This working paper has been written as a contribution to the OECD e-government project launched in 2001, which explores how governments can best exploit information and communication technologies (ICT) to enhance good governance principles and achieve public policy goals. The paper highlights the way in which the collection, compilation and dissemination of statistics has changed dramatically as NSOs have taken advantage of the opportunities afforded by ICT advances. In this regard, it describes changes that have occurred in national statistical offices (NSOs) in response to growing citizen demand and outlines both developments that have been made possible and necessary by recent technological advances in software, communications and computing. In addition, the paper shows that statistical institutions have a significant role to play in e-government developments, having often been given a major role in national e-government initiatives. Finally, it shows that the drive towards ...