We are in the midst of a data sea change and more likely not in a position to fully appreciate the implications this is having on us. Far less is our capability to ride the opportunities presented by this phenomenon as we hold on to our beliefs and plot our futures based on practices embraced in the past.

Presented with myriad choices for which we have multiple levels of information to process, our horizons are much broader than they were a decade ago. The deluge of accessible information has grown exponentially, to the extent that it is a continuous challenge to keep abreast, let alone master it.

There is an incessant demand for information that harnesses the challenges we face today: from overarching national issues such as productivity, employment and education gauges to more personal questions such as where retail prices are headed, what rents the property market is generating or which parts of Malta see the largest share commuting to the workplace.

Business enterprise is increasingly aware of the need for more sophisticated information systems to guide it in making the most efficacious decisions. Similarly governments, while well-acquainted with big data sets, are growingly cognisant that the chances of making bang-on decisions are slim, short of cutting-edge statistics.

Data continues to be generated and captured at a fast pace; a wealth of information on matters such as health, crime, education, jobs and prices continues to proliferate. Unprocessed data, however, is of little use.

It is the mission of National Statistics Office to serve information to society through statistics in ways that are easy to comprehend and use. Less complex tables and the use of visual aids ought to be the new language of statistics, with the aim to increase statistical literacy in our country.

Increased statistical literacy in Malta shall not only serve to help policymakers, business leaders and families make better-informed decisions, it is quintessential in achieving good governance, ethical business practices and social cohesion.

Good quality and timely statistics discourage the misuse of numbers in ways that mislead deliberately or inadvertently. Achieving statistical literacy is a sure way to spark a more critical glance at the headlines and stories brimming with topics that impinge on us closely.

Increased statistical literacy in Malta is quintessential in achieving good governance, ethical business practices and social cohesion

Statistical literacy is a means through which citizens can hold accountable those in positions of authority in public, political and business administration.

The NSO is not unfamiliar with the criticism levelled at it from time to time that users of the statistics it produces need to dig well below the surface to unearth practicable facts.

Fully aware of its role, the NSO has realigned its vision aimed at helping decision- makers make sounder decisions also by serving statistics to a wider audience.

Statistics need to be served in a sufficiently timely and granular manner to be relevant to today’s issues and in a format that can be understood and digested by all.

The challenges to reach these milestones become more arduous when one adds the NSO’s commitment to quality and the reduction of burden on respondents. Indeed, conscious of the impact that the collection of data has on households and businesses, the NSO is undergoing a major transformation in the way it collects, processes and stores data.

Pivotal to maximising the potential of public data is a substantial improvement in the use of administrative data sources. These are sources of information that sit mainly, though not solely, in the domain of public entities, and which can be used to alleviate the costly and burdensome survey approach that currently prevails.

Having trustworthy multidimensional statistics that help Malta take the next leap in its development is within our reach. Good use of data is a key ingredient for our society to prosper, and there is a wide expectation that all those involved in generating data in the course of their operations do so in the most diligent way possible to ensure quality at source.

More important is a cooperative approach to the sharing of such data with those entrusted with bringing together personal, administrative and commercial data in a secure way that enjoys public confidence.

Serving statistics in ways that are attuned to our times should no longer be a choice: what emanates from the public needs to be returned to the public in the formats and with the timeliness and accuracy that attest to its utility.

This is a concept that underlies statistics as a public good. Those entities involved are meant solely to facilitate and steer this process and to ensure that the ethics of dealing with data are safeguarded. The effort to extract the best value from administrative data sources must be the collective effort of all parties involved.

Today is European Statistics Day. A fitting way to celebrate European statistics may be to look closely at the models adopted by our counterparts in Europe and to take the plunge in extracting better value from our data resources towards ensuring that Malta is being well served by statistics.

Reuben Fenech is director general at the National Statistics Office.