparent accounting
systems, are not a core strength. However, a limited amount of advanced NSOs
have also developed in-house project management capability in capacity-
building. But there are challenges which arise when and because these operate
outside of a competitive market-place (see section 3.3).

Technical service providers specialised in official statistics (private sector)
These organisations are the most common actors to lead tenders for and
implement commercial projects. With the right incentives and contractual
frameworks these organisations can run large and small-scale capacity
development projects efficiently. They bring expertise in combining successful
project management with a contextual understanding of the needs of official
statistics, often including internal expertise. They are particularly strong in
understanding the practicalities of project implementation, mobilising the
right subject matter experts, improving cost-effectiveness, developing
effective work plans and responding to challenges, robust and transparent
financial management systems, and coordinating partners and stakeholders
across sectors.

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