Statistical Terms Glossary

A device that converts one protocol or format to another. A network gateway converts packets from one protocol to another. An application gateway converts commands and/or data from one format to another.

Measured by a set of dimensions (elements): relevance, accuracy, timeliness and punctuality, accessibility and clarity, comparability, coherence, and completeness.

The IMF's DQAF was developed as an assessment methodology that aims to provide structure and a common language for the assessment of data quality. The DQAF facilitates a comprehensive view of data quality, one that recognizes interrelations, including trade-offs, among elements of quality and allows emphases to vary across data categories and uses/users. It facilitates dialogue with national statistical agencies and country authorities, as well as a more homogenous approach to assessing data quality by Fund staff.

The IMF Data Quality Reference Site (DQRS) was created to develop an understanding of issues surrounding data quality. The site includes contributions from both national and international agencies and covers definitions of data quality, provides examples of evaluations of data quality and outlines the different trade-offs between the different dimensions of data quality.

Enables mobile operators to offer enhanced location-based data services (such as 411/Where's the Nearest, Buddy Finder, and Fleet Tracking) that enhance subscriber offerings, increase ARPU, and improve customer loyalty

Data Replication is the process of copying the data from a certain data source to another source while maintaining identical copies of the data that are synchronized. Any changes made to the original content should be posted to the copy of the data at the other location. This will enable two or more copies of data to be available.

A database is an integrated collection of logically-related records or files consolidated into a common pool that provides data for one or more multiple uses. One way of classifying databases involves the type of content, for example: bibliographic, full-text, numeric, image. Other classification methods start from examining database models or database architectures.

Database development company

A class of database applications that look for hidden patterns in a group of data that can be used to predict future behaviour.

Is the hour (minute), day, month and year of birth established in order that exact age may be determined in completed years, months, days, hours (minutes) of life as required.

See: Date of creation (of enterprise)

See: Date of creation (of legal unit)

See: Date of creation (of local unit)

Date of cessation of the all-resident/truncated enterprise group. Cessation of a group means either death of the group (dissolution of the links of control between the units belonging to the group), or (more commonly) other cessation date by merger with or take-over by another group, or break-up, split-off, or restructure into two or more groups. The death of an enterprise group is the cessation of all control links, direct or indirect, between the legal units of which the enterprise group consists. The legal units become independent again or cease to exist. No other enterprise group is involved.

Date of final cessation of activities. It refers to the death or other deletion date of the enterprise (when it becomes historical) and is interpreted in a way similar to the corresponding variable for local units. A death amounts to the dissolution of a combination of production factors with the restriction that no other enterprises are involved in the event. Deaths do not include exits from the population due to mergers, take-overs, break-ups or restructuring of a set of enterprises. It does not include exits from a sub-population resulting only from a change of activity. An enterprise is included in the count of deaths only if it is not reactivated within two years. Equally, a reactivation within two years is not counted as a birth.

Date of cessation is not easy to collect but the registration of the event is far more important that the precise day and month of its having taken place. Basically, the legal unit ceases to be part of an enterprise when: The legal unit ceases to exist or the legal unit ceases to be economically active and it is not part of the control chain within the enterprise group. Between activity and real death, there is therefore often a period of inactivity during which the unit may be regarded as ‘dormant’. A sign of such a situation would be the lack of employees, the cessation of tax compliance or the inability to contact the unit after repeated efforts.

Date of cessation of activities. It refers to the death or other deletion date of the local unit. As for legal units, this date may not be available with any precision, only the fact that the local unit has ceased to exist during the reference year may be known. Since the local unit is a part of an enterprise, situated in a geographically identified place, and the enterprise is a combination of production factors, the death of a local unit amounts to the dissolution of a (partial) combination of production factors at a geographically identified place.

The date on which the commitment is made.

Date of commencement of the all-resident/truncated enterprise group. The date refers either to a date when a new all resident group is born), or other creation date of a new group (by merger, break-up, split-off, or restructure). The birth of a new group may be difficult to define in practice, if the smallest groups of no statistical importance to the Member State are not monitored. The date from which the group is being monitored shall then be used as a proxy. However, the approximate dates are important in order to know from which year a certain multinational group is monitored in different countries."

Date of commencement of activities. The date refers to the date of birth, i.e. in principle the date on which the first financial commitments are made, although in practice it may refer to the registration date in the administrative source, if the unit starts its economic activities immediately after that. However, the legal unit may change and be reregistered for instance after a change of legal form, while the enterprise remains the same, because the continuity rules for enterprises should be applied.

Date of incorporation for legal persons or date of official recognition as an economic operator for natural persons – The "date of official recognition" should be the date on which an identification number is given, or the date on which the legal existence was approved, be it a company/trade register number, a VAT number or other.

Date of commencement of the activities - This date should refer to the birth or other creation date of the local unit according to the continuity rules.

See: Date of cessation (of business)

See: Date of cessation (of enterprise group)