¿Qué es una Oficina Coordinadora Sectorial de Estadísticas -OCSE- ?

According to the provisions of Decree 3-85 of the INE's organic law, it does not clearly define what an OCSE is; however, Article 11 lists the functions that it should perform:

The OCSE is a specialized inter-institutional technical unit for the organization, integration, standardization and publication of statistics of a specific sector circumscribed to the territory of the Republic of Guatemala in terms of coverage, timeliness, quality, dissemination and accessibility, necessary for the design and evaluation of public policies, as well as for the formulation of development strategies for the public and private sectors, and international organizations. And it must be conformed by the institutions that produce or generate information and its main users. Su coordinación en materia estadística es el Instituto Nacional de Estadística por medio de la Coordinación del Sistema Estadístico Nacional y se coordina de forma administrativa con el ministerio o institución que lidera la temática del sector. *

It is pertinent to differentiate between what defines the OCSE and what is known as a Users' Committee. Because the OCSE is in charge of planning, standardization and publication of statistics, therefore, the institutions that participate in it should be producers of statistics, so that the mission of the OCSES is fulfilled, in addition they should produce statistics that are related to the information needs of the specific sector.

Unlike the OCSES, the users' committee is a group of people from different groups, indirectly or directly related to a statistical operation, for example a survey, who provide opinion or feedback on the form or methodology in which the statistical operation will be carried out or on a data collection instrument, and in this sense representatives from universities, think tanks, state institutions, and non-governmental organizations may participate. It is a very diverse group of people, but it does not have functions assigned to it, such as planning or publication, as do the Sectoral Statistical Coordinating Offices. This is a point of fundamental importance because in recent years several OCSES have operated under a scheme of a Users Committee, which is unfeasible in time, given that there are too many actors involved, and this results in obtaining agreements, and in the complex management and administration of its management and administration.

With a specific definition of the OCSES, it is possible to work in a focused way towards the institutions and/or ministries that produce information, and according to the legal mandate of the SEN in the organic law of the INE, as stated in article 3, paragraph 7, the SEN must establish and maintain an updated inventory of statistical series, and this task is impossible without the information generators in the first instance, Likewise, Article 3, paragraph 10, states that the NSS must maintain a centralized registry of questionnaires, forms and instructions of the NSS institutions, in other words, it confirms the proposed definition of the OSSO in which it is considered that only the institutions that produce information should be members of the OSSO.

Definición acuñada por la Coordinación del Sistema Estadístico Nacional

Functions of the Sectoral Coordinating Offices for Statistics

According to the regulations of the Organic Law of INE, Decree Law 3-85, in Article 11, the functions of the OCSES are the following:

1. Plan, coordinate, supervise and execute the statistical activity of its sector.
2. Elaborate their internal regulations regarding sectorial statistical activity, in accordance with the legal norms of the institution to which they belong administratively and budget-wise.
3. To formulate and execute the statistical-sectoral plans and participate in the preparation of the corresponding plans at the national and regional levels.
4. Channel to the statistical units of the sector under its coordination, the technical standards established by INE and observe their application and compliance in the statistical tasks.
5. To organize and manage the operation of a statistical information and documentation center specialized in the area of its sectoral competence.
6. Provide statistical information requested by INE in accordance with the national statistical plan.
7. Evaluate the situation of sector statistics, propose their improvement and encourage the use and analysis of statistical information.
8. Other functions assigned by INE in accordance with its organic law and regulations.