Project BIRD: The ECB's bird that hovers over data
In 2015, the ECB launched its Bank’s Integrated Reporting Dictionary, or BIRD, a project ultimately intended to organize the data that it gathers from EU financial institutions for its statistical area. This project is part of a broader strategic approach aimed at improving the system that banks and other players use to report statistics to the European supervisor, known as IReF (Integrated Reporting Framework). BIRD is one of the pivotal milestones in the list of achievements by the Statistical area of the ECB. And just as the rest of the organization, BIRD is celebrating its anniversary.
According to José Manuel González-Páramo, Executive Member of the Board of BBVA, and member of the ECB's Governing Board between 2004 and 2012, “among the many other animals that you could choose, Bird is a good one.” In a video played during the ECB Statistical area's 20th anniversary celebration event, González-Páramo paid tribute to this initiative, which ensures the alignment of the information systems of financial institutions and the needs of the ECB.
Beyond this example, José Manuel González-Páramo, praised the “rigor, quality and credibility” of the ECB’s statistics, both for external users, like researchers or policy makers and also for the institution itself, whether in monetary policy, financial stability or supervision.
What is BIRD?
The ECB’s Statistical area and the banking sector have worked together to create project BIRD, which provides banks with up-to-date reference material to help produce statistical and supervisory reports. Its purpose is to alleviate the reporting burden for the banks and improve the quality of data reported to the authorities. The Banks' Integrated Reporting Dictionary is basically a guide to help banks prepare their statistical reports for the ECB.
BIRD provides banks with a precisely the data which should be extracted from their internal IT systems to derive reports required by authorities. This project has helped increase the quality and consistency of data and is, without a doubt, an example of close collaboration between the industry and authorities.