Australian Bureau of Statistics
Celebrating the International Year of Statistics 2013

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INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF STATISTICS

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A message from Brian Pink, Australian Statistician

    Image: Brian Pink
Statisticians are inherently story tellers trying to build a picture of our economy, environment and who we are as a society. This is why I am very pleased that 2013 is the International Year of Statistics, celebrating the power and impact of statistics on all aspects of our society.

The world is currently experiencing a data deluge. This tidal wave of data used effectively can provide great insights, enabling policy makers, researchers, analysts and our community to uncover new information to help inform our decisions. Understanding this data has the potential to add meaning to all spheres of our lives and statistics are fundamental to fostering this understanding.

The rapidly changing real-world of information presents both significant opportunities and challenges for governments, businesses, academia and the community. Advances in the digital economy and society have seen the rapid growth in data assets, the exponential increase in the demand for information, and the emergence of new analytical methods and technologies which are transforming all aspects of our lives.

A key challenge for National Statistical Organisations and official statisticians all over the world is exploring the opportunities these data assets represent, and identifying how we can convert this deluge into knowledge. This data has the potential to help us make better decisions, be more innovative, productive and competitive, leading to better outcomes for Australians. It provides opportunities for the community and decision makers to unlock the potential of existing data sources and to create new valuable information assets for informed decision making. This data also presents many challenges.

We need to ensure that we protect confidentiality, have sound data management practices, prioritise and optimise our essential statistical assets and develop our statistical capability and capacity to build a rich statistical picture of Australia. By doing this, we can work together to inform public debate, discussion and decision making by all levels of Australian society now and in the future.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has been providing Australians with the high quality statistics necessary for informed decision making for over 100 years. We are a proud supporter of the International Year of Statistics which enables us to continue celebrating the important role statistics play in building a better nation for all Australians.

In this, the International Year of Statistics, I would like to ask you all to be statistics champions, to stay connected to the statistical community and continue to celebrate the power and impact of statistics in our lives.


Brian Pink
Australian Statistician


FURTHER INFORMATION
To find out how the ABS is participating in International Year of Statistics, please visit the ABS participation page for more information.

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