Official Statistics, Building Censuses, and OpenStreetMap Completeness in Italy

The present study provides a simplified framework verifying the degree of coverage and completeness of settlement maps derived from the OpenStreetMap (OSM) database at the national scale, with a possible use in official statistics. Measuring the completeness of the objects (i.e., buildings) derived from OpenStreetMap database supports its potential use in building/population censuses and other diachronic surveys, as well as administrative sources such as the register of building permits and land-use cadasters. A series of measurements at different scales are proposed and tested for Italy, in line with earlier studies. While recognizing the potential of the OpenStreetMap database for official statistics, the present work underlines the urgent need of an additional (spatially explicit) analysis overcoming the data heterogeneity and sub-optimal coverage of the OSM information source.

Chinas Economic Presence and Political Influence in Eastern Europe

In recent years, the media and expert discourse have widely spread perceptions of China’s dynamic expansion of its economic presence in Central and Eastern Europe and the accompanying increase in Beijing’s political influence on the countries of the region. This perception is strongly encouraged by the position of certain Western European countries and the EU bureaucracy, which view China as an actor that undermines European solidarity and spreads illiberal values and business practices. The purpose of this article is to assess the real scale of China’s economic presence in Eastern Europe, based on an analysis of official statistics, and to determine the extent to which it converts into Beijing’s political influence over the countries of the region.

Information support for research of financial behavior of households

The article substantiates the need for the formation of appropriate information support for the study of financial behavior of the population, due to the lack of official statistics. Existing sample surveys conducted by research teams do not always meet the objectives of this study, and most of them are not publicly available. It is argued that today there are difficulties in obtaining accurate and reliable data that represents the behavior of individuals and households. Official statistics form databases on households in terms of income and expenditure, material well-being, investment behavior, employment structure, migration, health and nutrition structure, education and other indicators It is determined that when studying the financial behavior of the population, it is advisable to establish not only the results of decisions about spending money, but also the motives. The constituent sources of information on the peculiarities of the formation of income and expenditure by peasant households are systematized and proposals for their improvement are developed taking into account foreign practice. It is established that there is a difference between the domestic practice and the European approach to estimating the value of products produced for own consumption. was donated to relatives and others. It is substantiated that in order to form a system of information support for the study of financial behavior of households, it is advisable to conduct a special survey, which should form indicators of available resources and cash expenditures and savings. It is established that this approach will create an information database that displays complete information on the amount of available resources, which includes in addition to cash income estimates of natural consumption from various sources, as well as the amount of loans and savings, as well as information on consumption expenditures and savings within households.

A quality framework for statistical algorithms

As national statistical offices (NSOs) modernize, interest in integrating machine learning (ML) into official statisticians’ toolbox is growing. Two challenges to such an integration are the potential loss of transparency from using “black-boxes” and the need to develop a quality framework. In 2019, the High-Level Group for the Modernisation of Official Statistics (HLG-MOS) launched a project on machine learning with one of the objectives being to address these two challenges. One of the outputs of the HLG-MOS project is a Quality Framework for Statistical Algorithms (QF4SA). While many quality frameworks exist, they have been conceived with traditional methods in mind, and they tend to target statistical outputs. Currently, machine learning methods are being looked at for use in processes producing intermediate outputs, which lead to a final statistical output. Therefore, the QF4SA does not replace existing quality frameworks; it complements them. As the QF4SA targets intermediate outputs and not necessarily the final statistical output, it should be used in conjunction with existing quality frameworks to ensure that high-quality outputs are produced. This paper presents the QF4SA, as well as some recommendations for NSOs considering the use of machine learning in the production of official statistics.

Analysis of Factors Affecting Road Traffic Accidents in North Cyprus

Road traffic accidents are a global issue. North Cyprus exhibits a similar trend to the rest of the world. Urbanization and the increasing number of vehicles come along with the increase of road traffic accidents. The objectives of the current study are to draw attention to the issue of road traffic accidents and to identify which factors are the main causes of road traffic accidents in North Cyprus. This article follows a two-stage study to examine the causes of this critical issue. In the first stage, a survey was conducted to determine local public opinions. The participants were asked about how environmental factors, vehicle factors, human factors, and road factors impact accidents. According to the survey outcomes, human factors and road factors have the most significant impact. In the second stage of the study, official data from official statistics were considered. The number of accidents, fatalities, and injured people are indicated initially followed by the causes of accidents. Negligent driving and speeding were identified to be the most frequent causes within the studied period. At the end of the study, the common causes of accidents in official statistics and in survey results were specified. Negligent driving and over-speeding were the major causes of road traffic accidents according to the results.

SOME ISSUES OF FOOD SECURITY OF THE POPULATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN

. The article describes the natural potential, as well as the current level of development of domestic agriculture as the main source of food and raw materials for its manufacture, data on the number and natural movement of the rural population of the country. The results of research on the production and consumption of basic types of food per capita, carried out on the basis of official statistics and the Ministry of Agriculture, are also presented.

Organized cybercrime in Ukraine: problems of formation of official statistics and its analysis

The article analyzes the types, forms and content of statistical reporting that reflects the state and structure of cybercrime in Ukraine. Ways to interpret statistical information and to use its capabilities in preventing and combating cybercrime are identified. The shortcomings of the structure of official statistical data, namely unsystematic character, inconsistency and incoherence of their formation, are generalized and revealed. It is noted that the national and international legislation lacks a generally accepted definition of cybercrime so far, and therefore a single approach to defining the grounds for classifying illegal acts as such crimes. The reports were developed without considering further analysis of cybercrime. And while the report of the National Police of Ukraine contains data on a number of criminal offenses that can be attributed to cybercrime, the official statistical reports prepared by the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine and the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine, except for Chapter XVI of the Criminal Code, are missing the mentioned data. Therefore, official statistics, which fully and accurately reflect the state and structure of cybercrime cannot be introduced today. It is possible to analyze only the dynamics of this type of crime, the structure of crime on the basis of recorded crimes. The number of criminal offenses under the articles of chap. XVI of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, is growing unevenly, and this growth in the last 4 years is insignificant. The share of these criminal offenses is growing more dynamically. But their share of the total crime rate in Ukraine today is insignificant and is less than one percent - in 2020 0.69. In the first quarter of 2021, employees of cyber police units of the National Police of Ukraine, for the first time detected 4 criminal offenses under Art. 255 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (“Creation of a criminal organization”). During 2013 –2010, 112 persons were found to have committed criminal offenses of this category as part of a group, 16 of them as part of an organized group. Also during this period, 171 persons who committed criminal offenses in the group in previous years were identified, including 68 in the organized group. The number of convicted persons who committed criminal offenses in the group during this period is 64, 9 of them committed crimes in an organized group.