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I. INTRODUCTION
1. As the national statistical
authority, the Department of Statistics (DOS),
Singapore is responsible for the establishment
and administration of the government statistical
system. The Department compiles and provides
general-purpose economic and social data that
are of interest and use to the public.
2. To meet the growing sophistication of users,
the Department has embarked on several new developments
to provide the public with more timely and useful
data series; explore and harness new technology
to improve timeliness and quality of data collected
and to disseminate information.
II. NEW INITIATIVES TO
MEET CHANGING NEEDS, INCLUDING APPLICATION OF
IT
Data Collection
3. The Department has taken
steps to streamline survey work and make use
of the latest technology to improve the timeliness
and quality of the data collected. One of the
technologies that was successfully implemented
is the Computer Assisted Telephone Interview
(CATI).
(a) Computer Assisted
Telephone Interview (CATI)
4. In re-engineering the interviewing process,
the CATI method was adopted for the very first
time to obtain information on socio-demographic
and economic characteristics in the 1995 General
Household Survey (GHS). The GHS functions like
a mid-decade mini-census of population. CATI
allows the interviewers to do multiple tasks
of telephone interviewing, direct data entry
and corrections of data inconsistency on screen.
The system also checks for completeness. Interview
schedule and dialling are also automated. Significant
cost saving is achieved as less manpower is
required under the CATI system.
Data Processing
5. The CPI system from data
entry, data processing to generation of tabulations
is fully computerised.
6. In order to reduce manual coding effort
and to increase the accuracy of coding in census
and mini-census, automatic coding was adopted
whereby computer data dictionaries for occupation
and industry are created for the purpose. The
process matches the descriptive answers with
the keywords or word-string stored in these
data dictionaries.
7. Records where occupation or industry descriptions
cannot be automatically coded by the system
are batched for Computer-Assisted Coding (CAC).
Database Development
8. The escalating high cost
of maintaining large mainframe computer systems,
coupled with the relative low cost and flexibility
of client-servers have motivated the department
to shift many projects from the mainframe to
client-server applications. System projects
such as the compilation of Wholesale Price Indices,
Singapore's Overseas Investments and Financial
Structure of Companies had been successfully
migrated to client-servers. The Oracle database
is used in these projects. Increasingly, the
trend will be for new projects to be developed
as client-server applications.
9. With the increasing sophistication of users
and the advancement of technology, the Department
of Statistics is working towards the release
of more data series and the extension of electronic
networks for data dissemination. Of the databases
listed below, two have been implemented and
one is targeted for completion by end 1996:
(a) Commercial Establishment
Information System
10. The new Commercial Establishment Information
System (CEIS) implemented on 1 Apr 1996, was
designed to serve the growing needs of users
for business information. The CEIS contains
a comprehensive range of information pertaining
to establishments in Singapore, including name
of company, address, business activity, legal
organisation, person of authority, paid up capital,
etc. The CEIS provides easy accessibility as
well as table and graphic-generation facilities.
Users can access the system on-line to extract
information on establishments and create tables
and charts that can be easily incorporated into
their reports.
(b) Time Series (TD) Database
11. The Time Series (TS) Database provides
on-line access to a wide range of up-to-date
time series data and indicators. Facilities
such as the exchange of time series data from
external applications such as spreadsheets and
other databases are also made available. Publications
such as the Monthly Digest of Statistics and
the Yearbook of Statistics could be automatically
produced from the time series database and sent
for direct offset printing by commercial printers.
(c) Manpower Indicators'
Database
12. The Manpower Indicators' Database (MIND),
which contains useful time series data on the
population as well as the labour force from
1980 onwards, would be implemented by end 1996.
The MIND is targeted to be put up onto the Local
Area Network (LAN) for easy manipulation in
Microsoft Windows environment.
(d) Household Registration
Database
13. A Household Registration (HR) Database,
containing basic particulars of all residents
in Singapore is being set up. The data items
in this database are obtained by linking individuals'
basic particulars or records from various government
ministries, departments and statutory boards
updated on a regular basis. The HRD is part
of the long term plan to move towards an administrative
register-based Census of Population which would
support the data needs of policy makers in planning
and evaluating policies and programmes for the
population.
Analysis and Interpretation
14. In the CPI system,
"Health" and "Education" sub-groups which were
formerly classified under "Miscellaneous" group
were separately listed to reflect their growing
importance in expenditure share and for monitoring
of specific trends.
Release
of New Data Series
15. To meet the increasing
need for more up-to-date business indicators
and social indicators, the Department has released
or is planning to release the following new
data series:
(a) New CPI Series
16. Three new CPI series for
households in different income groups, viz.
lowest 20%, middle 60%, and highest 20% have
been released. This is to facilitate the monitoring
of the impact of price changes on these groups.
(b) Wholesale Trade Index
17. The Department plans to
release a new series on the Wholesale Trade
Index (WTI) to provide a quick indicator on
the short-term performance of wholesalers in
Singapore. Data for the compilation of the WTI,
which is based on sales turnover of wholesalers,
are sourced from the Wholesale Trade Survey
(WTS). The first survey was launched in June
1996 and will be conducted on a quarterly basis.
(c) International Trade
in Services (ITIS) Survey
18. As part of the implementation of guidelines
of the fifth edition of the Balance of Payments
Manual (BPM5), the Department has introduced
a new survey to collect ITIS statistics for
balance of payments estimates as well as for
detailed studies on trade in services. The survey
was launched in July 1996 and collects detailed
information on commodity and country for reference
year 1995. All enterprises engaged in international
trade in services are included in the survey
and the results are expected to be available
by mid-1997.
a) Data Dissemination
(a) Statistics Singapore
Home Page
19. The Department of Statistics is committed to a user-oriented public service
that delivers a wide spectrum of statistical
products and services. In recent years, the
Department has moved towards the introduction
of a greater variety and number of service delivery
channels. The Statistics Singapore Home Page
has been launched on the internet since 1995.
The Home Page facilitates the dissemination
of statistics and information on the government
statistical system to a wider public, including
overseas users.
(b) MTI Telelink
System
20. A new telephone service, the MTI Telelink,
provides pre-recorded key statistical indicators
over the telephone and allows the caller to
select the type of document to be faxed to a
given telephone number. This interactive service
is available 7 days a week, 24 hours a day and
reaches out to anyone with a telephone at the
workplace or at home. In addition, data could
be provided to users on diskettes or through
electronic mail upon request.
(c) Special Data Dissemination
Standards
21. The Department has subscribed to the International
Monetary Fund's Special Data Dissemination Standards.
The Department has met most of the prescribed
standards for the 17 data categories and has
taken up flexibility options in the categories
"Labour Market: Employment" and "International
Investment Position".
Training and Technical
Co-operation with Other Countries
BPM5 Workshop
22. The Department hosted the IMF Workshop
on the Implementation of Guidelines of the Balance
of Payments Manual, 5th edition (BPM5) held
on 21-22 Oct 96. There were 29 participants
from 9 economies in this region : Brunei, Hong
Kong, Indonesia, Laos PDR, Macau, Malaysia,
Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. With globalization
and the growing importance of the external sector,
the demand for quality statistics within a sound
analytical framework has increased rapidly.
The changes and revisions introduced in BPM5,
released by the IMF in September 1993, are timely.
However, their implementation is extremely challenging
and requires not only a better conceptual understanding
but also the development of new data resources,
and the refinement of existing data sources.
The workshop was designed to familiarise national
statisticians with changes in the conceptual
framework and classification of the balance
of payments statistics introduced in the BPM5.
Other Issues
23. One problem that arises from surveys is
that large establishments tend to be covered
in more than one survey. The Department is looking
into ways of minimising the respondents' burden
as well as showing regular respondents (those
who are covered in several surveys) our appreciation.
Respondents' Burden to
be Minimised
24. Arising from the increasing number of
surveys, the Department tries to obtain the
data from existing sources, wherever available
so as to minimise respondents' burden. Another
way is to tag some of the new surveys on to
existing ones. For example, as the existing
Business Expectations Survey (BES) also covers
some wholesalers who are surveyed in the Wholesale
Trade Survey (WTS), the additional information
required in the WTS was incorporated in the
BES. The Department is also co-ordinating with
other government departments conducting establishment
surveys to consolidate some of the existing
surveys where feasible.
III. CONCLUSION
25. The Department has expanded its scope
of activities and initiated new surveys to collect
data in new areas to meet changing needs of
more sophisticated users. In conducting new
surveys/studies, the Department has used IT
extensively and will continue to make greater
use of new technology to improve staff's effectiveness
as well as to minimise respondents' burden.
Department of Statistics
Singapore
13 Nov 96 |
