Reuben Fenech, 39, left London and a 15-year career in investment management and banking to become director general of Malta’s National Statistics Office. His background promises to bring a fresh perspective to how statistics can help Malta make better decisions.

They speak of lies, damned lies and statistics. Why do they say so?

I prefer the phrase “numbers don’t lie”. It is true that statistics, like good paintings, can be open to interpretation where different people extract different meanings. However, this can be countered if we, as producers of statistics, go beyond our traditional role and get better at presenting the story behind the numbers. This could go a long way to limit the range of interpretations.

There have been occasions when the NSO and the authorities, even the government, clashed on what to John Citizen should be the same figures. Why does that happen? Should it happen?

This is mostly due to interpretation and the fact that a set of statistics often provides multiple indications on an area, which can also be conflicting with one another. I believe we need to rethink the NSO model. A lot of effort goes into collecting numbers and producing statistics but very little time, energy and investment goes into disseminating and presenting our product. Like any commercial entity we ought to know more about our customers – the users of statistics – and deliver what they need in a way that is timely, convenient and practical for them.

Is the NSO fully serving its purpose in its present structure?

Our purpose should be evolving in tandem with Malta’s economic and social evolution. The decisions we make today will shape our future, so we need to make better decisions, more informed ones, based on good quality data. The NSO has a unique role to play. We want an NSO which is more forward looking, more relevant, more dependable. Our vision for the NSO is to help Malta make better decisions; be it the government, the business community or households.

Why did you decide to join the NSO after you managed to gain so much experience in investment management and banking?

Probably the magnitude of change the organisation required was the biggest attraction for me.

I consider myself a change agent. In this opportunity I spotted the potential to transform one of the country’s cornerstones and make a real impact. I do realise that the road is long and bumpy.

We need to convince and persuade many that our new approach is not only required to strengthen the national statistical system but also that it is the right one.

My experience in investment management definitely shaped who I am today and what I bring to the table: taking decisions in a constantly changing environment, strong mental discipline to think systematically and a strong inclination to look at the big picture and not miss the woods for the trees.

You have been heading the NSO for some months now. What do you think is the core role of the director general of a country’s national statistical institute?

Every director general of this organisation so far had a different core role depending on the stage in which the organisation was in. Some of the early ones built the foundations, others consolidated the work of their predecessors and readied the organisation to take on new important challenges like, for instance, EU accession. My role is now to lead the NSO to become a dynamic, forward-looking organisation that serves as a pillar for Malta’s economic and social development for the years to come.

Like any other commercial entity, we must know more about our customers and deliver what they need in a way that is timely, convenient and practical

An extensive investment in IT infrastructure and process engineering, together with new HR, training and development strategies, the establishment of more comprehensive risk and quality management frameworks and a new approach to dissemination of data are the principal challenges that we have got in front of ourselves.

Obviously, through this transformation, we will continue to ensure quality and timely output delivered with integrity and autonomy while we claw back relevance and fend off competition from emerging sources of statistics which have proliferated over the years.

You mention competition. Do you believe that an organisation like the one you are leading needs to be concerned about competition at all?

Absolutely. We live in times where information is abundant and immediate. We may not be conscious about the fact that we are highly prone to make decisions with whatever information is available or, at least, with the one that is most interpretable. Bodies that generate information have mushroomed and surveys have become popular. NSIs around the world have to share a space that they virtually controlled uncontested for decades. Unprepared for this tsunami and still operating under technical constraints that other bodies usually do not have, led to the relinquishing by NSIs of some of their territory, powers and relevance.

Quest for more digestible statistics

Why are official statistics so important for a country?

I think we need to shed light on more and more aspects of our society and economy or we run the risk of looking for answers where there are none. This is why official statistics are so important. They guide our decisions as policymakers, entrepreneurs and households.

Statistics, should underpin all our discussions. They are not the only thing to be factored in. There is also scope for ideology, principles and other aspects but statistics can provide a factual backdrop.

Are official statistics used sufficiently as a basis for policymaking?

I have no reason to believe they are not but I think that more can be made available to policymakers and there is definitely scope for the NSO to engage with the public, private and voluntary sectors to ensure a broader and better use of our output. I certainly think statistics are not used sufficiently by our society at large. This is why I want the NSO to reach out to the public and produce more digestible statistics. I am also positive that renewed momentum from this aspect will encourage research and development in areas that are still handicapped by lack of good quality statistics.

What role will statistics play in Malta’s EU presidency and how are you preparing for it?

As Malta’s national statistical institute, the NSO will have the important role of coordinating the European Union law-making process as regards statistical legislation. Among others, this will entail organising the Council Working Party on Statistics at which national statistical institutes congregate to agree common positions in the laws being proposed. I am expected to take the chair of that council working party throughout the six months of Malta’s presidency.

We are preparing for it by strengthening our networks with EU member states, notably our Trio partners, and by putting together a strong international relations team. I am honoured to be working with the Dutch and Slovak delegations that with Malta form part of the Trio that will preside over the Council between January 2016 and end June 2017. We have already engaged successfully with our colleagues from the UK, who will assume the presidency right after Malta.

What is the European Statistical System (ESS) and what role does Malta have in it?

The European Statistical System brings together Eurostat, which is the statistical office of the European Union, and national statistical institutes of countries forming part of the EU. It functions as a network in which Eurostat’s role is to lead the way in the harmonisation of statistics in close cooperation with the national statistical authorities. It also coordinates its work with candidate countries and at European level with other Commission services, agencies and the ECB and international organisations such as OECD, the UN, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Malta’s membership of the ESS reaps several benefits but also obligations, such as adherence to the ESS code of practice, a comprehensive guideline to the operations of statistical offices around the EU.

I strongly believe that any modern democratic country with serious ambitions for its society needs to instill and protect the credibility of its institutions

What are the priorities you have set for the NSO?

I see our priorities grouped into four areas: people, processes, product and partners. We want to make the NSO a great place to work and aspire for a long and fulfilling career. Our processes and systems architecture needs major upgrading and, with Mita as one of our main business partners, I am confident that we will deliver our ambitious plans by 2018. We will look at our statistical output more as our ‘product offering’ that needs to be developed, manufactured and distributed in a way that keeps the users at the heart of the process.

Last but not least we want to become much more dependable both at a national level and also on the international level. We want to engage with the public administration, which, by virtue of providing a service, collects a considerable amount of information. We will upgrade the quality of that data collection to the standards required to allow us to produce good statistics.

On the international front I see a much more active NSO that contributes to the evolution of statistics in Europe. Granted, small NSIs like ours face an uphill struggle as better-manned institutions in Europe, which have anywhere between 1,000 and 2,000 people compared with our 150, have definitely more bandwidth. However, I strongly feel that small nations sitting at the table need to step up their contribution to safeguard their interests while making sure the debate at the European level remains inclusive.

What is the difference between statistics the NSO produces to meet EU obligations and those it publishes for national purposes?

Similar to other member states, Malta has an obligation to produce statistics that adhere to stipulated concepts and methods. This leads to a substantial body of information that is comparable across the EU and that benefits member states in many ways, not least in policymaking and in funding EU structural projects. There is substantial overlap in this space and 80 per cent of what we do goes to Eurostat.

I would like to explore getting a more reasonable balance there as I feel we can produce more statistics for national purposes.

What has been the most interesting statistical project achieved in your time so far?

‘Gozo in figures’ was a really important project that brought together all statistics related to Gozo, also providing comparisons with Malta. This is now a comprehensive reference document for anybody doing business in Gozo or having a direct relationship with the island in any way. We will be using this success as a springboard to change some aspects of how we disseminate data. We aim to produce many more themed publications where we will be able to tell the story behind the numbers. A news release – 240 on average per year – does not allow sufficient flexibility and I feel we are not reaching a wide enough audience, wasting an important part of our efforts.

What should be a defining characteristic of the NSO?

The defining characteristic must surely be our independence. I was saddened by comments in recent months made during a political debate that undermined the credibility of the institution and its output. I strongly feel that any modern democratic country with serious ambitions for its society needs to instill and protect the credibility of its institutions. Economic history tells us that, over the decades, countries with strong, independent institutions progressed further and better.