Book of Abstracts. Conference on New Techniques and Technologies for official Statistics. NTTS 2019

The evolution of the demand for statistical information, puts the National Statistical Institute (NSI) facing an important challenge: to improve its ability to innovate in processes and products in order to respond more effectively to new and growing needs. The Laboratory for Innovation is one of the infrastructures adopted to respond to this new challenge with the aim of facilitating the development of innovation and reinforcing the role of research as a founding value and a tool for strategic growth of the Institute and staff. The Innovation lab is an “environment” to enforce the research role and to develop innovative ideas. It is a place to test new solutions, new processes and new products. It enables the institute to invest in innovative projects to improve statistical information, processes and products and strengthen internal and external relations through partnerships with universities, institutions and public and private research institutions. Thanks to the work done in collaboration with various departments of our institute, the Innovation Lab was inaugurated in March 2018 and activities have been started on the projects selected in the first call of the innovation laboratory. The first call, completed in September 2017, was a success with 27 projects submitted, proposed by 33 researchers. Of these, 6 ideas has been selected were more focused on the production of an experimental statistical output in accordance with the areas of the innovation program such as Big-Data, machine learning and Data Integration. These results are confirming the role defined for the innovation laboratory, promoting it in the institute as a tool for research and innovation, as a channel to promote collaborations and partnerships and as infrastructure to encourage colleagues and researchers to develop innovation