Topic (iii): Needs and responsibilities of international organisations for metadata THE UNIDO INDUSTRIAL STATISTICS INFORMATION EXCHANGE ARCHITECTURE: AN INTEGRATED STATISTICAL DATA AND DATA DOCUMENTATION FRAMEWORK

2. The usefulness of a multi-country database depends on the extent of cross-country comparability of its stored data. Thus, to assure sound use of their cross-country statistical data, international data sources are responsible for providing users with, in addition to general information for the overall database, relevant and detailed qualitative information that indicates the applicability and limitation of their disseminated individual statistical data in terms of international comparability. This is particularly important for such rather detailed sectoral statistics as the statistical outcome of national periodical surveys of manufacturing establishments, since they tend to be influenced largely by employed survey scope and statistical methodology, concepts, definitions and classification. Therefore, users need to know country-specific information with regard to those aspects from the viewpoint of international comparability (e.g., information concerning the deviations from international standards or norms).