Robert W. Edwards
Director, Statistics Department(September 2004 -- October 2008)
Biographical Information
July 28, 2017
Rob Edwards commenced duty as Director of the Statistics Department on September 1, 2004. Prior to joining the Fund in 2004, Mr. Edwards was Deputy Australian Statistician, Economic Statistics, at the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). In this position he was responsible for all aspects of the ABS program of economic statistics including its economic censuses and surveys, national and international accounts, prices, public and private finance statistics, and statistics on international trade in goods and services.
Mr. Edwards joined the ABS in November 1968 and held senior executive positions in statistical and user services, corporate services, population and social statistics as well as economic statistics. He was a member of the ABS executive management team for over 20 years. He received the Australian Public Service Medal in 2004 for distinguished service in economic statistics in Australia, and in the international statistical community.
Mr. Edwards represented Australia in many international statistical fora. In 1995 he headed the United Nations Expert Group on Critical Problems in Economic Statistics; that Group's work has significantly influenced the work of the United Nations Statistical Commission since then. Mr. Edwards is a past Vice President of the International Association for Official Statistics.
Mr. Edwards is placing emphasis on ensuring the Statistics Department provides high-quality statistical services within the Fund as well as serving the national and international statistical communities. He is pursuing interests in the updating of the international standards for macroeconomic statistics; in training and technical assistance; and in the Fund's surveillance work through the Review of Standards and Codes (Data Module) and the Special Data Dissemination Standards (SDDS) and the General Data Dissemination System (GDDS).
Papers
"Statistical Governance in a Global Economy, presented at the Third ECB Conference on Statistics, Frankfurt, Germany (May 45, 2006).
"The Statistical Agenda for Qatar and the Region: Some Observations from the International Monetary Fund, presented at the Symposium on Statistics for Development, Doha, Qatar (May 1619, 2005).
"Monetary and Financial Statistics: The Role of Accounting Standards, presented at the 55th Session of the International Statistical Institute, Sydney, Australia (April 512, 2005)
"Standards and Classifications Work at the IMF, presented to the International Association of Official Statistics, Noumea, New Caledonia (March 31April 2, 2005).
"Implementing the 1993 System of National Accounts in the Asia-Pacific Region, presented at the Forum for Asia/Pacific Statisticians, Bangkok, Thailand (February 34, 2005).
"A Vision for a National Program of Agricultural and Related Statistics," presented to the Workshop on the Future of Agricultural Statistics, Canberra, Australia (November 7, 2002).
"Some Perspectives on Data Quality and Analysis in the Australian Bureau of Statistics." Annual Conference of the Philippines Statistical Research and Training Centre, Australia (October, 2001).
"Some Critical Problems in Economic Statistics: a progress report," presented to the International Statistical Institute, 52nd Session, Helsinki, Finland (August, 1999).
"Government Finance Statistics and Australian Accounting Standards," paper presented to the Australasian Council of Auditors-General, Australia (June, 1998).
"Strategic Directions in Economic Statistics in Australia," presented to the Office for National Statistics, London, England (September, 1998).
"The New CPI and other Prices Statistics Developments," presented to the Australian Society of Corporate Treasurers, Melbourne, Australia. (November 12, 1998).
"Developments in Macro-economic Statistics," presented to the 1997 Conference of Economists, Hobart, Australia (September 29-October 1, 1997).
"Measuring Inflation," presented to the Australian Society of Corporate Treasurers NSW Chapter, Sydney, Australia (September 1997).
"Issues to be Considered during the 13th Series Australian Consumer Price Index Review." Information Paper, Australia (1997).
"The 13th Series Review of the Australian CPI," presented in support of the review of the Consumer Price Index, Australia (1997).
"Australia's International Trade-in Services Statistics." Presented to the National Trade Strategy Consultative Process Meeting, Canberra, Australia.( November 8, 1996).
"The Combined Use of Survey and Taxation Data for Business Operations and Industry Performance Statistics," presented to the Fifth Independent Conference of the International Association for Official Statistics, Reykjavik, Iceland (July 2-5, 1996).
"Implementing the 1993 System of National Accounts and IMF Balance of Payments Manual (5th Edition) in Australian Economic Statistics." Presented to the Twelfth Conference of Commonwealth Statisticians, Wellington, New Zealand (March 6-15, 1995).
"Operational Aspects of National Statistical Offices: The Australian Situation," presented to the Eleventh Conference of Commonwealth Statisticians, Canberra, Australia (April, 1990).
"Front-End Statistical Processing Using Microcomputers," presented to the Meeting of the International Association for Official Statistics, Bilbao, Spain (September, 1998).