Page 90 - Special Topic Session (STS) - Volume 2

STS461 Jukka H.
4. Discussion and Conclusion
The SDGs are ambitious step for NSOs as the SDG indicator set takes a
much broader view of progress and state of sustainability than earlier. The
practical challenges of data compilation require previously unseen
collaboration of NSOs with diversity of actors. Instead of just producing new
social, economic and environmental statistics also more intense conceptual
and methodological work for SDG indicator framework is required from NSOs.
One vital task for NSOs is the validation of SDG data provided by non-
statistical government agencies, research institutes, private companies and
NGOs. Development of common and unified codes of practices are highly
important to ensure data quality and comparability. Assistance to other
national data producing institutions as well as international support, assistance
and statistical capacity building are emerging new areas
In Finland within the development project several important lessons were
learned. These are traditionally not common tasks for NSOs. Instead these
steps demand new kind of approaches and require a lot new kind capabilities
and skills from statisticians. The Finnish findings can be summarised as follows.
i. Firstly, continued political, institutional and financial support of prime
ministers’ office for the national production of the SDG indicator work
was highly important. The national compilation of data for SDG
indicator set requires additional resources and high level support that
justifies the priority of SDG indicator work.

ii. Secondly, collaboration and networking as well as interagency expert
co-operation played a major role in the compilation of NPR data.
Beside high level political support open and confidential cooperation
between statisticians and other experts is crucial. This collaboration
relates especially to the indicator concepts and data classifications,
definitions and compilation methodologies.
iii. Thirdly, establishment of the SDG -indicator set required that several
methodological and conceptual challenges needed to be addressed on
national level. In Finland the statistics are compiled in accordance with
ESS classifications that occasionally differ from those implied by UN.
One important challenge was the validation process to ensure data
quality of non-NSO data.
iv. Fourthly, maximum statistical data that can be acquired is currently
only some 50 - 70 per cent of the indicators. SDG indicator framework
hints that data should be already available since it has been included
to the indicator set by the UN. The absence of large share data poses
normative political and public pressures on NSO to increase the data
coverage. In Finland PMO set a target to raise the coverage up to 100
per cent.

79 | I S I W S C 2 0 1 9