15th Conference of the International Association for Official Statistics (IAOS)
Date: 06-08 December 2016
Venue: Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates

The 15th Conference of the the International Association for Official Statistics (2016 IAOS) was hosted by the Statistics Centre of Abu Dhabi (SCAD) in Abu Dhabi, UAE on 6-8 December 2016.

An association under the International Statistical Institute (ISI), the IAOS brang together producers and users of official statistics. Its objectives were to promote the understanding and advancement of official statistics and to foster the development of effective and efficient official statistical services on a global basis.

The SCAD is the official source of statistical data in Abu Dhabi Emirate – the largest of the seven states, by area, that constitute the United Arab Emirates. The SCAD was established on 28 April 2008 to develop and organize statistical work, and produce, analyse and disseminate all the official statistics of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The SCAD is also responsible for the integration and harmonization of statistics produced by other local departments and entities, in regard to the standardization of statistical concepts and definitions.

The IAOS conferences focuses on exchanging knowledge and insights, and sharing experiences of innovative approaches and good practices in official statistics by ensuring the good mix of plenary and parallel discussions.

Ms Ola Awad, President Elect of the IAOS, introduced the 2016 IAOS Conference in the 2014 IAOS Conference in Da Nang, Viet Nam. During the 2014 IAOS Conference, Mr. Butti Ahmed Mohamed bin Butti Al Qubaisi, Director General of SCAD gave the specific details about the venue and the outline of the 2016 IAOS Conference.

The preliminary 2016 IAOS Conference title is "The Spirit of Official Statistics – Partnership for Continuous Innovation". As it is not always clear where the boundaries of official statistics are set and with an evolving context of big data, re-use of data and quality; it is important to understand the definition of official statistics. The 2016 IAOS Conference continued the discussion previously took place in 2014 IAOS Conference. With this background and under the conference theme, the focus was on:

  • Strengthening the definition of official statistics in the rapidly expanding information society;
  • Partnerships in action for results;
  • Rising to challenges with ingenuity

More information about the 2016 IAOS Conference will be available on:

http://www.scad.ae/en/pages/default.aspx and http://isi.cbs.nl/IAOS/