Social security systems face the critical challenge of maintaining sustainability while providing comprehensive protection to a broad population. Actuarial tools have proven to be invaluable in guiding strategic planning and decision-making processes toward achieving these crucial objectives. International actuarial standards emphasize the importance of conducting periodic actuarial studies, as well as ad hoc assessments when they are demanded by specific circumstances.

However, conducting actuarial studies and utilizing them effectively not only requires access to actuarial models, but also the institutional capacity to use them effectively. This necessitates the development or acquisition of actuarial models and the training of specialized staff. Due to limited resources, many institutions rely on external actuaries, who may not always be readily available or use the most suitable modelling techniques and internationally recommended actuarial methodologies.

In response to these challenges, the ILO and the ISSA have collaboratively established the Actuarial Services Platform, which provides a comprehensive suite of calculation, simulation, and analytical actuarial tools to social security institutions.

The core actuarial models within this platform include ILO/PENSIONS and ILO/HEALTH. These models align with traditional actuarial methodologies while offering increased flexibility, adaptability to diverse contexts (e.g., multiple schemes and users), simplified usability without requiring programming skills, and a shorter learning curve. The outputs of these models are easily extracted to allow for peer reviews and audits, if needed.  Additionally, institutions can securely store their data for on-demand simulations within private workspaces, ensuring the confidentiality of sensitive information.

Social security institutions can harness the ASP's capabilities through various options. The simplest approach grants access to one or more models, offering numerous advantages. Alternatively, institutions can opt for a more comprehensive solution, which includes access to models and hands-on training, empowering them to effectively utilize these powerful tools through the learning-by-doing method.