Top official statistician plays up use of information technologies

The use of information technologies is key to the fulfillment of statisticians' tasks, Uladzimir Zinowski, chairman of the National Statistics Committee (Belstat), said at a conference in Minsk on August 23, as quoted by BelaPAN.

Belstat has been involved in the creation of a single statistics "information system" since 2007, Mr. Zinowski said. The system would make the collection, processing, storage, protection and distribution of statistical date computerized, he added.

"I think that this system will be put into practice in two years," he said. "It will help create a single database of state statistics, which state agencies and respondents could use."

Mr. Zinowski stressed that statistical data was key to the government's efforts to develop innovation-based spheres of the economy. "We can see the results of economic reforms to highlight key points and made correct managerial decisions," he said.

The first of the eight volumes containing the results of the general census conducted last fall has already been published, Mr. Zinowski announced, adding that the rest would be published this year and in 2011. The results will be posted on the Belstat website.