South American Statistical Conference

South American Statistical Conference
Name	South American Statistical Conference
Abbreviation	SASC
Status	Active
Frequency	Biennial
Founded	1950s
Fields	Statistics, Biostatistics, Econometrics, Demography

Contents

History

Early meetings trace to collaborations among national statistical offices after World War II and during initiatives linked to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Inter-American Statistical Institute. Founding figures often included statisticians trained at the London School of Economics, University of Cambridge, Harvard University, and École Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Administration Économique who worked with agencies like the Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and World Health Organization. The Conference evolved alongside regional projects such as the Andean Community, the Southern Common Market, and the Union of South American Nations, responding to census cycles in countries like Argentina and Brazil and methodological shifts promoted by institutions such as the International Statistical Institute and the Royal Statistical Society.

Governance typically involves a rotating secretariat drawn from national statistical offices including the Instituto Nacional de Estadística branches in multiple countries, regional academic partners like the Universidad de Chile and the Universidad de la República (Uruguay), and liaison with multilateral bodies such as the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank Group, and the Inter-American Development Bank. Steering committees have featured leadership modeled on structures used by the International Statistical Institute, with advisory roles filled by members from the Royal Statistical Society, the American Statistical Association, and leading universities such as Columbia University and the University of California, Berkeley. Funding and oversight intersect with agencies like the European Union through cooperative programs and with philanthropic foundations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in thematic projects.

Biennial conferences have been hosted in capitals including Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Santiago, Bogotá, Lima, and Montevideo, with proceedings archived in institutional repositories of the Universidade de São Paulo, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and multinational organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank. Sessions have included plenaries featuring speakers affiliated with the International Statistical Institute, the Royal Statistical Society, Harvard University, Princeton University, and workshops co-sponsored by the International Labour Organization and the World Health Organization. Proceedings often capture methodological advances linking work from the Census Bureau (United States), the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Mexico), and regional think tanks like the Centro de Estudios Públicos.

Working groups address domains including census methodology influenced by the United Nations Statistical Commission guidelines, survey sampling drawing on methods from the American Statistical Association and International Statistical Institute, economic measurement linked to the International Monetary Fund, and health statistics coordinated with the Pan American Health Organization and the World Health Organization. Other groups focus on demography informed by the United Nations Population Fund, agricultural statistics in consultation with the Food and Agriculture Organization, environmental statistics aligned with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and data science collaborations with centers such as the Alan Turing Institute.

The Conference and partner institutions have presented honors modeled after awards like the Wilks Memorial Award, the Guy Medal, and regional prizes administered by national academies such as the Academia Nacional de Ciencias (Argentina) and the Academia Brasileira de Ciências. Recognitions often acknowledge contributions to censuses, household surveys, and model development by researchers associated with the International Statistical Institute, the Royal Statistical Society, Universidade de São Paulo, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and leading multilateral agencies.

The Conference has influenced census modernization in countries like Brazil and Chile, improved household survey design employed by Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística and Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos, and catalyzed capacity building through partnerships with the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank, and universities such as Harvard University and University of California, Berkeley. Its thematic work has supported policy-relevant indicators used by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Pan American Health Organization, and advocacy groups connected to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, helping integrate regional statistical systems with global standards promoted by the United Nations Statistical Commission and the International Statistical Institute.

Category:Statistical conferences