The Office for National Statistics did extraordinary work during the pandemic. There will be little time to relax afterwards
The pandemic came on the heels of a challenging period for statisticians. People were growing reluctant to reply to the surveys that underpin much economic measurement. Supplementing those with administrative data was tricky because governments feared to share it, lest a privacy scandal result. A review of economic statistics in 2016 told theThat pressure prompted a trend towards faster-paced publication using non-traditional data sources.
Then came the fightback. Price-collectors were sent laptops so they could collect online prices; interviewers hit the phones. The labour-force survey pivoted to phone interviews, while wonks at the Data Science Campus used anonymised mobile-phone data to see how people were responding to lockdowns. In 2019 theBugs in the system’s biggest achievements during the pandemic came in the form of surveys. Indeed, the Coronavirus Infection Survey was motivated by data gathered another way.
The full potential of some pandemic-inspired developments will only become apparent over time. Mobile-phone data, for example, could be used to improve travel and tourism statistics. New indicators need a while to demonstrate their predictive power. After lock-ins were suspended, market-sensitive releases were moved to 7am. That shift put a stop to tedious speculation during morning news bulletins, and seems likely to stick.
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