Abstract

Background
Statistical systems need workforce intelligence to locate skills, plan talent pipelines and target capacity development. A workforce registry is a maintained, searchable database of professional profiles documenting skills, location, sector and affiliation, making expertise easier to find and supporting workforce planning. The Young African Statisticians Association (YASA) is surveying young statisticians and data scientists across Africa to map their skills, locations and sectoral participation; findings are not yet available. This scoping review examines statistical-profession directories and related workforce registries to identify design lessons for workforce visibility and planning.
Methods
On 27 October 2026, we conducted an exploratory scoping review of English-language public web and bibliographic sources. Searches combined concepts for statisticians and data scientists, workforce directories and registries, workforce visibility and planning, and African or international examples. We assessed sources for relevance. Eligible material included official documentation of statistical-profession directories or professional registers and review literature on professional discoverability or workforce planning; unrelated material was excluded. Six sources were reviewed: five directory or register documents and one review article. We charted each source’s purpose, geographic and professional coverage, profile fields, access, verification, updates, governance, stated uses and reported outcomes, then compared features descriptively. Searches were purposive, not exhaustive; full search strings and counts at each screening stage were not retained. No protocol was registered as ethical clearance was not required (no human subjects were involved), screening was not independently duplicated, and no formal quality appraisal was undertaken. We distinguished stated aims from evaluated effects.
Results
South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases researcher directory makes scientists’ fields, interests and contacts visible for awareness and collaboration. Statistical-profession examples include the American Statistical Association (US) directory linking people seeking consulting or collaborators with practitioners; the Royal Statistical Society (UK) opt-in consultancy profiles for Chartered Statisticians and its separate, voluntary, non-exhaustive register of Chartered Statisticians, Graduate Statisticians and Data Analysts; and the Statistical Society of Canada’s public list of accredited statisticians, with designations linked to published education, experience and ethics standards. These models make expertise easier to locate and may signal professional standing, but public documentation does not establish effects on recruitment, representation or workforce planning. A review of eight sub-Saharan health workforce information-system studies reported potential gains in distribution, skill mix, data quality and policy use, but case-study evidence limits causal inference; transfer to statistical workforces remains untested.
Conclusion
These examples support a registry’s plausibility as workforce infrastructure, while its impact remains to be tested. YASA should co-design a voluntary, inclusive registry with young professionals and national statistical offices, complementing existing directories. A pilot should test searchable fields, consent and access controls, verification and update cycles, governance, interoperability and sustainability. Evaluation should track coverage, representation, profile accuracy and currency, and documented use in recruitment, mentorship and workforce planning before impact is claimed.