The SDMX Regional Training Workshop was organised by the OECD, SESRIC, SDMX, ILO, BIS, and the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye. The workshop took place at the OECD Istanbul Centre in Istanbul, Türkiye, from 4 to 6 December 2024. UN ESCWA, UNICEF, UN ESCAP, and the UNSD have provided additional support for the training workshop.

Dr. Atilla KARAMAN, Director of the Training and Technical Cooperation Department at SESRIC, delivered a keynote speech during the opening session. He emphasised SESRIC’s work, underscoring that 529 statistical activities have been conducted since 2007, including 41 activities in the past year, with the participation of more than 1700 participants from all OIC countries within the scope of Statistical Capacity Building Programme of the Centre.

The workshop provided both theoretical and practical sessions to build and enhance the SDMX (Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange) capacities of the organisations already familiar with SDMX usage and data modelling practices in their daily work. The workshop has brought together representatives from 8 OIC countries, alongside other participating countries with a total of 68 participants, aiming to enhance their knowledge of the SDMX Information Model and its components.

Designed for professionals possessing foundational knowledge of SDMX, the training workshop facilitated a platform to elevate participants to an intermediate level of proficiency. Over the course of three days, the training workshop focused on:

• Enhancing Understanding of SDMX: Deepen knowledge of SDMX terminology relevant to data processes, explore artefacts fundamental to data and metadata reporting, and examine features facilitating seamless data and metadata exchange.
• Optimising Data Structures for Dissemination: Learn to fine-tune data structures and content to efficiently meet diverse audience needs, anticipate user expectations, and implement effective data dissemination strategies.
• Modelling Referential Metadata: Develop comprehensive and accessible referential metadata tailored for effective data reporting and dissemination.
• Planning for Platform Migration and Structuring: Gain practical guidance on migrating from legacy platforms to fully SDMX-compliant platforms like the .Stat Suite, including methodologies for mapping additional SDMX structures and enhancing data integration.
• Automating SDMX Data Pipelines: Discover minimal coding techniques using the SDMX API in conjunction with Python to streamline structural validation, transcode using structure maps, and generate reporting templates.

On the sidelines of the Workshop, SESRIC delegation held bilateral meetings with the representatives of the OECD Istanbul Centre and OECD Smart Data exchanged views and opinions on the future collaboration opportunities on various statistical and training topics such as transport statistics, vocational and educational training among others.

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