Mongolia: Microdata Manangement Training Refresher and Work Program (April 2014)

An ADP mission visited the Mongolia National Statistics Office (NSO) on April 21 and conducted a half-day Microdata Management Training on Nesstar Publisher attended by staff members from the NSO and National Center of Public Health.

Mr. Sononmtseren Mendsaikhan, Chairman of the NSO, welcomed the ADP and thanked them for the partnership and technical assistance, particularly in the context of Open Data initiatives. He also expressed the demand for training in anonymization of microdata.

The Data Processing and Technology Department (DPTD) of Mongolia NSO has taken great initiatives to document and publish over 15 studies in both English and Mongolian and display them on their NADA. During the mission, ADP discussed possible ways for improving documentation and NADA design, and learned from Ms. Oyunjargal “Oyunaa” G. from DPTD how bilingual documentation and archiving were done. This approach provides insight and may be replicated in other Asian countries struggling with language and Unicode conversion.

The ADP mission also reviewed the existing microdata dissemination policy (in both English and Mongolia) of the NSO of Mongolia, and gave recommendations to Mr. Lkhagva Myagmarsuren, Director of Data Processing and Technology Department. The view of the NSO is to make microdata more accessible while protecting the confidentiality of respondents. ADP also gave a brief introduction to the concepts and techniques of statistical disclosure control, and the latest development of IHSN tools for anonymization.