Measuring the Progress of Societies
Newsletter #3
December 2006




The next OECD World Forum on "Statistics, Knowledge and Policy" will be held on 27-30 June 2007 in Istanbul, Turkey. It will focus on "Measuring and Fostering the Progress of Societies".

The World Forum will gather ministers, parliamentarians and senior public servants; eminent academics and leaders from civil society; senior business leaders and representatives from the media. First confirmed speakers include:

First international exhibition on
"Innovative tools to transform statistics into knowledge"
The OECD World Forum will be an opportunity to organise the first international exhibition on "Innovative tools to transform statistics into knowledge". This exhibition will be a unique opportunity for those active in indicators and measures of progress to showcase their latest work, demonstrate innovative tools to disseminate data and promote new indicators.
Dynamic graphics for presenting statistical indicators
The OECD and the Istituto Nazionale di Statistica (ISTAT) are organising a seminar on "Dynamic Graphics for Presenting Statistical Indicators" on 5-6 March 2007 in Rome, Italy. The seminar is about the art of making statistical indicators understandable and appealing to modern audiences. Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in discussions on how to select, develop and implement interactive and animated graphics.
Registration is open and it is still possible to propose to make a presentation.
Is happiness measurable and what do those measures
mean for policy?
The OECD, the Bank of Italy, the Centre for Economic and International Studies (CEIS) of the University of Rome "Tor Vergata" and the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission will host a conference to address the question "Is happiness measurable and what do those measures mean for policy?" The event will take place April 2 and 3 at the University of Rome "Tor Vergata", and the outcomes of this conference will flow through to influence the OECD’s World Forum.
Regional Forums "Statistics, Knowledge and Policy"
Regional "pre-conferences" in 2006 and 2007 are playing an important role in informing the discussion at the World Forum in Istanbul. After the sucessful conference for latin America (Colombia, 12-13 October 2006), preparatory events will be held in Africa (Kigali, Rwanda, 19 January 2007) and Asia (Seoul, Korea,
8-9 February 2007). Plans for other meetings in Qatar and Russia are also underway.
Regional Forum for Africa
On January 19, Africa's most senior official statisticians will meet in Kigali, Rwanda, for the World Forum's Africa pre-meeting. The agenda is still being finalised but topics will include "What is progress and how to measure it" and "Building statistical capacity for measuring progress". The meeting will be run jointly with PARIS21 - the Partnership for Statistics in the 21st Century.
Regional Forum for Asia

On February 8 and 9, South and East Asia will discuss how best to foster and measure their progress at an OECD World Forum pre-conference that will be held in Seoul. The meeting is being jointly arranged by the OECD and the Korean National Statistics Office. The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific are also assisting. The conference will be attended by 100-150 senior delegates from the region, spanning the public, private and citizen sectors.
OECD presents World Forum project
at the United Nations General Assembly
On November 27 the OECD spoke about the World Forum project during a thematic debate of the United Nations General Assembly on "Partnerships towards achieving The Millennium Development Goals: Taking Stock, Moving Forward".
Measuring Progress around the World

The online knowledge base contains hundreds of documents on measures of progress around the world (or sustainability, wellbeing or quality of life - all terms closely linked to progress). We are gathering documents that should be included. If you would like to submit a document (papers, website, e-book), click here.

Extracts from the knowledge base:
A Focus on Subjective Measures of Well-Being (Happiness, life satisfaction...)

Recent advances in the study of happiness and life satisfaction have opened new perspectives. We are, it seems, much closer to measuring how happy people are, as well as understanding more clearly other aspects of their subjective well-being. These advances, so some would argue, open the door to different paradigms for policy-making: paradigms, for instance, which see people’s happiness, rather than national income, as the goal that policy-makers seek to maximise.

 
In co-operation with:
European Commission
United Nations
The World Bank
The OECD Global Project events are supported by:
Government
of the Slovak
Republic
Università
degli Studi
di Roma
Tor Vergata
Università
Cattolica del
Sacro Cuore
Milano