WIREDGOV

The Office for National Statistics has today announced the names of the first three ONS Fellows, distinguished experts who will help ONS to explore key issues in measuring and analysing developments in the UK economy.      

First announced in December 2015 as part of the Increasing Openness, Improving Capability strategy, the Fellows will work with ONS staff in Newport and Titchfield as the UK’s largest producer of official data expands and develops its analytical capability. 

The scheme will give ONS the means to access cutting edge expertise in areas that it does not have in depth internally.

The three Fellows are:

• Diane Coyle, Professor of Economics at the University of Manchester and founder of the consultancy Enlightenment Economics. She has been a BBC Trustee, serving as both Vice Chair and Acting Chair of the BBC Trust, a member of the Migration Advisory Committee, and of the Competition Commission. She specialises in the economics of new technologies, markets and competition, and public policy 
• Mary O'Mahony is Professor of Applied Economics at King's College, London. Her research interests include measuring and explaining international differences in productivity, technology and growth; human capital formation and its impacts on productivity and measuring performance in public services, including health and education. She joined King’s in May 2013 and was previously Professor at Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham. She is currently a visiting fellow at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, London 
• Nicholas Oulton, Visiting Professor at University College London, is a member of the Centre for Macroeconomics and the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics. Previously he worked at the Bank of England. He is the author of over 50 articles in academic journals and books and is the co-author of a book on UK productivity

ONS Chief Economist Joe Grice said: “I’m delighted that such experienced and respected experts have become the first ONS Fellows.

“They will work in a hands-on fashion alongside our staff to solve problems and share expertise. The skills and knowledge they bring will be invaluable in helping to continue ONS’s development into a digitally-driven, world-leading statistics office.” 

Increasing Openness, Improving Capability set out ONS’s strategic intent to meet the changing and increasing demands for economic statistics by increasing ONS’s capability, improving engagement with users and better meeting researchers’ and decision-makers’ needs.  It also plans to multiply the number of economists employed in the organisation and develop its Newport headquarters as a ‘hot spot’ of data technology and analysis. 

The ONS Fellowships are designed as a continuing rolling programme of one-year appointments.

Other objectives set out in Increasing Openness, Improving Capability that have so far been delivered include the publication of longer time series for the financial accounts and balance sheets by institutional sector, published on 12 January. In addition, ONS is currently running its first round of Economic Forums outside London. Forums have already been held in Cardiff and Manchester with an Edinburgh Forum planned for 23 February.

Background notes

1. The ONS strategy ‘Economics at the ONS: Increasing Openness, Improving Capability - Setting the Agenda’ is available here: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/media-centre/statements/economics-at-ons--increasing-openness--improving-capability/setting-the-agenda---strategy.doc
2. The ONS strategy ‘Economics at the ONS: Increasing Openness, Improving Capability - Delivering the Agenda’ is available here: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/media-centre/statements/economics-at-ons--increasing-openness--improving-capability/delivering-the-agenda---deliverables.doc
3. The full ‘Historical estimates of financial accounts and balance sheets’ article containing longer time series for the financial accounts and balance sheets by institutional sector is available here: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/naa1-rd/national-accounts-articles/historical-estimates-of-financial-accounts-and-balance-sheets-by-institutional-sector---a-first-step-towards-reconstructing-the-data-for-the-uk/rpt---historical-estimates.html
4. The Fellows will work flexibly for at least fifty days each, on a part time basis, for a term of 12 months from February 2016.
5. Details of the policy governing the release of new data are available from the media office. 
   © Crown copyright 2016. 

6. Details of the policy governing the release of new data are available by visiting www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/assessment/code-of-practice/index.html or from the Media Relations Office email: media.relations@ons.gsi.gov.uk