New Techniques and Technologies for Statistics (NTTS) is an international biennial scientific conference series organised by Eurostat on new techniques and methods for official statistics, and the impact of new technologies on statistical collection, production and dissemination systems.

The NTTS 2017 conference will take place from 14 to 16 March 2017 in Brussels.

The purpose of the conference is:

  • to allow the presentation of results of currently ongoing research and innovation projects in official statistics,
  • to stimulate and facilitate the preparation of new innovative projects (by encouraging the exchange of views and co-operation between researchers – including the possible building of research consortia) with the aim of enhancing the quality and usefulness of official statistics,
  • to prepare activities related to research in statistics within the European Framework Programme for Research and Development (Horizon 2020).

Further details will soon be made available on the conference website.

Looking forward to seeing you at NTTS 2017 in Brussels,

The NTTS 2017 secretariat

March 11, 2016
Special issue

Nominations Are Open for the International Prize in Statistics

Nominations are open for the first International Prize in Statistics, to be awarded at the ISI World Statistics Congress in Marrakech in July, 2017.

The purpose of the Prize is to call public attention to the important role that statistics, data analysis, probability, and understanding of uncertainty have played and are playing in the advancement of society, science, technology and human welfare. The Prize was created by five international statistical societies (American Statistical Association, International Biometric Society, International Statistical Institute, Institute of Mathematical Statistics, Royal Statistical Society).

Nominations are open through August 15, 2016. The first International Prize in Statistics recipient will be announced in October, 2016, and will be honored during a special ceremony in Marrakech in 2017. The Prize will carry with it a cash award of at least $75,000.

An international prize recognizing excellence in statistics has been a dream for many people for many decades, and the International Prize in Statistics Foundation is thrilled to be making this long-awaited prize a reality. But your help is needed! Please spread the word through your networks, especially via social media. We need to make sure we receive outstanding nominations for the Prize.

Questions may be directed to Ron Wasserstein (ron@amstat.org) or Susan Ellenberg (sellenbe@upenn.edu).

ASA Releases Statement on P-values and Statistical Significance

The ASA “Statement on Statistical Significance and P-Values” includes six principles underlying the proper use and interpretation of the p-value and is intended to improve the conduct and interpretation of quantitative science and inform the growing emphasis on reproducibility of science research. “The p-value was never intended to be a substitute for scientific reasoning,” said Ron Wasserstein, the ASA’s executive director, in a press release. “Well-reasoned statistical arguments contain much more than the value of a single number and whether that number exceeds an arbitrary threshold. The ASA statement is intended to steer research into a ‘post p<0.05 era.’" The statement is published in The American Statistician along with more than a dozen discussion papers to provide further perspective on this broad and complex topic.

News from the World of Statistics to Resume Regular Publication Soon

This newsletter has been on hiatus for a few months. Regular publication will resume soon.

Send us your stories:

Two web-based forms make it easy for you to promote your organization’s events on The World of Statistics Activities Calendar and have an article featured in this newsletter about the event or other organization news. The first form—called the “Event Submission Form for the Activities Calendar” — provides you a quick and simple way to submit information about your organization’s planned events. All you do is input the requested information and press the “Submit” button. We’ll then take your event information and post it to The World of Statistics Activities Calendar. You can access this form here.

The second form—titled the “News & Post-Event Information & Photo Submission Form” — enables you to send us information about your organization’s completed event and news as well as up to two photos for this newsletter. On this form, you are prompted for information about your event and you also can input a brief summary (up to 1,750 characters). After you submit your organization’s news or event information, we’ll run the photo and story in this newsletter so others can learn about your organization and its work to promote statistics. Click here to access this form.

The second Conference of European Statistics Stakeholders in Budapest brings together European methodologists, producers, and users of statistics to discuss users’ needs, to share best practices in the production of official statistics, to present innovative ways of visualising and communicating statistics, and to advance new methodological ideas for collecting and analysing data.

First important deadline is 31 May 2016 for submitting abstracts. All statistics stakeholders (methodologists, producers, users) are warmly invited to contribute to the advances of European Statistics for the years to come by submitting a paper specified in the Call for Papers covering seven areas.

The CESS conference is organised jointly by Eurostat, the European Central Bank, the European Statistical Advisory Committee, the Federation of European National Statistical Societies, the Hungarian Central Statistical Office and the Hungarian Statistical Association.

Conference homepage: http://www.ksh.hu/cess2016
Contact: CESS2016@ksh.hu
Previous conference in Rome 2014: http://cdss.sta.uniroma1.it/index.php/dssconference/cess2014

Conference flyer