The Role of an NSI in a Pandemic

The focus of my lecture is on the pace of change undertaken by the Office for National Statistics
(ONS) over the last 18 months, to enable us to meet the challenges introduced by the pandemic. This
rapid change enabled us to fulfil our role as an important national statistics institute—to deliver really
strong, trustworthy, accurate data on the economy and indeed on society and the wider world. This is an
essential service to all of us as individuals, but also to the service of government, enabling better policy to
improve the lives of all citizens.