Liz MacPherson is looking to tap into the wide amount of data available across the economy, from other government agencies as well as private companies, which can be used to better understand the country and its people.

“Data is the life-blood of decision making. It’s critically important for people to be able to make well-informed decisions,” MacPherson said in an interview after being confirmed in the role through to August 2021.

“In the very old days, there was a notion that we were effectively like ‘Fortress Statistics’ where we had a very clear view of what was required from the perspective of very high-quality, robust official statistics,” she said. “Now we’re effectively saying the underlying data is a product in its own right and a service in its own right, not just an input.  Read more . .  .