Proposal Description

This session will examine how countries can strengthen nationally owned, innovative and sustainable survey systems in times of crisis. It will draw on the new Handbook on Surveys of Individuals and Households as a key reference point for rethinking survey systems in a changing data ecosystem. The Handbook emphasizes both foundational survey principles and emerging approaches, including inclusive survey design, interoperability, data integration and AI-enabled tools, documentation, dissemination and data quality. In this sense, the session will not only focus on how surveys are conducted, but also on how they are planned, governed, integrated, sustained and used within national statistical systems.

The session will also draw on recent work on demographic and health data systems as one example of the broader challenge of moving from externally driven, fragmented survey cycles toward country-led systems. This experience highlights the importance of nationally owned roadmaps, clear priority indicators, assessment of data gaps, coordinated financing and technical support, and long-term stewardship of data, metadata, methods and platforms. It also illustrates why national ownership is not only about implementation, but about countries leading decisions on priorities, methods, governance, partnerships and sustainability.

Bringing together perspectives from national statistical offices, international agencies, academia and technical partners, the session will identify practical pathways for strengthening surveys as a core public good. It will consider how innovation can make survey systems more resilient and responsive without compromising quality, comparability, confidentiality or public trust. The discussion will also address the role of the global statistical community in supporting standards, shared tools, methodological innovation, South-South cooperation and coordinated support, while keeping countries in the lead.
The aim is to advance a vision of survey systems that are country-led, interoperable, inclusive, trusted and sustainable, and capable of producing the high-quality evidence needed for policy decision-making in an era of financial crisis and rapid technological change.