A high-level delegation from the Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi concluded its official participation in the 65th ISI World Statistics Congress 2025, held in The Hague from 3 to 9 October, at a time when official statistics globally are undergoing rapid transformation driven by artificial intelligence and the adoption of new data sources.

 The Congress brought together around 1,300 experts from national statistical offices, academia, governments, and industry to address the future of statistics and data science in meeting growing policy and societal demands.

Led by H E Yousef Saif, Head of Delegation, and H E Rabaa Baniyas, Deputy Head of Delegation, SCAD’s participation focused on strengthening institutional capabilities and advancing modern statistical practices that support Abu Dhabi’s ambition to build an AI native government underpinned by trusted, policy ready data.

During the Congress, SCAD presented six scientific papers covering topical areas including data governance in complex ecosystems, organisational transformation of national statistical offices, adoption of international statistical standards, and the use of economic complexity analytics to inform development planning. These contributions reflect SCAD’s transition toward integrated, scalable, and technology-enabled statistical systems.

 As part of its capability building agenda, the delegation participated in specialised short courses at Leiden University on generative artificial intelligence, advanced data visualisation, statistical disclosure control, and open-source infrastructure for AI model testing. These engagements directly support the development of advanced technical skills, institutional readiness, and the integration of modern methods into core statistical production.

SCAD also held targeted bilateral discussions with peer statistical offices and expert groups on modern census methodologies, data protection frameworks, dissemination strategies, and user centric analytical platforms, supporting long term institutional learning and continuous capability enhancement.

 Commenting on the participation, H E Yousef Saif stated: “Participation in global platforms such as the ISI World Statistics Congress is integral to SCAD’s approach to modernising official statistics. These engagements allow us to contribute to international dialogue while translating global best practices into practical capabilities that strengthen Abu Dhabi’s statistical system, ensuring the availability of trusted, timely, and policy ready insights that support strategic planning and long term development.”

H E Rabaa Baniyas added: “Our engagement at WSC 2025 was deliberately focused on strengthening the capabilities that matter for the next phase of official statistics. From advanced analytics and privacy preserving methods to AI enabled production and modern dissemination, the outcomes directly support building a skilled workforce and scalable systems that can meet Abu Dhabi’s evolving decision making needs.”

SCAD’s participation in WSC 2025 forms part of a sustained effort to ensure that Abu Dhabi’s statistical system remains credible, future ready, and capable of supporting evidence based policy in an increasingly data driven world.