Russian Association of Statisticians (RAS) signed a partnership agreement with the Novosibirsk State University of Economics and Management (NSUEM) on February 19, 2015. Acting Rector of the NSUEM Alexander Novikov granted an on-line interview to the RAS media & communications manager. Below is the transcript of the interview.

– You supported the idea to organize and hold the First Open Russian Statistical Congress (I ORSC) in Novosibirsk in 2015. What’s your involvement in statistics and what’s your expectation from this event?

- We supported the idea of holding the Open Russian Statistical Congress at the NSUEM in Novosibirsk because we believe that both our university, our students and the Russian science will benefit from it. Let me explain my thought.

What is the university’s benefit? Novosibirsk State University of Economics and Management, which many know as “NarKhoz” (short for Russian “Narodnoye Khozyaistvo”, or “National Economy”, from the former name of the university – editor’s note) is now in the process if identifying those qualifications that will be in demand in the future. Statistics is precisely one of those qualifications. At our university, we do engage in the studies devoted to enhancing the information technologies, building corporate and other information systems. "NarKhoz" can be recognised as one of the leaders in this area. And the information technology allows to generate huge arrays of very diverse data. The term “Big data” is on everyone's lips today. One needs to be a professional to avoid drowning in this information ocean and to be able to analyze it and take appropriate decisions. In the Soviet Union, the image of statistician was negative: someone whose work was necessary but futile in terms of career growth and not interesting. It is not relevant today. Now, it’s time to abandon the perception of statistician as an arithmetician and consider him/her primarily as an analyst, as a specialist with expertise in compiling and processing complex arrays of information, and therefore a unique person who knows everything about everything. As Bill Gates said, "the way you collect, organize and use information defines whether you win or lose".

Statistics is taught at the world top universities. According to the Eurostat, 703 master degree programmes in statistics (not including undergraduate programmes) are currently implemented in 39 countries. According to the QS World University Ranking by Subject, the best courses in statistics can be found at the Stanford University, University of California, MIT and Harvard University. It would be an honor for any Russian university to join this list, but our educational process needs to be substantially revised to conform with the modern requirements. We hope that the upcoming Statistical Congress at the NSUEM will facilitate this

Why holding the Statistical Congress in Novosibirsk will be beneficial to our students? The answer to this question is obvious. Because leading Russian and foreign experts will gather at our university, and the students will have the opportunity to hear them, as we say, "live". We have reached an agreement with the organizers that at least some of the so-called invited participants will deliver open lectures to our students. It's too early to mention specific names, but we do hope that the organizers of the congress will keep their promise. Please believe me, meeting world-class scholars means a lot for a student of a university which is located at the heart of Siberia.

Finally, why this is important to the development of the Russian statistical science? Let me put it as follows. Russia is the country of Markov and Chebyshev, the birthplace of Nobel laureates in economics Wassily Leontief and Simon Kuznets, who, by the way, started his career as a statistician of the Department of Labor in the 1920s and published his first scientific paper “Money wages of workers and employees of the manufacturing industry of Kharkov in 1920". There are a lot of things we can be proud of. But, honestly, it is not the best times that the Russian statistics is undergoing nowadays. We have to verify our direction, and I expect that the Statistical Congress will summarize the scientific results and identify the direction for further research based on the needs of business, government and other users of statistical services.

— Your university is one of the few universities in the Urals which educates statisticians: first as part of an ad hoc programme, and now within the “Economics” programme. What are the prospects of statistical education in the NSUEM?

— Let me tell you a bit of history first, if you don’t mind.

The first economic educational institution in Novosibirsk, Siberian Institute of National Economy (SINE), opened on October 1, 1929. In April 1931, the SINE was divided into two institutions: the Siberian Planning Institute (SPI) and the Siberian Institute of Consumer Cooperatives (SICC). In 1932, the SPI was renamed the Ural-Siberian Planning Institute (USPI), which had, among others, the Department of Economic Accounting (then understood as statistical). We at the “NarKhoz” consider ourselves as the heirs of the USPI. So the statistical education at our university rests on more than eighty-year tradition.

I can’t say that everything went on smoothly. Teaching of statistics faced difficult times. However, the NSUEM pays greater attention to the training of statisticians nowadays. The Department of Statistics is one of the most influential at the University, and the Head of the Department Prof. Vladimir Glinsky is also the head of the scientific school "Theory and methodology of sustainable development of socio-economic systems", an active person who shapes the research environment not only at the department, but at the university as a whole. We are committed to developing this area of training, given that the Department of Statistics is about to launch new undergraduate profiles and master degree programmes. The Department is popular among postgraduate and doctoral students.

For any scientist, it is critically important to have the opportunity to speak, to publish his/her work. We publish a journal in the list of the Higher Certification Board of Russia – "The Bulletin of the NSUEM" where the statistical topics feature prominently. We have also published a series of books on practical statistics. Our teachers get their textbooks and manuals on theoretical and applied statistics published with the leading Russian publishers. In particular, the textbook "Statistics", prepared by a team of authors at the NSUEM Department of Statistics (ed. by V.G.Ionin), has undergone three editions (1996, 2001, 2008) with the total circulation exceeding 140,000 copies. The manual "Statistical Analysis" (authors V.V.Glinsky, V.G.Ionin) has been published three times by different Russian publishing houses, "Problems in the Theory of Statistics" (ed. by V.V.Glinsky, L.K.Serga) – three editions, the textbook "A Course of Demography" (author L.P.Kharchenko) – five editions. I must say that we secured the right to publish the proceedings of the First Open Russian Statistical Congress, and this, no doubt, will raise our status as one of the most important centers for publications on statistics in the country.

So, in general, the prospects are bright. However, I have to acknowledge that the development of statistical education will largely depend on our success in identifying the place of statistics as the area of higher education. In my opinion, it is necessary to bring the existing areas of higher education in Russia in compliance with the international ones, in particular, the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) and the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO), where the profession of "statistician" is clearly defined. Russia should not stand alone in the world of science, and I am for the integration of the scientific thought. Although, of course, we have to understand that the Russian school of statistics has its own characteristics, advances in methodology and techniques of statistical research, which cannot be neglected while integrating into the international statistical community.

— What’s your attitude to the problem of statistical literacy of the Russian society?

— Yes, the Russian society lacks statistical literacy. Now there is a programme called "financial literacy" in Russia. I think that a similar programme can be established to enhance the statistical literacy. By the way, this could be discussed at the Statistical Congress which we will hold at the NSUEM together with the Russian Association of Statisticians and the Federal State Statistics Service. It is the close cooperation of the academic community, the general public and the government in the field of statistics that may yield a positive result.

— Teachers, graduate and undergraduate students of the NSUEM are expected to actively contribute to the organisation of the I Open Russian Statistical Congress, and to participate in its scientific sessions and round tables. Are you going to provide incentives to the best of them?

— Yes, I am in favour of a combination of various forms of promotion, not focusing on financial incentives only. For undergraduate and graduate students, for example, the opportunity to communicate with the leaders of the domestic and foreign statistical science in our university is itself encouraging. To attain success, find one’s place in the science and business, to become wealthy, one must be able to take the opportunities and move forward and never, under any circumstances, stop there.

- Thank you very much for your answers and your time. Goodbye.

— Goodbye.

RAS media & communications service