37. GSIM can either be mapped to an existing information model or adopted as is by a statistical organization. The steps to adopting GSIM are outlined in the following two sections. Please see the GSIM Specification for further details about the information objects mentioned in these sections.
A statistical organization has an existing information model
38. It should be a straightforward task to map an existing information model onto GSIM. The order in which the mapping is undertaken could be dependent on the orientation of the existing information model.
39. If the information model focuses primarily on metadata, start with the Concepts group of the GSIM. This group comprises information objects such as Variable, Classification, Value Domain.
40. If the information model stresses mainly the management of data sets, the point of departure could be the Structures group. This is where notions such as Data Set (concerning data) and Data Structure (concerning metadata) can be found
41. The information model could be principally oriented on the design and execution of statistical processes. In this case, start the mapping with the Production group. It offers concepts such as Process Step Design, Input Specification, Output Specification, and provides a link to policy and method information through a Design Context.
42. It might, however, be preferable to begin with information objects referring to the main activities of a Statistical Organization. In this case, start by focusing attention on the Business group, which offers information objects referring to the Statistical Program, the Acquisition Activity and the Dissemination Activity. It is also in this group that concepts related to high-level management of the statistical process, such as Statistical Need, Assessment, Business Case are found.
43. These four groups are interrelated through relations linking information objects across the group borders, so you will easily find a path from one group to the other.
A statistical organization adopts GSIM as its information model
44. Most statistical organizations have some information models distributed over one or more repositories (catalogues, data bases, etc.) to manage statistical methods, statistical metadata, architectural principles, policy provisions and similar things. In many cases these information model may be implicit rather than explicit. Typically these models will represent a subset of the information objects in GSIM – containing just those which are relevant to the purpose of the particular model.
45. A statistical organization may choose to:
46. The order in which the different bits of information are brought together under the GSIM will be dependent on the relative importance of the collections of information.
GSIM and GSBPM
47. Although GSIM can be used independently, it has been designed to work in conjunction with the GSBPM. It supports GSBPM and covers the whole statistical process. It is assumed in this section that an organization either uses GSBPM or uses another business process model (which can be mapped to GSBPM).
48. Adopting GSIM at a business level involves an analysis of the information being used, managed and processed when designing and producing statistics. When designing a new process or redesigning an existing process, the process should be mapped to GSBPM and the information objects should be mapped to GSIM. In Annex A, there are a number of examples of how this can be done.
49. This work is useful, because GSIM makes business processes and methods "visible", where other design approaches keep them buried in application code and documentation. This opens up a range of technical possibilities. For example:
50. After undertaking this exercise, it is possible that there will be information objects that your organization needs to describe, but that are not accounted for in GSIM.
51. Most organizations have legacy systems and administrative practices that will require an extension of GSIM to meet organization-specific implementation needs. In particular, processes relating to corporate management are outside the scope of both GSIM and GSBPM.
52. GSIM is robust, but can readily be adapted and extended to meet users' needs. In order to implement GSIM, you will need to identify the organization-specific information that needs to be integrated into your own extension of GSIM. Examples include preferred platform and standards, standard documents to be produced when developing a new statistical program, etc.
53. In order to extend GSIM usefully, it is important to use the mechanism provided within GSIM, and to document every extension carefully. The quality of this documentation is fundamental for a successful use of the extensions for communication between all participants in the activities of the organization. Moreover, extensions to GSIM are not for internal use only. They should be submitted to the UNECE Standards Steering Group (support.stat@unece.org), which will keep a record of existing GSIM extensions. Some of them might well be approved as something that should be added to the agreed model.