The development of modern technologies, especially in the field of machine learning and generative artificial intelligence, significantly expands the capabilities of statisticians. Thanks to them, they can draw on new data sources and quickly analyze vast amounts of information. Along with the progress of IT tools, the way in which recipients seek statistical data is also changing. Studies produced by institutions such as Statistics Poland or Eurostat will have to compete with those created by non-specialist entities or even language models, which are often based on less reliable sources.
– Statistics benefits greatly from digital transformation, starting from a very general topic, which is efficiency. The outlays allocated to statistics have not grown for years, while the number of statistics and pieces of information we make available, as well as their scope, is growing very dynamically every year. Already from this point of view, one can see how much digitalization helps public statistics. It also creates certain challenges, but also opportunities that we want to take up – emphasizes in an interview with the Newseria Innowacje agency Dr. Dominik Rozkrut, president of Statistics Poland.
As he adds, statisticians use new, sometimes also experimental data sources, as well as techniques for obtaining and processing them (including proprietary ones), and use them so that society gains access to the best possible resource of studies. In the spectrum of interest of Statistics Poland are such sources of information as, among others, satellite images (e.g., for statistics related to agriculture, positioning of ships at sea, or real-time traffic intensity statistics on roads, as well as those provided by payment card operators or telecommunications service providers).
– These are all new data sources that did not exist before. We had no possibility of using them because they simply did not exist. Today, however, completely new possibilities are opening up – says the president of Statistics Poland.
New technologies in the spotlight
In July, the 4th Congress of Polish Statistics was held in Warsaw, during which much space was devoted to discussion about the importance of new technologies in statistics. One of the speakers, Mariana Kotzeva from Eurostat, drew attention in her presentation to the fact that especially generative artificial intelligence is changing the way users access data. The use of such solutions carries a high risk of obtaining erroneous data, which translates into limited trust among recipients. Nevertheless, the near future is shaping up in such a way that official statistics will have to compete for recipients with those provided by unauthorized studies, often created on the basis of uncertain and unstructured data.
– The question of quality is a very good question. We had certain established ways of quality control in traditional methods of statistical surveys, but all new data sources obviously offer great opportunities, but they are also a challenge when it comes to obtaining quality. The integration of sources of a different nature makes it harder to control quality. But we devote a lot of attention to this. We join forces in this with other statistical offices around the world, with Eurostat, the OECD, the United Nations, and we develop appropriate methods, techniques, and regulations that will allow us to communicate quality well and also take care of it – declares Dr. Dominik Rozkrut.
According to the expert, large data sets can provide valuable statistical information in practically every field.
– These are data that allow us to increase the accuracy, precision, and detail of the results we present, but also to learn about things and phenomena that we could not study before, precisely because of the limitations of traditional research instruments. The potential is enormous, and Statistics Poland is trying to establish cooperation with the administrators of these new data sources. They are sometimes public in nature, but to a large extent these are data from private administrators. We undertake cooperation, form partnerships so as to use these data as broadly as possible – informs the president of Statistics Poland.
Company information
Statistics Poland (GUS) is an institution involved in collecting, processing, and publishing statistical data on the economy, society, and public life in Poland. The statistical office uses new technologies and various data sources, including satellite data, payment and telecommunications data. It also deals with the analysis and development of statistics that are used by decision-makers, scientists, and recipients of statistical information.
