According to Statistics Swedens (SCB) own preliminary estimates, 9.26 million people will inhabit Sweden by early 2009; the steepest year-to-year increase since 1970.  The growth borne by this country, third largest in total area in the European Union, is expected to increase by 76,000 over the course of 2009 alone.  Without a doubt, SCB will be there to record the change.  The organization has overseen population records since Sweden started this type of activity in 1749 and is continually assigned similar tasks by various government agencies. In addition to population, customers in the private sector and researchers alike rely on SCB for a myriad of statistical data. Beyond Swedens borders, SCB offers technical assistance through transfer of know-how to the development of statistical capacity in other countries outside of the EU.  

As the Swedish government authority for official statistics, SCB exists to serve the people.  By refining data from different aspects of society, a basis for important social decisions, public debate, and research can be established.  SCB is charged with making information objective, reliable, comparable, and up-to-date and must remain innovative in a manner that is cost-effective for agency and taxpayer alike.  Only through advanced methodological competence and modern techniques can the statistics garnered from such broad social fields and the underlying infrastructure be made easily accessible both to the public as well as customers in the private sector. 

SCB remains world class in how it refines data into statistic information by adjusting to the needs of its customers.  Combined with the necessity for at-the-ready information in a field that by definition is constantly changing, the stakes for success are no less than the preservation of a countrys national identity.  A unique symbiotic relationship exists where SCB is indebted to the 9.26 million individuals who make up the very same statistics that they themselves consume. The inherent reciprocal nature assures SCBs standing as a public servant second only to the citizens themselves.  Whether researching the industrial use of water from 2005 or labor market data from 2001, SCBs registers must be provided in a form that can be accessed and disseminated efficiently from a centralized source and available to the public at large.  Worldwide, the risks and rewards for improving statistical capacity are equally important.
  
Such was the task that became a catalyst for change. Conventionally a decentralized operation, SCB adhered to a long term goal of switching to object-oriented development by undertaking the Systemutveckling i Praktiken, or System Development in Practice project.  In concert with an incomparable data modeling tool, a noble objective was honored by successfully making statistical metadata more easily visualized and analyzed.  Collecting and defining the data while mapping it to a central source has provided for ease of management and larger-scale system development.  
Researchers have thrived on the increased flexibility and Swedes have benefited from a government agency with increased agility.  The agility provided by centralization has directly contributed to the virtuous act of preserving diverse information vital in the public domain. The dedication to achieve object-oriented system development provides further evidence of SCBs commitment to the people of Sweden by acting as custodian of statistical records. Particularly at the data retrieval point, the public benefits from statistical information that is free and readily available for consumption.  On a wider scale, Sweden can collaborate more effectively with other countries and ensure that they too reap the benefits of improved statistical reporting. With projects currently running in about 30 countries, almost 26 years of experience, and a centralized system at their fingertips, SCBs International Consulting Office share knowledge and methods with national statistical institutesaroundtheworld.

Statistics products have a life of their own.  All systems get information from a variety of locations, and when intertwined there is potential risk for confusion.  Retaining the distinct nature of statistical categories while priming them for easy comparison provides better real-world applications to the intangible data streams; an advantage SCB cannot afford to surrender.  

Many companies boast few very large systems, but SCB is just the opposite.  The diversity of statistical information incorporated by its researchers requires a considerable staff to manage the data; in fact, SCB employs around 1,400 and uses more than 200 different statistics products. Equally variable are the separate IT systems employed for each product.  Clearly, the fundamental complexity of SCBs bread-and-butter data creates an abundance of heterogeneous environments.  It became immediately apparent to the IT staff that providing open support for these environments was of greatest importance.  A commitment to object-oriented system development was thereby agreed upon.

From a systems perspective, the scenario was exceptionally daunting. SCB began by creating a system development model of its own, known as Systemutveckling i Praktiken (SiP).  The first step was choosing the right tool for the job.  That tool was PowerDesigner.  The choice allowed for more efficient documentation of the flow of information from one system to another and provided a model-driven approach for aligning business with the many diverse IT systems.  The solution desired was thereby achieved via a newfound ability to better support enterprise architecture. Included with PowerDesigner, the implementation of Sybase Link and Sync technology brought powerful analysis, design, and metadata management techniques, allowing for the removal of remote information silos that threatened SCBs key need for centralization 

The previously disorganized nature of systems at SCB affected all levels of functioning and surely, the division of operations between two cities-Stockholm and Örebro-added to this problem.  Each survey administered by researchers had its own IT system and as a result hundreds had to be maintained at increasing costs. SiPs new vision called for IT systems that could handle multiple surveys and be maintained from a central location.  Within SiPs design, flexibility was provided by the new data modeling tool.  This created opportunities for improvement and with the new methods in place, quality was enhanced agency-wide.  

PowerDesigners impact on the SiP project was widespread.  The organization used to be very decentralized, explains Per Cronholm, head of IT at the time. But now we can work in a more structured way and be more efficient. Contributing to Cronholms satisfaction is the improved alignment and agility that would be absent without Link and Sync technology.  By staying agile SCB is able to cope with changes characteristic of the field of statistics. Agility is paramount when the incoming data is in distinctive statistical categories such as health and labor.

The transition to object-oriented system development was not merely a matter of a new development methodology, however. The efficiency of the agency has directly impacted the taxpayers.  Employees can now begin projects more readily, rather than first deciding where to store the information, what templates to use, or if new templates should be written.  A rough estimate of what needs to be done, what methods to use, who is responsible for doing it, and how the result should be documented at the outset is the status quo.  Approximately two weeks prep time was required for projects prior to the SiP, but now staff can immediately get to work. As a result SCB has shortened the allotted time for projects in general, and stretched the taxpayer dollar. 

Yes

Yes

SCBs staff boasts many new opportunities that enhance their work.  Thanks to SiP, statisticians have a catalogue where each project can gather documentation along with standardized templates and examples. Compiling the documentation to a single location and making it widely available to researchers creates endless possibilities for adaptability and re-use. The SiP tool is designed so content can easily be altered and descriptions of methods and how-to work can be updated to the fit the latest recommended practices. Organization-wide announcements are easier to disseminate, and new employees benefit from a specialized learning tool. The ability to document therefore reinforces a united work method; the staff stays focused on their work while each step creates an essential roadmap for new-hires.

Although the SiP system development model allows easy access to everyone at SCB, not every staff member uses the tool strictly for that purpose.  Since some work has nothing to do with system development, many use the SiP tool exclusively for their respective projects.  The project model and system development functions are the same, therefore it is much easier for staff to explore the system development work if needed. The modeling tool, however, is accessed in the project catalogue as a template, so modeling and documentation becomes integrated with both SiP and PowerDesigner.  Those who work directly with requirements for the IT systems have seized the new opportunities.  System developers and subject matter area staff are now able to use the same approach and methods and provide a good overview by using standard models. The foresight to assess risks and assign priorities to tasks has naturally gained improved quality for system development at SCB.

The success of the SiP project continues to evolve, as version 2.0 has created the advantage of managing fewer forms.  This transition has a lot to do with writing systems for electronic data collection. In the future, we will be able to eliminate a lot of the forms we are required to send out, says Cronholm.  Ylva Fossan, IT architect who supplied the new object-oriented modeling tool to over 100 system developers who work for the organization, understands the project does not just affect the developers, but most staff throughout the organization. In her view, development reports are now easier to view in PowerDesigner by producing them in an RTF format that can be read by anyone.  Employee Christina Lekeborn confirms this notion: SiP supports the system development process from analysis to deployment. We now have a unified method for developing our IT-systems. Best of all, it is so easy to access the documentation when its gathered in one tool. You also create your own documentation while you are developing.

Superfluous administrative tasks have been reduced at SCB and as a result its customers enjoy a more customized service. Objects stored in PowerDesigner enable developers to have a complete overview of all models and documentation concerning the development, making early testing more feasible. There are now more opportunities to accurately visualize, document, and report on impact before changes are made to production.  As an indirect result, statisticians benefit from a streamlined approach when supplying data to customers, while the public can research statistics from a website that redefines the term user-friendly. Along with the presentation of data in press release format, SCB provides a new level of disclosure not commonly offered to laypersons. Given the wealth of statistical data provided, the public is encouraged to dig deeper into statistical tables and citizens are invited to ask questions.  Information about conferences, courses, and tools that allow citizens to make their own calculations and tables are also provided.

Benefits of the SiP project have spread not only to those who desire to take advantage of statistical research and reporting, but to those who do not.  Advantages initially garnered by the IT team ultimately trickle down to the people of Sweden, including stretching their tax dollars. We are on our way to standardize our systems with PowerDesigner, and this is the modeling tool we use within the organization. The evaluation we made when we chose the software showed that this is a very extensive software package and we get a huge amount for our money. Many of the competing tools available were a lot more expensive, says Ylva Fossan.  Saving money is a common goal of any business venture, but when the price tag for a solution benefits SCBs books, individual taxpayers are also relieved. 

The efforts of the IT department have not gone unappreciated. Each year, an in-house quality award is given at SCB. Although it usually goes to a statistics product, the system development model SiP became a worthy winner. The award went to a group of people that together achieved exceptional results within all areas relevant to the functioning of Statistics Sweden. The motivation for giving SiP the quality award read as follows: Because they systematically and thoroughly have produced a system development model that meets the demands from the users. Their job has also penetrated the organization. Existing knowledge and experience has been utilized in an exemplary way.  Once again, the symbiotic nature of SCBs relationship with the people of Sweden is reaffirmed.

Within SCBs own ranks, new employees have directly benefited as well. As Maria Svensson says, SiP has helped me enormously. Here I can find descriptions and documentation that enables me to maintain our internal systems that I work with. In the short time Ive been here I have already realized the importance of having a good system development model. What shall I do? How will I do it? How can I document what I am doing? The answers I find in SiP.  

Veteran researchers are also reaping the benefits of SiP. To be able to use SiP has been very positive. This applies particularly to the use cases and the structured test work that SiP made possible for us to manage, says one project reporter, in reference to evaluating his own work.
Lars-Göran Lundell also expresses relief after the rollout of the new project, SiP works exceptionally well, at last we can bring our work into order as well as our documentation. PowerDesigners version handling of their models has given me both security and efficiency in my job.  Clearly, morale continues to climb as SCBs employees are more efficient in their jobs and can provide the services that millions of Swedes and numerous private customers desire.

Laying the foundation for the recent years of standardization and quality work was made possible only as an application such as SiP served as a platform for descriptions, methods and documentation.  Descriptions for every step in both the project and system development process shortened the production time and introduced quality methods that were as yet unseen.  The complexity of system development was unavoidable, and now SCB works with enterprise architecture to get an even better overview of how to align business with IT.  The new modeling tool has applied appropriate models for the work needed, and SiP must be updated and adapted as new descriptions continually influence system development.  The IT staff takes comfort in the knowledge that making changes to the SiP application is a simple task.

The exceptional nature of SiPs deployment has also meant new education opportunities for employees. Training has been administered in the form of ordinary courses, seminars, and e-learning courses available on SCBs intranet. Mentoring has also played an important role in being able to penetrate the organization with reputable work.  As the rollout of SiP progressed, SCBs infrastructure was being steadily reinforced through a collective enlightenment of business process management.

At present, it is now easier for various system developers to move about freely throughout locations within SCB. Developers now specialize in various parts of the system development process, which was not possible before. Job rotation used to be a difficult chore, since departments often used different software, methods, and documented their work differently. Many of the IT systems and work processes lacked documentation; therefore changing the staff was difficult and time-consuming.  Communication between departments has improved since both project and system development processes are documented and easily accessed. By aligning business with IT, the subject matter area staff is now more involved in the requirement process.  

Many obstacles stood in the way as SCB moved from system diversity to centralization.  To overcome the initial phase, the first part of the project documented how the system development process would occur. Aspects had to be considered such as how to work in each step of the process, which methods to use, who should be responsible for a certain task, what foundation was needed, and what documentation should be completed.  A project model with a project catalogue was also needed as were standardized templates for the documentation.  The need for trial and error was addressed by the second part of the SiP project and precluded a wider usage of models.  The Unified Modeling Language (UML) came in handy during the development cycle and a small test and rudimentary maintenance model were created to adequately fill this need.

Cronholm points out the issue of expertise by identifying how SiP was a major project affecting the everyday jobs of a large and critical group of people. There are 100 people requiring training on new tools and a completely new environment. But this is also a completely new way of thinking.   As such, SCB had to make experts out of potential SiP users who placed their faith in a revolutionary new approach. A lot of effort was put into seminars, courses, and mentoring, still, SiP project members would have liked to have been more available for follow-up during the rollout, even for those who didnt ask for help.  SiP project members also struggled initially with structured testing but now know what is lacking and are able to improve testing for the future.

It goes without saying that with a major initiative such as SiP, the choice of modeling tool was central. Not only did it have to suit all developers, it had to be easy to adapt. At SCB, extensive efforts were made to streamline the PowerDesigner adoption process by creating an installation package of standardized settings and creating a template workspace including model templates and detailed guides for each diagram. The standardization of the application helped to facilitate the developers work. 

In addition to the difficulties addressed at the beginning of SiP, skepticism was a major concern.   Some system developers believed they didnt need a documented development process, and furthermore thought it impossible to document the complex systems without writing the equivalent of thousands of pages of text. Many developers had previously ignored the documentation and only some parts of their systems were documented.  As SiP gained speed the skeptics learned that models could in fact be used for documentation in a manner that was relatively quick and easy.  The project started by interviewing numerous developers and inquiring what kind of help they desired.  By acquiring knowledge about new IT methods and what other organizations recommended, SCB adopted the best of the new methods and adapted it to old practices.  The adaptation eventually made believers out of the skeptics. 

At the close of SiP, members understood that the application was only the starting point for standardization work and that it was important to continually update the system. Unfortunately, as SiP grows older, the funding for this work is not as generous as in the beginning.  The next obstacle to overcome will be to acquire funding for future expansion as developers become more dependent on a tried-and-true method. 

Exceeded

The success of SCBs enormous undertaking has filtered from the fingertips of system developers to the public of Sweden, and finally, to the global community who use statistics to improve quality of life.  The SiP project is a step toward insuring the symbiotic relationship between the Swedish Government agency and the people it represents. Enhancing the efficiency of system developers work has allowed for improved statistical reporting that caters to the customer.  Even the term customer in the traditional sense has been expanded to include international citizens and organizations, with the only requirement for service being the betterment of worldwide social mores.  The distinct nature of statistics provides that it can be simultaneously reflective and predictive, a notion exploited further by SiP, and a lesson that international government agencies are sure to bank on.   

From contacts with other statistical organizations, SCB has not discovered a more exceptional system development model than its own. In fact, Statistics Finland has shown interest in the project and Statistics Norway has developed a project of their own, but SiP appears to already have integrated the tool, the work processes, the modeling, and the documentation in its own successful way. When SCB hosts business visitors from other countries, it usually presents the SiP flagship as evidence of its work.

The success garnered by SiP began by making templates that the whole organization could use. Because of project templates SCB received an enormous interest in working with the tool.  System developers and other staff became interested in SiP education that could provide new methods of working with requirements and how to involve different categories of staff in this new requirement work. 

Even though the descriptions in SiP are in the Swedish language, there has been a pressure on SCB to translate many into English.  Naturally, the agency obliged as it continues to be recognized for the fruits of its labor.  In particular, the International Consulting Office at SCB also asked for the translation of descriptions into English as this department is responsible for intermediary consulting services and twinning projects to other countries. The ICO works to strengthen statistical work and systems/infrastructure in receiving countries and as they too adopt the SiP tool, the international community gets a taste of a new industry standard.

The time period for embracing SiP has varied, from immediately to up to five years. Still, the departments that employ a number of consultants have not yet encouraged them enough to use the new application. All new IT systems can potentially benefit from development with SiP, but unfortunately many older systems remain undocumented. 

The standardization process has only just begun at Statistics Sweden. SiP started by documenting the requirements and developing project processes followed by testing, maintenance, and the statistical production process. Today, SCB is improving its quality work by using Six Sigma and attempting to become ISO-certified. Enterprise Architecture is of primary interest as well as Service Oriented Architecture. The awareness of how to influence long term planning has grown at SCB and it is on the path towards standardizing the organization even more.