FENStatS Newsletter - Q3/2025

edited by Jaione Etxeberria

Dear FENStatS members,

I would like to remind you that our General Assembly will be held very soon in The Hague. Detailed information on how to connect remotely is provided below for those unable to attend in person. This meeting will be a wonderful opportunity to meet many of you and discuss new initiatives for the coming period.

Our first meeting is also on the horizon!

The Joint SIS–FENStatS 2026 Conference will take place next June in Rome. FENStatS will be represented with 12 invited sessions already confirmed. To ensure the success of this meeting, I kindly ask you to share this information with all your members. Our goal is for this to be a truly European conference for members of all FENStatS societies, and your help is crucial in spreading the word. Those not participating in an invited session are encouraged to submit their work to a contributed session.

Finally, FENStatS is now on BlueSky, and we encourage you to follow us there!

With warm regards to all members of our societies,

Lola Ugarte
FENStatS President

General Assembly: Save the date!

FENStatS is pleased to announce that its next General Assembly will take place during the 65th ISI World Statistics Congress in the Hague. The meeting will be held in hybrid format, enabling both in-person and online participation.

🗓 Date: Oct 7, 2025 🕧 Time: 12:30 – 13:55 (local time)

📍 In-person location: Room ASIA, 65th ISI World Statistics Congress, the Hague, the Netherlands

💻 Online participation via Zoom: Meeting ID: 967 8597 9119, password: 640524
Click here to join via Zoom

FENStatS Contributes to EU Commission Consultation on AI and Data Use

FENStatS reacted to the Public Consultation of the EU Commission on the Use of Data to Develop Artificial Intelligence last July. Promoting generative AI as an essential component of the future European Data Strategy affects not only the data economy, but also the empirically based human sciences, the social and economic sciences, as well as statistics, both as a science and as a producer of evidence for public discourse and the common good.

Statement on the dismissal of U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics Commissioner

FENStatS supports the International Statistical Institute in expressing deep concern over the recent dismissal of Commissioner Erika McEntarfer of the US Bureau of Labour Statistics. This decision raises serious concerns about political interference in official statistics, which threatens independence and credibility crucial for evidence-based policy and public trust worldwide. As advocates for statistical integrity, FENStatS supports efforts to protect the autonomy of statistical institutions and uphold the UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics. Read the full ISI statement here.

Joint SIS-FENStatS 2026 Conference

FENStatS is proud to co-organize a joint meeting with the Italian Statistical Society, SIS–FENStatS 2026, an event that brings together the 53rd Scientific Meeting of the Italian Statistical Society (SIS) and the 1st Scientific Meeting of FENStatS.

📍 Rome, Italy 🗓 Jun 22–25, 2026 🏛 Sapienza University of Rome, Città Universitaria Campus

This joint conference will be the first scientific meeting of European statistical societies organized under the FENStatS umbrella, offering a unique platform for international collaboration and knowledge exchange. A total 12 FENStatS invited sessions already confirmed!

Scientific Committee of FENStatS part

Chair: Lola Ugarte (FENStatS President)
Co-chairs: Marcello Chiodi (SIS President), Maurizio Vichi (La Sapienza – Local Organizer)
Members representing European statistical societies: Andreas Futschik (ÖSG), Christel Faes (RSSB), Josip Arneric (CSA), Anasstassia Baxevani (CSS), Tomás Hlavsa (CStS), Mika Gissler (FSS), Thomas Laloë (SFdS), Yarema Okhrin (DStatG), Miltiadis Chalikias (GSI), Gabriella Vukovich (HSA), Benjamin Taylor (ISA), Biruta Sloka (LSA), Michel Valliant (SLS), Jacok Söhl (VVS+OR), Geir-Arne Fuglstad (NSF), Lisete Sousa (SPE), Claudiu Herteliu (RSS), Martin Boďa (SŠDS), Ana Slavec (SSS), Lola Martinez Miranda (SEIO), Anabel Forte (SEB), Carl‐Fredrik Burman (SSFr), Antonietta Mira (SSS), Mona Kanaan (RSS)

For more information visit the SIS-FENStatS 2026 Conference web site.

ISI World Statistics Congress 2025

In addition to the FENStatS General Assembly on Oct 7, 2025, a special invited session co-organized by FENStatS is also scheduled that day.

📍 Special Session: IPS 885 – Bridging Academia and Official Statistics: Examples of European Experience
🗓 Oct 7, 2025 🕑 14:00–15:40 📌 Room Amazon

Organized by: Anne Ruiz-Gazen Discussant: Camelia Goga

News from National Statistical Societies

Statistical Society of Slovenia

The Statistical Society of Slovenia will participate in the upcoming Month of Science 2025, presenting the Young Statisticians Europe (YSE) initiative. The session will highlight opportunities for young statisticians and data scientists to develop international careers, as part of the FENStatS network.

In July, the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A published a special issue on the analysis of citizen science data. Coordinated by Andrej Srakar, joint coordinator of the Society’s Young Section, the issue addresses methodological challenges in volunteer-based science.

At the 2025 Royal Statistical Society Conference in Edinburgh, Andrej Srakar contributed as an invited seconder in the discussion of the paper Augmented balancing weights as linear regression, presented by David Bruns-Smith. The discussion will be published in JRSS Series B: Statistical Methodology.

Finally, Statistical Society of Slovenia members appeared on the national TV programme 4ur Fokus on Aug 24, 2025, addressing the important topic of statistical literacy. The segment drew strong public interest and engagement.

More information is available here.

Finnish Statistical Society

On 15 September, the Finnish Statistical Society and Professor Emeritus Juha Alho hosted an afternoon seminar titled Statistical problems in assessing Finland's carbon balance. The event focused on statistical and economic challenges related to Finland’s 2035 carbon neutrality goal, including uncertainties in forest carbon sink estimates, impacts of recent data revisions, and the role of human activity and natural variation. The seminar aimed to support rational decision-making on climate policy.

More information is available here.