Ghana Statistical Services (GSS) has established the "Data Science Roadmap" to standardize the many data sources in the nation and automate data for analytical purposes in accordance with modern data consumers' demands.

The data science roadmap, according to GSS, has the potential to enhance and automate the creation of already-released Statistics as well as act as a catalyst for the development of new Statistics.

To integrate online databanks, create a standard reporting dashboard for real-time monitoring of census and survey data collecting, provide ecological statistics, and automate quality checks on trade data, GSS said that it will increase the use of data science over the next five years.

Prof. Samuel Kobina Annim, Government Statistician, speaking at the launch event held concurrently with the occasion of African Statistics Day Celebration said: “GSS intends to apply data science for automation, standardisation and discovery of new data trends and analytical methods learning.

“Augmenting statistical operations with data science will support the continued production of relevant and timely data to meet the demands of modern data users,” he said.

Senior Lecturer, Department of Agriculture Economics and Agribusiness, University of Ghana, Dr. Edward Ebo Onumah, lauded the roadmap as a good initiative to harmonise the data space; stating that the need for such an initiative has been long overdue due to the influx of unverified and unsubstantiated data being used even by state officials as authoritative data.

“This initiative is very important – because if you are going to stand somewhere and say agriculture employs about 54 percent when others are saying it is 42 percent and so on, it creates a certain picture about the country to international eyes that is awkward."

“So, it is good for GSS to front and harmonise all data set in the space – including what the universities, researchers and other institutions put out there,” he stated.