The combination of evolving ICT standards that increase the interoperability between applications and the ever-increasing need for a more seamless access to and exchange of information is a major driver in the OECD ICT strategy. This paper describes the role and use of web services in the context of recent developments at the OECD to improve the accessibility of statistical information. It follows up on a paper presented at the 2002 ISIS meeting about “Improving Access to Statistical Information at OECD in Response to Users’ Requirements” and describes a technology framework – called “dot.STAT” – that has been devised for the implementation of applications that enable easy access to certain OECD reference data. The concepts outlined in this paper have been developed in close collaboration with the Statistics Directorate, specialised OECD-internal groups and task forces 2, as well as members of the SDMX Consortium3.

The dot.STAT development framework is designed to help implement the basic infrastructure for the new OECD Statistical Information System. It incorporates a central data warehouse and is part of a broader statistical strategy, which depends on a glossary of statistical terms and a corporate meta-data repository.

The objectives of the dot.STAT framework are threefold. The first aim is to offer a single platform/repository for multiple data/meta-data sets with different characteristics. Secondly it comprises a complete set of information broker tools to make replication from working/production databases as transparent and simple as possible. Thirdly, the architecture aims to offer basic building blocks for the (re)development of statistical production systems as part of an OECD-wide Quality Framework initiative.

The application of the “web services” paradigm has its roots in the combination of three factors. First of all, both internal and external users of OECD statistical information typically have their preferred (or standard) data manipulation tools. Secondly, the development of a user interface, which meets “all” potential requirements is virtually impossible and would likely be very costly. And thirdly, there are emerging standards, in particular XML, SOAP, and WSDL which, in combination with already existing standards (HTTP), have great potential for improving the access to and interchanging of data in the Internet space. Another key aspect in the development of this approach is the OECD participation in the SDMX Case Study project4, which strives to demonstrate the concept of Registry based, networked (virtual) databases.

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