Modernization of the data collection in EU Members States
THE PROJECT
To assess the living conditions of people across Europe more accurately, it is important to modernize and develop solutions that enhance the use of Household Budget Surveys (HBS) and Time Use Surveys (TUS).
Contributing to the European Statistical System (ESS) Innovation Agenda, the ‘Innovative tools and sources for Household Budget and Time Use Surveys’ project aims to modernize data collection in EU Member States. By creating innovative tools for data collection, which are developed and maintained by system owners (mostly National Statistical Institutes) and can be shared at ESS level, the project aims to deliver:
an inventory of innovative tools and sources, including harmonised descriptions of identified tools and sources within the ESS;
development projects that aim to modernise data collection in Member States with financial support from Eurostat grants;
methodological advancements such as new data sources, devices and apps, which are currently used or will be used in data collection processes.
The long-term benefits of this project include:
reduced burden on data respondents;
increased response rates;
faster, easier and higher-quality data collection.
THE MOTIVATION
HBS are national surveys that focus on households’ expenditure on goods and services. Alongside TUS, which collect information on how people allocate their time to different types of activities during the day, these surveys give an important picture of living conditions in the EU. By developing more innovative and creative solutions in data collection, EU Member States can use the results from these surveys to determine important macro-economic indicators. These include consumer price indices, which are used to measure inflation and national accounts.
THE METHODOLOGY
Providing financial support to Member States for modernisation and innovation activities is Eurostat’s key strategy for this project. Eurostat conducted two rounds of grant projects in 2018 and 2020. In 2018, Eurostat launched the first call for proposals under the innovation umbrella, aiming to support the modernisation of data collection and the sharing of tools among Member States.
Five proposals received financial support under this grant scheme:
STAT_time: A time use app by Statistics Austria.
Online reporting tool for HBS: Developed by Statistics Denmark.
HBS web application: Created by Statistics Poland.
@HBS: An app-assisted approach for HBS led by CBS (Netherlands).
SOURCETM: Software outreach, redefinition of flows, and collection of e-data through MOTUS (Modular Time Use Survey). It is a platform for online data collection via web and mobile app, led by STATBEL (Belgium).
The 2020 round aimed to build on the success of the 2018 projects.
Unlike the first round, the 2020 focus was not solely on developing new tools, but also on maintaining and testing existing solutions.
Eurostat financed four projects in this call:
Implementation of MOTUS: In the Hungarian Time Use Survey by HCSO (Hungary).
2020-BG-INNOV: By the National Statistical Office of Bulgaria.
CRŒSS: Establishing a cross-domain data collection platform for the ESS, led by STATBEL (Belgium) (a follow-up to the SOURCETM project).
@HBS2: An app-assisted approach for HBS led by CBS (Netherlands) (a follow-up to the @HBS project).
In addition, the project has held task force meetings, which serve as a platform for countries to exchange experiences regarding the development and implementation of these innovative tools and sources. These meetings highlight potential challenges, lessons learnt and success stories.
Final reports of this call are published on the following pages: Eurostat Projects – Time use surveys and Eurostat Projects – Household Budget Surveys.
MORE INFORMATION
- Eurostat Projects – Time use surveys
- Eurostat Projects – Household Budget Surveys
- Wiki: Innovative sources and tools for living conditions surveys - EC Extranet Wiki (europa.eu). To get access to this wiki, please contact the wiki administrators.
- CIRCABC: INNOV-TOOLS-HBS-TUS (europa.eu)
THE TEAM
- Project owner: ESS Directors of Social Statistics.
- Member States involved: Austria, The Netherlands, Danemark, Poland (as system owners).
- External partners / researchers involved: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Free University of Brussels), hbits (study bureau).
- Link to other innovation activities: This project offered the seed for two successive ESSnet projects (collaborative projects that bring together national statistical institutes (NSIs) and other members of the ESS to work on specific tasks related to statistical production and innovation) on Trusted Smart Surveys and the successive project on Smart Survey Implementation.
Contact: ESTAT-F4-INNOVATIVE-TOOLS@EC.EUROPA.EU
LAST UPDATE: December 2024
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