The document summarizes the implementation of CountrySTAT in Afghanistan from 2012 to 2015. Key achievements include establishing the CountrySTAT website in 2013, holding national training workshops, and officially launching the system in March 2015. It established an institutional framework including a technical working group and national secretariat. Main tangible results were data on socio-demographic indicators, poverty, agriculture, and trade. Moving forward, the system will be fully handed over to the Afghan government and its scope broadened to support broader data management. The new CountrySTAT prototype utilizes open-source software for data sharing and advanced analytics.

1. Thursday, July 02, 2015
CountrySTAT / FENIX
Implementation of the CountrySTAT in
Afghanistan and presentation of the new
prototype
Stocktaking and Lessons Learnt
from the Implementation of CountrySTAT for the ECO Countries
25 – 26 June 2015
FAO HQ, Rome, Italy
Stefania Bacci, FAO Statistician
Fabio Grita, System support
officer, FAO

2. 02/07/2015 2

3. 02/07/20153
2012  Start of the project
2013  Panorama Report 1
2013  Establishment of the CountrySTAT-Afghanistan website
2014  Study tour of two government representatives in Bhutan
2014-2015  Three National Training Workshops in Afghanistan
Different backstopping missions of FAO-HQ
Constant remote help-desk assistance in collaboration with FAO-Afghanistan
and the ECO Secretariat
Official launch ceremony of CountrySTAT-Afghanistan on the 11th of
March 2015
Main achievements
2013-2014  Two Regional Trainings (basic and advanced) in collaboration
with the ECO Secretariat

4. National
Technical
Working Group
National
Secretariat
FAO-HQ
FAO-AFG
ECO
Secretariat
Plan activities
Manage resources
Update Web site
Coordinate TWG
TWG Meetings
harmonize and validate
data for dissemination
Coordinate, liaise and
support services
Institutional framework in Afghanistan
02/07/2015 4

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Composition of the TWG in
Afghanistan
Several departments
of the Central
Statistics Organization
(CSO)
Ministry of Public
Health (HMIS)
Ministry of Agriculture
Irrigation and
Livestock (MAIL)
Kabul Municipality
Afghan Geodesy and
Cartography Head
Office (AGCHO)
Ministry of Commerce
& Industries

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Main Tangible Results

7. 7/2/2015

9. 7/2/2015
Socio-demographic
Poverty and
Hunger
Economic
Trade
Land and Inputs
Production
quantity of major
agricultural
national
commodities

10. 7/2/2015

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Were we are now
Government
ownership
Established
technologies for
data management
and dissemination
National team
able to
autonomously
maintain the
system
Introduced new
data management
methods
Data distributed
on the web as
public good
Strengthened
inter-
governmental
collaboration

12. Moving Forward
Capitalize on the established capacity and
hand over full responsibility to the Government
of Afghanistan for the maintenance and future
design of the CountrySTAT application

13. Implementation Strategy
Demand-driven approach, supported by a flexible and
modular technology
Adopt the Open Data concept and methods to enhance
information sharing and benefit from the availability of
data from different sources
Broaden the scope of CountrySTAT to support data
collection and management (not just data dissemination)
Ensure relevance of CountrySTAT data and tools for the
organization managing the system (owner)

14. Main Features of the New CountrySTAT
Based on Open Source software; no licensing constraints and full
redistribution rights
Ability to handle different type of data (tables, GIS data, text, etc.)
Data search engine based on metadata
Enhanced data sharing capacities (through web services - APIs)
Ability to add/remove functionalities and applications (based on a
Service-Oriented Architecture - SOA)
Advanced analytical capacities (e.g. using R statistical package)

15. Open-Source technology used in CountrySTAT