Given the ever increasing amounts of data, some degree of automation is inevitable. Granular, micro- data sets, which comprise security-by-security or loan-by-loan can be processed and used for multiple purposes. Such data can be tailored to specific needs of users. All this fundamentally alters the statistical value chain (Figure 1).
Figure 1: The statistical value chain  The following trends are not new – but their speed has accelerated: 1. Granularity of data: Central banks increasingly move away from the collection of aggregate data, compiled according to pre-defined frameworks and designed for specific purposes. Instead, reporting agents transmit microdata, which are then compiled at the central bank, according to the specific needs of users.