ISI strategic priorities are described in our 2017-2021 strategic plan: These include:
- encourage statistical communication and networking;
- increase the public voice of statistics;
- develop statistical capacity;
- secure our financial stability.
What will 2021 bring us?
Hope
The start of 2021 was turbulent taken the unprecedented events in Washington DC. We hope nonetheless that this year will bring us more positivity than the previous one. We hope the situation caused by the pandemic will change for the better allowing us to resume normal life and personal interactions. All of our hopes are pinned on the vaccines but it is clear it will take some more time before we can embrace normal life.
Continue reading “What will 2021 bring us?”Continuing Strong in 2021
I decided to review my January 2020 President’s message before writing this message. That message reflected an excitement about the preparation for upcoming in-person conferences. We planned and, ultimately, the coronavirus causing COVID-19 laughed.
Continue reading “Continuing Strong in 2021”2020 in Review; 2021+ in Preview
2020: A year for the record books
As long as you wear a mask, spend less than 15 minutes reading this message and wash your hands after then you shouldn’t have to worry about COVID-19 exposure here.
Continue reading “2020 in Review; 2021+ in Preview”Turning Challenges into Opportunities
Remote work from home has become the norm for the ISI Permanent Office and it is amazing how well we can cope with the work and turn challenges into opportunities. One year ago, I could not have imagined and would not have thought that all ISI staff would work from home, but it turned out to be possible and we are proud of the result. Of course we all miss our daily contacts and know the situation will not change before the start of 2021 so we need to be patient.
Continue reading “Turning Challenges into Opportunities”Gratitude
November is the month when Thanksgiving is celebrated in the United States. It is a day often characterized by gatherings of family and friends. This year is different. Many families will have remote, virtual meals together as part of efforts to control the continuing spread of COVID-19. Virtual gatherings of families are natural given how much of our paid work and volunteer work is being done virtually as well. While there may be disappointment with not being together, reasons to be thankful remain. I decided to focus my message this month on my gratitude for the work of ISI members and staff.
Continue reading “Gratitude”ISC as UNSC’s ancestor and the role of ISI in its creation
Exactly one hundred years ago, from 11 to 18 October 1920, an International Statistical Commission (ISC) met for the first time in Paris. This commission was set up within the framework of the League of Nations (Société des Nations, SdN) created one year earlier following the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. This first meeting of the ISC was chaired by Luigi Bodio and Albert Delatour; Lucien March was its reporter.
Continue reading “ISC as UNSC’s ancestor and the role of ISI in its creation”What do you get for someone on World Statistics Day?
You know who is being honored on birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and even Labor Day. But who is being recognized and celebrated on World Statistics Day (WSD)? The simple and easy answer is the profession and practice of statistics. The WSD website, worldstatisticsday.org, describes this year’s theme: Connecting the world with data we can trust.
Continue reading “What do you get for someone on World Statistics Day?”Purposeful participating presence
Planning for the virtual World Statistics Congress 2021 continues. The final testing of the online submission system is occurring now. While I participated in multiple online conferences this summer, I recently had the pleasure of meeting (online!) with organizers of the Bernoulli-IMS One World Conference, Siva Athreya, Leif Döring (chair), Andreas Kyprianou, Jean-Christophe Mourrat, Christian Robert.
Continue reading “Purposeful participating presence”Creating Space
I had the pleasure of meeting educator and author Parker Palmer many years ago. He said that the role of a teacher is to create a space where students can learn. I thought about Palmer’s comment when I reflected on the role of a statistical society and conferences that it hosts. I like that ‘creating space’ contains two meanings – the act of creating space for some purpose and the space itself where a creative act occurs.
Continue reading “Creating Space”