The Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat) Leverages the Denodo Platform to Enrich Information for Citizen Services and Public Policy Making
Company Size
1,000+
Region
- Europe
Country
- Italy
Product
- Denodo Platform
Tech Stack
- Data Virtualization
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Cost Savings
- Productivity Improvements
Technology Category
- Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Data Management Platforms
Applicable Industries
- Finance & Insurance
Applicable Functions
- Business Operation
Services
- System Integration
About The Customer
The Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat), a public research organization, is the main producer of official statistics in the service of citizens and public policymakers in Italy. The institute operates in complete independence and is in continuous interaction with academic and scientific communities. Since 1989, Istat has been directing, coordinating, and providing technical assistance and training within the National Statistical System (Sistan). To follow best international practices, the institute is engaged in an industrial, professional, and cultural “reshuffle,” i.e., the modernization of statistical information production processes. Istat is by far the largest producer of statistical information in Italy and is an active member of the European Statistical System, coordinated by Eurostat.
The Challenge
The Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat) was facing challenges due to a difficult economic and financial situation and an evolving technological environment. These conditions made it challenging for Istat to measure a society that is growing increasingly complex and diverse; exploit the wealth of information, including unstructured data; leverage new methodological and technological tools; become flexible, agile, and cost-efficient; and tackle the crisis of high costs and lower response rates associated with traditional data collection systems. In addition, Italian law recently required Istat must now produce a census report every year, using data from the Basic Population register and statistical surveys, rather than producing census reports on a decennial basis. The earlier censuses were based on universal suffrage, but now they are based on sampling approaches. To facilitate the change, Istat needed to modernize its data infrastructure, and part of that plan involved taking data from administrative sources and statistical surveys and integrating them into a system of registers (SIR) that cover the appropriate demographic, social, economic, and environmental domains.
The Solution
Istat launched a comprehensive modernization project in 2016. The process involved first developing a common language for a single reference dictionary followed by the creation of seven thematic registers (business, individuals, places, etc.). Next, Istat redefined the reference architecture throughout the entire data life cycle: collection, validation, manipulation, and dissemination. Istat reorganized its entire data framework, starting from the logic that integrates administrative and survey data sources. The new framework redefined the process of data acquisition, data processing, and data governance. The striking feature of this framework has been data integration through data virtualization (without building physical connections and replicating data), through the Denodo Platform, to aggregate data from heterogeneous data sources and create a single point of data access. The data virtualization layer decoupled the physical state of the data from the logical information, without the costly replication of data.
Operational Impact
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