Unlocking the potential of data through data science: A view from central banks
Abstract
Data science offers significant potential for leveraging traditional and emerging data sources, improving statistical processes and enabling complex data analysis in central banking. It also facilitates secure sharing of granular datasets while protecting sensitive information. There are various challenges, however, including the need for robust IT infrastructure, organisational barriers and limited quality of secondary sources, which constrain their use for official purposes. Fortunately, central banks are well equipped to address these issues, not least because of their expertise as both data producers and users. Looking ahead, enhancing data management, promoting interoperability, investing in modern data platforms and fostering structured exchanges of experiences across stakeholders can be essential to unlock the full potential of data in today’s modern societies and effectively support central banks’ public mandates. This paper examines how central banks can harness data science to improve data management, overcome organisational and technical challenges, and implement strategies that unlock the full potential of data for policy and operational purposes. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
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Author's Biography
Douglas Kiarelly Godoy De Araujo Douglas Araujo rejoined the Central Bank of Brazil in August 2025, and currently works in the Research Department. Douglas has been Adviser for data science in economics since May 2025 and was an economist at the BIS International Data Hub from 2022 to April 2025. Previously, Douglas was in the Secretariat of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision from 2018 to 2022 overseeing a range of policy and supervisory topics. Prior to that, he worked at the Central Bank of Brazil on macroprudential supervision (2011–15) taking a leading role in developing and implementing the Brazilian proportionality framework for prudential regulation (2015–18). Douglas worked on financial stability monitoring as a fellow at the BIS Financial Stability Institute in 2014. From 2015 to 2018, he supported a number of countries in enhancing their macroprudential frameworks as a member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) missions. Douglas worked in the private sector in Brazilian financial markets until 2011. His current research comprises forecasting, monetary policy, banking economics and causality in econometrics. Douglas also contributes to open-source software at the intersection of machine learning and economics.
Adam Cap is Senior Macroeconomic Analyst in the Monetary and Economic Department at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). He joined the BIS in July 2019 following his time at the International Policy Analysis division at the European Central Bank. At the BIS, he has supported a variety of research projects related to financial markets and monetary policy. Following an assignment at the BIS Representative Office for Asia and the Pacific, his focus shifted towards macroeconomic topics. He is also very interested in the application of data science and artificial intelligence, having previously supported two editions of the International Finance Corporation Workshop on Data Science in Central Banking. Adam holds an MSc in Finance from Goethe University Frankfurt.
Ilaria Mattei is Senior Financial Market Analyst in the Monetary and Economic Department at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). Her expertise lies in financial markets statistics, central bank digital currencies and stablecoins. Prior to joining the BIS, she worked at the European Commission’s Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs and previously in the Analytical Credit and Master Data Division at the European Central Bank. She holds an MSc in Economic and Social Sciences from Bocconi University.
Rafael Schmidt is the Head of IT in the Monetary and Economic Department at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) where he oversees data processing, analytics and dissemination systems. He also serves as co-chairman of the Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange Secretariat, promoting the SDMX data standard sponsored by numerous international organisations and certified by the International Organization for Standardization. Previously, he held managerial roles in the Risk Management Department at the BIS. He also held research positions at the University of Cologne and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Rafael graduated in Mathematics, Economics and Statistics. He holds a PhD and a habilitation in financial statistics and econometrics.
Olivier Sirello is Senior Statistical Analyst at the Monetary and Economic Department at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). His expertise covers central bank statistics, balance of payments and securities statistics. He is also involved in a number of international initiatives related to official statistics, including the High-Level Group for the Modernisation of Official Statistics of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. Before this, he worked as an economist-statistician at the Bank of France and held post-graduate teaching positions at Sciences Po Paris. He studied at Sciences Po Paris, Princeton University and Bocconi University. He holds two MSc degrees in economics and public policy.
Bruno Tissot is the Head of Statistics and Research Support at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and Head of the Secretariat of the Irving Fisher Committee on Central Bank Statistics. He is also the BIS Representative in the Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange Sponsors’ Committee and chairs the International Working Group on Securities Databases. He has been working at the BIS since 2001, as Senior Economist and Secretary to the Markets Committee of Central Banks in the Monetary and Economic Department and then as the Adviser to the General Manager and Secretary to the BIS Executive Committee. Between 1994 and 2001 he worked for the French Ministry of Finance, having graduated from École Polytechnique (Paris) and École Nationale de la Statistique et de l’Administration Économique engineering school in applied mathematics, statistics, and economic analysis. He is an Inspector General of the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies.
