Data Governance
Standards and Classifications
How is the Singapore statistical system organised?
Singapore adopts a decentralised statistical system. There are Research and Statistics Units (RSUs) in government agencies that are responsible for statistics on specific subject matters (e.g., manpower, banking, trade).
The Department of Statistics (DOS) is the National Statistical Office and is responsible for statistics on the Singapore economy and population.
What is the role of the Chief Statistician?
Under the Statistics Act 1973, the Chief Statistician, as the head of the DOS, is empowered to collect and process data for statistical purposes. As the National Statistical Coordinator, he coordinates statistical activities in public agencies, provides advice on statistical matters, and develops and promotes the observance of national statistical standards.
What is the Statistics Act?
The Statistics Act 1973 is the primary piece of legislation that governs statistical activities conducted by DOS and the gazetted RSUs.
It safeguards the confidentiality of information collected from individuals and companies and spells out the legislative authority and responsibility of the Chief Statistician and directors of gazetted RSUs.
With increasing demand for data, how has DOS’s role in data stewardship and data governance evolved?
As the National Statistical Office and Coordinator, DOS has been engaged in data stewardship and data governance. With DOS becoming a first stop for users to obtain data and data services, DOS has adopted a robust data governance framework with five main pillars, to protect and preserve the public’s trust in the management of the data within DOS, namely:
- Legislation on statistical activities, data sharing and official secrecy;
- Organisational structure such as data / ICT steering committees to provide oversight and direction on data and ICT matters;
- Data management policies to enforce good practices on data protection and security;
- ICT systems and security measures with advanced data protection measures; and
- Process safeguards such as using secure data sharing channels and distributing passwords for accessing files securely
What is web-scraping and does the DOS conduct web-scraping?
DOS uses alternative data sources and methods such as web-scraping to supplement the information gleaned from traditional surveys. This refers to the collection of data from the internet using a programming code (i.e., crawler) and a web tool (i.e., scraper), to search and extract the data required, respectively.
Web-scraping allows for more firms to be covered and more timely collection of data while reducing respondent burden, facilitating the delivery of more insightful statistics by DOS. DOS abides by a set of web-scraping principles to assure website owners that web-scraping is carried out consistently, ethically and transparently.
How is a Singapore Standard Industrial Classification (SSIC) code assigned?
A SSIC code is assigned to a firm based on its principal activity. For registration/ filing with Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA), firms can select up to 2 SSIC codes: for the primary (principal) business activity and secondary business activity.
The SSIC codes are meant to reflect the main activities carried out by the firm and does not restrict the business activities that the firm can carry out.
What is principal activity in the SSIC?
Principal activity refers to the activity that contributes the most to the value added (VA) of the goods and services produced by the firm.
Where it is not possible to obtain information on VA of the goods sold or services rendered, the principal activity could be determined by other alternatives such as:
- Gross output that is attributable to the goods or services
- Revenue or value of sales or shipments of those groups of products falling into each category of activity
- Proportion of employment or wages in the various activities
What is secondary activity in the SSIC?
Secondary activity refers to a separate activity undertaken by a firm, which is not the primary (i.e., principal) activity, to produce goods or services for others. It is also not an ancillary activity that is undertaken to support the firm's main productive activity by providing goods or services entirely for use of the firm.
Where can I get help on finding an appropriate SSIC code for my business?
You may use the SSIC online search engine available on ACRA’s website.
You may refer to the full list of SSIC codes in SSIC publication or Detailed Definitions document for a more detailed explanation of the SSIC codes available on the SingStat Website.
What is the SSIC code of my business that is registered with the ACRA?
You may log in to the ACRA’s electronic filing and information retrieval system, BizFile+, using your firm’s Corppass credentials to find out the SSIC code that is registered with ACRA. You may also contact ACRA’s Helpdesk at 65-6248 6028.
How is a Singapore Standard Occupational Classification (SSOC) code assigned?
A SSOC code is assigned to a job or occupation based on the main type of work performed.
Persons who perform the same principal tasks are considered doing the same type of work. They are classified under the same occupational group regardless of work experience, employment status and qualifications.