Presentation by Dr. Philomen Harrison

1. CARICOM

2. CARICOM

3. • BACKGROUND -THE INTERNATIONAL
STATISTICAL COMMUNITY AND OPEN DATA
• STATISTICS AS A KEY CATEGORY OF OPEN
DATA –PUBLIC USE OF STATISTICS;
• DATA COMPILATION AND DISSEMINATION
IN CARICOM ;
• ACCESS, REUSABILITY AND
REDISTRIBUTION;- SOME GUIDELINES;
• THE WAY FORWARD / BRIEF DEMO
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4. • Engagement of the International Statistical
Community with Open Data;
• United Nations Statistical Commission
(UNSC),41st Session at UN Headquarters New
York, February 2010;
• Seminar on Emerging Trends in Data
Communication;
OBJECTIVES:
• to share the experiences of statistical managers/producers on new
approaches to disseminating data to users and on demands being
made on statistical offices as disseminators of statistics;
• to inform participants about the innovations in the communication
of data and on movements towards open data.
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5. • UNSC is the apex entity for Statistics- setting
and approving statistical standards;
• Keynote speaker at seminar was Hans
Rosling ;
SOME MAIN ISSUES:
• Public access to data:-Statistics should be
freely available to users;
• Means of achieving open access to data:
Data should be free, and the reusability of it
should be free;
• Open Licensing- Creative Commons in use
by Australia Bureau of Statistics (ABS);
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6. SOME MAIN ISSUES: (Cont‟d)
• Concerns that statistical offices are not user-
oriented;
• Non-statisticians through innovations use the
statistics produced to create new, more user-
friendly products;
• Spatial data systems development was
emphasized as an integral part of data
dissemination-providing area profiles;
• Data are everywhere and goes beyond data
available from official statistics and that “more
data is better”;
• Understanding the data is vital - Metadata ;
• More data is better only if there is an
understanding of the meaning of the data.
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7. SOME MAIN ISSUES: (Cont‟d)
• Micro data files are important statistical
outputs;
• Two key questions raised were :
 How to present the right data with the right context
to meet users needs?
 How to ensure that the most recent and most
correct data are used and displayed?
• Access to information is a key to open government:
„Public access to government –held information
allows individuals to better understand the role of
government and decisions being made on their
behalf;
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8. • Public money is used to fund the statistics/produced by a
government institution. It should be universally available
• Public good if left to markets may be under-produced –non-
rivalry;
Historical Public Use of Statistics:
• Emergence of statistics -the needs of states to collect data-
in its early origins t statistics was known as the “science of
the state(craft)”-
• Early use of statistics – census-taking in early Egypt and the
Roman Empire. (Fighting and money to fund wars).
• Citizens were counted - for the evaluation of taxation
through the early census in Rome.
• Data were collected by the state for framing military and
fiscal policies.
• In the USA early census –in 1790, to establish a basis for representation
in Congress and the allocation of taxes;
• In England the most famous early census is that of the 'Domesday Book„;
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9.  The Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics
• Adopted by the UN in 1994 some points in the
preamble:
Official statistical information is an essential basis for
development in the economic, demographic, social and
environmental fields and for mutual knowledge and trade
among the States and peoples of the world .
It emphasizes the essential trust of the public in official
statistics.
It recognizes the role of citizens, enterprises in providing
appropriate and reliable data to ensure that quality statistics
are collected.
Further the cooperation that is required between users and
producers to meet user‟s needs was recognized.
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10.  Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics (Cont‟d):
 Principle 1 on providing the public with data:
 Official statistics provide an indispensable element in
the information system of a democratic society,
serving the Government, the economy and the public
with data about the economic, demographic, social
and environmental situation. To this end, official
statistics that meet the test of practical utility are to
be compiled and made available on an impartial basis
by official statistical agencies to honor citizens'
entitlement to public information.(FPOS, 1994)
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11.  Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics:
 Principle 3 on metadata
 To facilitate a correct interpretation of the data,
the statistical agencies are to present information
according to scientific standards on the sources,
methods and procedures of the statistics
produced.
 Principle 4 Misuse of statistics
 The statistical agencies are entitled to comment
on erroneous interpretation and misuse of
statistics.
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12.  Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics (Con‟t)
 Principle 6 - Confidentiality of Individual Data:
 Individual data collected by statistical agencies for
statistical compilation, whether they refer to natural or
legal persons, are to be strictly confidential and used
exclusively for statistical purposes.
 Principle 7 - Making the laws public:
 The laws, regulations and measures under which the
statistical systems operate are to be made public.
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13.  POWER TO COLLECT INFORMATION- CONFIDENTIALITY
PROVISIONS
 National Statistical System -National Statistical
Offices and statistical producing agencies collect
and disseminate a number of statistical data sets
 Statistics Acts of most countries in CARICOM give
power to the relevant statistical authority to collect
statistical information.
 Some Acts do not extend to all suppliers of
information;
 Supremacy of the Act in terms of collection of data
for statistical purposes is not addressed in some of
the Acts;
 The Acts of most countries adequately address the
confidentiality of information.
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14. SOME CHALLENGES IN PRODUCING STATISTICS IN
COUNTRIES
 Small size- lack of capacity;
 Staffing – lack of trained statistical staff;
 Increased demand for statistics in an environment of
declining resources, resulting in critical data gaps;
 Non-response to questionnaires and surveys carried
out by the NSOs;
 Outdated legislative frameworks;
 Challenge in staying relevant (by providing timely and
user-friendly data) in a changing environment;
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15. SOME CHALLENGES IN PRODUCING STATISTICS IN
COUNTRIES (Cont‟d)
 Uncoordinated national statistical systems (NSS);
 Inadequate information technology (IT) resources;
 Lack of focus on strategic planning (NSDS
framework) to produce high-quality statistics to
support regional and national policy objectives;
 Weak satellite units – line ministries often have
inadequate statistical and IT capacity.
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16. CAPACITY BUILDING TO SUPPORT
COMPILATION AND DISSEMINATION
 CARICOM Secretariat along with other
organizations executes statistical capacity-
building;
 These capacity-building activities are
financed by donors that seem to be
stepping up relative to the delivery of more
substantial support to statistics;
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17. CAPACITY BUILDING TO SUPPORT
COMPILATION AND DISSEMINATION (Cont‟d)
 European Union- the most significant funding in
recent times:
◦ the implementation of statistical programming;
◦ IT infrastructure- organization of databases and
◦ introduction of a web-based system for data
submission and equipment and software;
◦ improvement in National Accounts Source Data;
◦ Trade in Services;
◦ Merchandise Trade;
◦ ICT Statistics,
◦ Social/Gender and Environment Statistics;
◦ Training in Sampling, Management; Classifications;
◦ Established Help Desk Facility.
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18. CAPACITY BUILDING TO SUPPORT COMPILATION AND
DISSEMINATION through CARICOM SECRETARIAT
 IDB- three projects funded under the Regional Public
Goods Facility:
◦ Common Census Framework ( in collaboration with
UNFPA);
◦ A Common Framework for the Production Statistics: Model
Statistics Bill; Further Development of the Regional
Statistical Work Programme (RSWP) which was approved by
the Community Council of Ministers in 2005; Data
Warehousing Archiving;
◦ A Common Literacy Survey;
 DFID: Support to the Census –Mapping, Data processing;
Training;/Technical Assistance;
 CDB/CIDA – Demographic Data Analysis
 UNSD/UNICEF Data dissemination – DevInfo/ CensusInfo
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19. • CARICOM Secretariat does not collect data
directly-Some of the main data sets compiled:
 National Accounts Data are also produced countries-
this will include mainly GDP by Industry – Current and
Constant Prices; GDP by Expenditure- Current Prices.
 Population Census Data-work in progress on Census
e-portal
 Retail Price Index – from which is derived the rate of
inflation. The frequency of this data set is monthly.
 Labour Force Statistics – including the unemployment
rate produced by most countries with the exception of
most of the countries of the Eastern Caribbean. Work is
in progress in this area with these countries.
 Merchandise Trade Statistics- data on Imports, Exports,
Total Trade
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20. Some of the main data sets compiled (cont‟d)
 Balance of Payments Statistics- including Foreign Direct
Investment;
 External Debt Statistics;
 Government Statistics- Central Government Revenue and
Expenditure
 International Trade in Services Statistics;
 Social/Demographic Statistics- Education, Migration; Health.
Crime Statistics;
 Tourism Statistics/ Tourism Satellite Accounts (few countries);
 Environment Statistics, Information Communication
Technologies (ICT) statistics represent ( now commencing
data dissemination/collection /expansion) fairly new areas of
statistics; Agriculture Statistics, Energy and other statistics
n.e.s. (some of these developmental)
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21. DISSEMINATION OF DATA ONLINE
• NSOs with own websites – Barbados, Belize, Guyana,
Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Suriname and Trinidad and
Tobago;
• Hosted on Government websites – Antigua and
Barbuda; The Bahamas, St. Vincent and the
Grenadines, an the Associate Members-Anguilla,
Bermuda, British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands;
• CARICOM Secretariat Regional Statistics programme
• www.caricomstats.org
• Regional Publications, Data Series- last five years;
CARICOMInfo, Help Desk Facility; Statistics
Legislation; etc.
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24. BELIZE:
 News letter – subscribe
 Official release of the main results of the 2010
population and housing census
 Belize Consumer Price Index (CPI) for February
2011
 2010 2nd quarter GDP – press release
 “Did you know” – CPI; Census information;
Agriculture / Industry sector;
 Abstract of Statistics – 2009
 Web pages:
 Belize facts & maps;
 Belize statistics vs. UK, USA and Canada
 Demographic information
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25. BELIZE (Cont‟d):
 Statistics:
 External Trade (15)
 Labour Force (4)
 Legislation (1) – statistical act
 SIB reports
 New documents – PHC press release
 Hot documents – not active
 External Trade: (no. of times items downloaded –
low as 1528 to high as 2478)
 Trade statistics, 2000-2008 –last updated 24/2/09
 Belize External Trade bulletin – 2007 – 2009 Dec –
last updated 11/3/2010
 Publications
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26. JAMAICA:
 Economic statistics
 Int‟l Merchandise Trade
 Production
 National Accounts
 Price indices
 Labour Market & Earnings
 Labour force
 Employment & earnings
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27. JAMAICA (Cont‟d):
 Demographic and Social Statistics
 Population
 Births, deaths & migration
 Marriages and divorces
 Methodology
 Censuses
 Agriculture
 Population & Housing
 Environment
 Imports of motor vehicles, 2001 – 2004
 Use of irrigation by methods, 2007
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28. JAMAICA (Cont‟d):
 National Statistics System
 Support for development of national statistic
system project
 Workshop
 Workshop agenda
 Project board members
 Project team
 Presentations:
 CARICOM- statistics, regional
 CARICOM statistics, social
 Economic statistics
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29. JAMAICA (Cont‟d):
 Framework for environment statistics corporate
strategies
 Official statistics
 PARIS21
 Importation of data and lesson learned
 Vision 2030 Jamaica
 Public sector
 Trade
 Imports by S.I.T.C sections, 2007-2011 (last updated
5/1/2012)
 Exports by S.I.T.C. sections, 2007-2011 (last updated
5/1/2012)
 Traditional and non-traditional domestic exports,
2007-2011
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30. JAMAICA (Cont‟d):
 Production:
 Volume of Prod. Of specified manufactured
products, 2006-2008
 Volume of prod. Of specified agriculture crops,
2006-2008
 Volume of prod. In the mining sector, 2006-2008
 Prices:
 Consumer price index, - 2011
 Inflation rate, 2011
 Producer‟s price indices, 2011
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31. JAMAICA (Cont‟d):
 Prices (Cont‟d):
 Mining, 2011
 Manufacturing, 2011
 National Accounts
 GDP – main aggregates and per capita indices -
2006-2010
 GDP- expenditure, annual, 2006-2010
 GDP- by income, 2001-2010
 Gross value added by industry by constant/current
prices, 2001-2010
 Rate of growth of value added by industry at
current/constant prices, 2001-2010
 Tourism digest gross value added
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32. JAMAICA (Cont‟d):
 Labour Market & Earnings
 LF main indicators
 LF main agriculture groups
 LF main Occupational group
 LF main Industrial group
 LF pop. 14 yrs. and over by economic activity
 LF (female stats)
 LF (male stats)
 Employed LF by age group
 Employed LF by Industry
 Employed LF by Occupational group
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33. JAMAICA (Cont‟d):
 Labour Market & Earnings (cont‟d)
 Unemployed LF by age group
 Unemployed LF by occupational group
 Unemployed LF by industrial group
 Persons outside of LF by age group and sex
 Subscriptions:
 CPI 2007, annual review USD 10
 Demographic statistics, 2007, USD 8
 Employment & Earnings, 2007, USD 7
 External Trade, 2004, USD 8
 LF statistics, 2007, USD 8
 National income and Product produced, USD 16
 Pocket book of statistics ,2003, USD 6
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34. JAMAICA (Cont‟d):
 Production statistics, 2007 USD 7
 Producer‟s price index, 2008, USD 11
 Producer price index bulletin, USD 3
 CPI bulletin, 2010 4 Q, USD 3
 Quarterly GDP, 2009, USD 6
 Survey of living conditions, USD 35
 Employment statistics 2003 & mineral account, USD
20
 Jamaica environment in your pocket book, USD 4
 Environment statistics & SOE 2001, USD 11
 Household & Environment, 2002, USD 6
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35. JAMAICA (Cont‟d):
 Environment statistics 2005 and water, USD 20
 LF bulletin, USD 4
 Pop. Census 2001, country - USD 22
 Pop. Census 2001, age and sex, vol. 2 – USD 28
 Pop. Census 2001, education , part A, USD 18
 Pop. Census2001, Housing vol. 4 – USD 13
 Feedback
 Confidential statement – terms and conditions of
data use
 NEWS:
 Media Advisory- statistical statements for: CPI
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36. • OPEN DATA- data are free, based on open
standards, freely usable;
SOME OPERATING RULES RE OPEN DATA AND
STATISTICS:
• Copyright Issues/attribution- Creative Commons;
 Sources of Data-detailed data sources must be
provided;
 Estimating for missing data – should be
discouraged;
 ECOSOC 2006/6- greater transparency …by the
avoidance of imputations unless reliable country
data are available for reliable imputations following
consultations with countries ;
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37. •
 SOME OPERATING RULES RE OPEN DATA AND
STATISTICS (Cont‟d):
 Gapminder Foundation- note on its sources of
data:
Gapminder has combined the data …. From several
sources such as official international statistics,
various historical sources and own estimates – A
further note on a particular variable – discouraging
the use of that data set for statistical analysis;
 Explanations about the data- Metadata;
 Statistics Act-release of individual data-Micro
data.
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38. • Open data – as a catalyst to the
improvement of Statistics;
• Place demands on Statistical Offices re
higher standards in production and
dissemination;
• Greater Interaction with users to be relevant
an use-oriented in the activities/outputs;
• Appropriately resourced to deliver the data
to an increasing and more diverse group of
users.
• Statistics is an important category of Open
Data and its contribution can aid it own
development and elevate its positioning.
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