Many NSOs use traditional approaches to training by either nominating their staff to participate in international or regional customized formal training programmes or delivering their own. The needs, however, remain significant and undergo a fast-pacing change due to technological innovations and opportunities created by new data sources among other. The cost of delivering formal training programmes is high preventing from more employees to benefit from them while many NSOs in developing countries are also facing high staff attrition levels. In addition, the approaches are often fragmented, driven by the external supplies and opportunities. Staff are not always incentivized or have no possibilities to take responsibility for learning. There is often a lack of willingness or systems to share knowledge. The need for more strategic, forward-looking, nationally driven, sustainable and agile approaches to developing core competencies within National Statistical Offices and Systems has been broadly acknowledged.

Vibeke Nielsen who has been leading UNSD’s work on STAT has first convened the most recent pilot countries pointing to differences in contexts and inviting them to share their experiences and immediate outcomes. Kevin Bistoquet, Deputy CEO of Seychelles NBS has shared the experience of his country where, due to its small size, the entire NSO team was fully involved in the STAT exercise leading to the production of the institutional learning plan and a draft competency development strategy while aiming to address some of the identified challenges such as resistance to change. Morocco’s experience shared by Hasnae Fdhil, Head of Communication and Cooperation at High Commission for Planning, has highlighted how an improved use of integrated, including informal, learning, prioritization of job-relevant skills, continuous learning, onboarding new employees, and better plugging in international cooperation to support national capacity building efforts can become a game-changer in a larger statistical organization in addition to the existing use of in-house experts as trainers. Sarah Bonaneri Omache from Kenyan Bureau of Statistics, the latest addition to the STAT process, has shared how the STAT process helped her Organization initiate a more needs-oriented and strategic approach to statistical capacity-building. While most of the work is still ahead, the STAT pilot has reconfirmed the need to rethink the current approaches and learn from other STAT countries.

While GIST is committed to advising STAT countries as they go through the process, within its capacity and budget constraints, some of the countries may be ready to do it on their own, as was the case with Colombia and Ghana who have led the way after the initial GIST support in 2023, noted Vibeke Nielsen. A knowledge exchange is planned between STAT pilot countries to address the need for mutual learning, she added. Gabriel Gamez, who will be overseeing the GIST work moving forward on behalf of UNSD, has invited other NSOs to join the STAT process and has welcomed the creation of the new Task Team learning and sharing culture within NSOs. This Task Team created in 2025 will complement the work of the Task Team on NSO needs that led the STAT work and is currently undertaking the mapping of learning offerings to enhance their promotion through statistics.unsdglearn.org 

GIST was created in 2017 to promote collaborations across statistical training institutions to better meet the needs at country level also held its annual meeting on 10 February, marking a renewal in the composition of Task teams and several new members taking on leadership roles. It earlier held its fourth GROW webinar dedicated to statistical literacy and citizen data with Julieth Alejandra Solano Villa from Colombian NSO and Al Kags from Open Data Institute, Kenya, as guest speakers and introduction by Elena Proden from UNITAR as GIST Chair. The webinar open to public aimed to explore the synergies between the work of the Collaborative on Citizen Data and statistical literacy initiatives that are the focus of a dedicated GIST Task Team led by Pedro Campos, Statistics Portugal, and Bianca Walsh, Brazilian NSO. Colombia’s recent adoption of the 2023 statistical law making the principle of inclusion mandatory reflecting the country’s diversity in statistical production, as well as the work on statistical literacy in support of the implementation of the National Statistical Plan were to culminate in the upcoming national workshop on citizen data. Open Data Institute in Kenya has been supporting citizen agency in communities to collect and analyse data about issues important to these communities strengthening accountability and improving outcomes on the ground.