Innovation, ENBIS and the importance of practice in the development of statistics

The theme of this paper is innovation-in statistics and, more generally, in business and industry. Innovations in statistical theory have historically frequently occurred in direct response to demands for solutions to important practical problems. A major motivation for the establishment of the European Network for Business and Industrial Statistics (ENBIS) was the perceived need for a vehicle to facilitate innovation through positive and productive interactions between statistical practitioners and researchers throughout Europe. More broadly, I suggest that quality improvement, the major focus of industrial statistics, conceptually should be considered as innovation in processes and products. With the aid of statistics and quality management principles, product and process innovation can become a systematized and planned process of fundamental importancefor the economic future of industrialized nations. However, product and process innovations will also likely stimulate novel statistical innovations for which ENBIS can serve as marketplace where demand for solutions to problems will be met by a supply of ideas and solutions. Copyright (c) 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.