The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr Mahathir Bin Mohamad, will be giving the Keynote Address, reflecting the growing importance of statistics in our increasingly digital and data-driven world. The organisation of this premier international congress in Kuala Lumpur will further strengthen the local statistics industry and enhance its capabilities through knowledge sharing, offering a fresh perspective on not just technical issues, but the benefits data can bring the people of Malaysia.
YBhg Dato’ Sri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin, Chief Statistician, Department of Statistics Malaysia
Elaborating on the congress, Chief Statistician, Department of Statistics Malaysia and Chairman of National Organising Committee of ISI WSC 2019, YBhg Dato’ Sri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin, shared, “We are very excited that the congress is almost upon us. Everything starts with statistics, data can change trends and with good facts and figures, we can change imbalances and help develop government policies to benefit the people now and in the future. This has been five years in the making and is a huge milestone in our mission to elevate and develop Malaysia’s statistics industry.”
Dato’ Sri Dr Mohd Uzir continued, “By hosting this congress in Malaysia, we can bring the local statistics industry to a new level by showcasing how important accurate facts and figures can be to our society. While the government and the business community use statistics all the time, what we really want is the people of Malaysia to embrace data too, benefiting their daily lives and well-being. We truly believe statistics is an important tool to increase citizen participation in public policy, which will help the country progress in a very open and transparent way.”
In conjunction with ISI WSC 2019’s theme of ‘Come, Connect and Create’ a number of exciting social programmes are also being organised to increase public participation and create awareness about the importance of statistics and data in today’s digital world. The congress will be kicking off with the World Stats (WSC) Run 2019 at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, 18 August.
Impressed with Malaysia’s creativity in involving the public in ISI WSC 2019 through the World Stats (WSC) Run 2019, the next destination Amsterdam, Netherlands, are planning to emulate a similar public event and create a bike ride to celebrate the hosting of the congress.
Topics to be discussed during ISI WSC 2019 will focus around the five pillars – people, prosperity, planet, partnership and peace – that are embedded in the United Nation’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. They will range from statistical methods and concepts, data compilation and management, technology, data science and analytics, big data, and their applications across all segments of the economy and life.
The Centre’s General Manager, Alan Pryor, concluded, “We are honoured to be the venue of choice for the prestigious ISI WSC 2019. We pride ourselves on being the ‘People’s Centre’ connecting the world’s leading experts with Malaysians, and ISI WSC 2019 perfectly fits with this, as it will create a lasting legacy for the country.”
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