Centralization is more cost effective and can offer a higher level of security, says chief statistician
OTTAWA (Reuters) — Statistics Canada will continue to work with a centralized technology system that has better confidentiality and security, the new head of the agency said in a blog post that sought to address the concerns that spurred his predecessor’s resignation.
Anil Arora became the country’s chief statistician last month after the former head of Statistics Canada, Wayne Smith, quit over concerns that changes to the data infrastructure were compromising the agency’s independence.
In an arrangement under the previous Conservative government, responsibility for Statistics Canada’s informatics infrastructure was transferred to Shared Services Canada, the department that oversees information technology services government-wide.
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Smith said the changes have put the release dates of major economic reports at risk.
Statistics Canada releases the country’s official economic data on everything from agriculture to jobs to trade. The reports are closely watched by markets and investors.
Arora said the benefits of a centralized system outweigh the risks, though he acknowledged there were bumps and setbacks at times.
“We live in a connected world. Organizations can no longer afford to have duplicative subsystems because they are not optimal,” Arora said.
He said centralized systems are more cost effective and offer higher levels of confidentiality and security compared to having many different systems.
If there are capacity issues, Statistics Canada will work with Shared Services to address them, Arora said.
His primary goal is to make sure the agency remains a credible and “trustworthy source of statistics through our independence,” he said.
A senior official at Shared Services told reporters last month that Statistics Canada data is safely stored and cannot be accessed by outsiders.
Arora said one of his immediate tasks will be to work with the Liberal government to fulfill its election promise to reinforce the agency’s independence.
He said that while the agency already works independently in practice, most countries with major national statistical agencies have put those practices into law.
