Definition: Integrated model

Category: General concept

Innovative way of producing statistics based on the combination of various data sources in order to streamline the production process. This integration is twofold:

a) horizontal integration across statistical domains at the level of National Statistical Institutes and Eurostat, . Horizontal integration means that European statistics are no longer produced domain by domain and source by source but in an integrated fashion, combining the individual characteristics of different domains/sources in the process of compiling statistics at an early stage, for example households or business surveys.

b) vertical integration covering both the national and EU levels. Vertical integration should be understood as the smooth and synchronized operation of information flows at national and ESS levels, free of obstacles from the sources (respondents or administration) to the final product (data or metadata). Vertical integration consists of two elements: joint structures, tools and processes and the so-called European approach to statistics (see this entry). http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ramon/coded_files/TERMS-IN-STATISTICS_version_4-0.pdf