Statistical computing professionals in Eastern Europe will pool the information they receive from international agencies to co-ordinate the development of software dealing with national accounts, company registration, and national censuses. The move is the result of new European Community regulations for calculating gross domestic product, which take effect this month. Under the new rules, there will only be one method of assessing GDP, which must be adhered to strictly. The range of economic activities included in the calculation will also increase to cover both legal and illegal activities, such as drug trafficking and prostitution. Eastern European countries will be obliged to conform to the regulations if they want to become members of the European Community. The decision to pool information was taken at a four-day conference in Bratislava, hosted by Infostat, a body set up in 1968 by the United Nations Organisation to provide a forum, where experts from both East and West could meet. Representatives from Eurostat, the European Community statistics office, also attended. The Hungarian Central Statistics Office, which finalised its 1991 assessment of GDP on January 22, has been the first to upgrade its computer centre. Last year, it signed an $11.5m deal with Hewlett-Packard Co to replace its IBM Corp 4381 mainframe with Unix kit. The Office is now waiting for approval from the European Community, which is partly funding the project. The Bratislava agreement is expected to help Hewlett-Packard in its aim of making the Hungarian system a reference point for other Eastern European state organisations.
