United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Statistical Division United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Statistical Division

Introduction to

Capabilities

Steven Vale

UNECE steven.vale@unece.org

Definition (Wikipedia)

A capability is the ability to perform or

achieve certain actions or outcomes

Capability represents the intersection of

capacity and ability

UNECE Statistical Division Slide 3

Capabilities: Organisational level

Capabilities require a combination of people,

processes, methods, systems and standards

UNECE Statistical Division Slide 4

Activities, processes and capabilities

An activity is something we do

A process is how we do it

Capabilities are what

allow us to do it

UNECE Statistical Division Slide 5

Capability Framework

Business Capabilities Model developed by

ESS Enterprise Architecture Task Force

“summarizes the key capabilities required for

producing official statistics. It provides a framework

to view which capabilities are already sufficiently

present … versus those on which development

effort is needed”

UNECE Statistical Division Slide 6

ESS Capability Model: Levels 0 & 1

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Maturity by Capability

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Capabilities: Individual level

Challenge: To match individual

capabilities with organisational need

Do our staff have the capabilities we

need?

• Now

• In the future

If not, develop or hire?

Do we use existing capabilities of our

staff effectively?

UNECE Statistical Division Slide 9

Capabilities: Team level?

Not always possible

to find an individual

with all required

capabilities

Consider defining /

developing

capabilities at team

level

UNECE Statistical Division Slide 10

Big Data:

Team-level

capabilities

UNECE Statistical Division Slide 11

Summary

Identifying and developing the right

• individual

• team

• organisational

capabilities is key to statistical modernisation