The Government will promote a reform of the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC) with the supposed aim of granting greater transparency to public information.
09 January 2023 21.33
The current law of the statistical system is more than 50 years old, with which the bill has among its main goals modernize statistical production and adapt it to new international practices.
One of the objectives pursued is the institutional strengtheninggiven that the bill modifies the legal nature of the INDEC and positions it as a decentralized and self-sufficient entity with functional and economic autonomy, within the orbit of the Ministerio de Economa.
Currently, INDEC is a decentralized body, dependent on the Secretariat of Economic Policy, currently in charge of the Vice Minister of Economy, Gabriel Rubinstein.
The initiative also seeks to modify the way in which authorities are designated. The appointment of the Executive Director to be carried out by the National Executive Power, but must have the agreement of the Senate of the Nation.
For his part, he technical directorbe appointed by the Executive Director, prior public competition for background and opposition.
In both cases, it will be a requirement to have a recognized trajectory, high professional qualification and suitability in statistics or related disciplines.
In addition, the Executive Director and Technical Director will have a duration in the charge from 5 years to guarantee the continuity of management in the event of changes in the Executive Power.
The supposed purpose is to strengthen the independence, objectivity and transparency of the Institute.
Additionally, Congress will have a central role in monitoring statistical production: should create the Bicameral Commission for the Monitoring of the National Statistical System, which will have among its functions to promote methodological improvements and statistical products that meet the information demands of the population. In addition, it will be able to recommend the removal of the agency’s Executive Director for non-compliance or poor performance, official sources explained.
The Law aims, in turn, at strengthen the quality of statistical production, guaranteeing the relevance, timeliness, fairness, transparency and comparabilityat the same time that the essential guidelines for dissemination and diffusion are established.
To achieve this, the new INDEC will adhere to the UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics and good international practices, principles to which all organizations that produce official statistics must adhere.
It’s like the statistics producers must comply with specific rules for access, use of information and, at the same time, ensure the protection of data through the strengthening of statistical secrecy, confidentiality conditions and data processing and storage protocols.
On the other hand, for the first time in the legislation the obligatory nature of of a multiannual statistical programwith the aim of defining the strategic development of official statistics and the coordination of production between the different agencies of the National Statistical System, the official sources concluded.
- Written by Sabrina Lubrano for NA