Page 82 - Special Topic Session (STS) - Volume 2

STS461 Maciej T.
5. Annex: Other aspects of work on the follow up on the Global Goals
Disaggregation of data. In the context of the SDGs, disaggregation of
data can have many dimensions. Due to the wide use of administrative data in
Danish statistical production, disaggregation by sex, age, income, education
etc. does not pose difficulties. Disaggregation by religion on the other hand is
more challenging, as it is not legal to ask persons about their religious beliefs.
Disaggregation by people with disabilities is also a challenging aspect as data
availability is limited and only in few cases we can achieve a fragmentary follow
up on the global goals. Finally, geographical disaggregation. Here again, with
data based on administrative registers, the challenges, at least relating to the
social statistics, aren’t substantial. However, due the size of population in
Denmark, many of the indicators cannot be disaggregated by geographical
levels, as this would interfere with statistical confidentiality.
Data from non-official sources – this is a heavily discussed topic in the
statistical community. The first issue to be addressed in this context is what
types of data we talk about. Generally, it could be dis-cussed whether it is data
showing a ‘section’ of a bigger picture, such as Big Data, but also data from
civil society could fall under this term. There is willingness from Statistics
Denmark to receive and publish data from civil society, and there is willingness
from civil society to deliver data. However, in the Danish case, data provided
by civil society seldom fully corresponds to the requirements to the indicators
and in consequence the indicator is only partially covered. The challenge is
then not only to explain the figures that are not fully covering the indicator
but also to complement them with additional data. Which again poses a
question of comparability of data covering the indicator.
Coordinating data streams from the national statistical system –
Statistics Denmark is coordinating national reporting on the global goals. Due
to its complexity, the reporting is a challenging task. Firstly, the complex nature
of many questionnaires makes it difficult to find relevant contributors. This
implies a time consuming follow up with various governmental agencies.
Furthermore, the coordination easily gets multi-layered – first a questionnaire
comes in, then it is considered in Statistics Denmark, then it gets sent to a
presumably right ministry. A frequent reply from the ministries is that it is not
the right one or that it can only answer parts of the questionnaire. In such
cases, the work starts from the beginning and the questionnaire can be
repeatedly circulated among ministries, which requires some goodwill from
the involved staff. From the NSO side, the challenge is to balance the
perceivably ‘over dimensioned’ questionnaires with the integrity of the
coordination process.
Finally, compilation of national indicators for the national follow up
on the SDG. In this case, Statistics Denmark will coordinate a project on
selection of national indicators. The first step will be a ‘nationwide’

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