European Statistics Awards for nowcasting: 2nd round

Eurostat is pleased to announce the 2nd round of European Statistics Awards for nowcasting. The competition will focus on key energy statistics time series, which have been unusually volatile.

Policymakers and other users often stress that they need European statistics faster – not the least concerning the European energy supply and consumption. Therefore, the second round of the European Statistics Awards for Nowcasting will be the energy statistics nowcasting challenge.

The second round will start on 1 June 2023, with registrations open until 28 September 2023 and will run for ten months until 31 March 2024.

Nowcasting refers to the forecasting of statistical indicators in a timely manner, often before the reference period ends. It is considered a cost-efficient and robust approach that can address unmet needs. 

In this competition, teams will be evaluated based on two criteria: the accuracy of the nowcasts made and the potential of their methods to be reproduced and extended to European statistics production. Participants will compete using advanced modelling techniques and (nearly) real-time auxiliary data to create nowcasts for key energy time series significantly ahead of the official figures. 

To participate, teams with up to five members with expertise in time series analysis, forecasting, or nowcasting, must submit at least six-point estimates of monthly time series for at least five countries. Those submitting estimates for all ten months and more than five countries will have a higher chance of ranking first for the Accuracy Award. Teams competing for the Reproducibility Award must submit detailed methodological descriptions, including code.

This competition provides an opportunity to apply econometric time series modelling skills in a real-life situation and potentially win up to €8 000 per time series if the team ranks first for both Accuracy (€3 000) and Reproducibility (€5 000). A team could win up to €24 000 in total if they rank first for both criteria for all three-time series.

Furthermore, teams will have the opportunity to showcase their work via the Eurostat communication channels and may have the chance to present their solutions at events organised by Eurostat.

Details

Participants must submit nowcasts for one or more of the following three European statistics time series:

• Topic 1: Inland gas consumption
• Topic 2: Oil and petroleum products deliveries
• Topic 3: Electricity availability

A total of 12 prizes will be awarded, including four prizes for each time series, three awarded to the solutions that produce the most precise estimates and one for the solution that shows the greatest potential for reproducibility and scalability in regular production.

• Accuracy awards: €3 000; €2 000; €1 000
• Reproducibility award: €5 000

To learn more about the competition, time plan, evaluation, and awards, please visit the competition website at https://statistics-awards.eu/. 

Stay tuned for more information and follow us via our social media – Facebook, Instagram,  Twitter and LinkedIn. 

The European Statistics Awards Programme is managed by the Jožef Stefan Institute for Eurostat under contract numbers 2020.0411 and 2020.0412.