Since the last edition of The Source statistical upskilling has continued with numerous programmes aimed at building capability right across the OSS.
This October will see the second cohort of candidates in the National Certificate in Public Sector Services (Official Statistics) receive the qualification. Learning State, the state sector Industry Training Organisation, host a formal graduation ceremony once a year for all of their state sector qualifications. This will be the first time graduates from the Certificate of Official Statistics have received their awards at the ceremony and staff from a number of organisations will be represented, including Inland Revenue, NZ Police and Statistics New Zealand. Cohorts begin twice a year, in the spring and the autumn. For more information visit the Statisphere webpage or email CertificateOS@stats.govt.nz.
On Tuesday 23 June, 12 participants from a range of OSS partner organisations attended an OSS Training Series workshop run jointly with the School of Government at Victoria University. The session 'Confidentiality and other ethical and legal constraints on official statistics' was run by Sharleen Forbes. Attendees included senior advisors, managers and even solicitors from organisations such as Inland Revenue, Ministries of Justice, Health and Education, the State Services Commission, NZ Qualifications Authority and several from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
The OSS Seminar Series wrapped up a successful 2008/09 year with several seminars in May and June. In total over 600 state sector staff attended seminars in the series which represents another significant increase in numbers attending on the previous fiscal year. Watch out for more seminars from September on the Seminar Series webpage.
If your organisation has recently completed research or developments in the field of official statistics and would like to present at an OSS Seminar, email OSS@stats.govt.nz to express your interest.