In this new era of globalization, the demand for accurate and timely statistics is at an all-time high. Central in this quest are the needs of politicians to guide policy directives, business enterprises to evaluate market prospects, and analysts to assess growth and development scenarios in the world environs. Additionally with the proliferation of media outlets and talk show programmes, national statistics have become far more common place to the ordinary man; thus households are increasingly utilizing statistics to make saving and spending decisions. Further, efforts to make use of the media to advocate the message of the importance of statistical data as well as general discussions of matters of public interest have added to the call for information on the social and economic outlook of the nation state. Oftentimes, we hear expressed such sentiments as, “What are the facts”, “Without the facts, we can’t substantiate that”, and “Interesting insight, but we need more information”.
The above-mentioned highlights the importance of the Central Statistical Office (CSO), and the need for the advancement of the National Statistical System (NSS) in the region. The CSO’s role is essential to the collection, analysis and dissemination of national statistics, which influence policy and decision-making in all sectors of the economy and society. However, the ability of the CSO to efficiently and effectively carry out its mandate is challenged by a number of factors, including but not limited to- lack of data, scarce financial resources, limited conformity to international standards, and human resource constraints.
Thus the transformation of the CSO and NSS has been the focus of several regional and international organizations in recent years, including CARCOM Secretariat, PARIS21, United Nations Statistical Division and World Bank. These organizations have provided assistance, as well as established frameworks for the strengthening of statistical offices- namely the National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) and Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics. The aim of these frameworks is to build a professional organization where data is collected, compiled and analyzed based on international standards and best practices, statistical processes are documented and open to scrutiny, and the citizenry's right to access public information is upheld. In light of the challenges and the calls for institutional strengthening of CSOs, the impetus for a modernization of the CSO and NSS within the OECS region has taken hold, and there is increasing “buy-in” at the political level- but, how effective has this been?
Starting in Montserrat, the drive for a transformation of the Statistics Department and a restructuring of the NSS began in late 2011. Captured in a presentation by the late Katrina Ryan- former Director of Statistics of Montserrat- in the ECCB’s Directors of Statistics Meeting of May 17th, 2012, a road map was being developed with funding from UNDP for the modernization of the Statistics Department, through the establishment of a new entity referred to as the Statistical Institute of Montserrat (SIM). This entity, delinked from the Civil Service, would be at the center of and pivotal to the operations of the national statistical system (NSS). To date, this modernization project remains on hold. The Government of Antigua & Barbuda- with the support of CARICOM Secretariat was more successful. The Government embarked on plan to transition to a National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) early 2013. By the end of 2013, the Parliament had approved the new Statistics Bill for the formation of the Antigua and Barbuda National Bureau of Statistics, and activities are now ongoing in a phased approach to the deployment of the new Statistics Bill for the formation of the Antigua and Barbuda National Bureau of Statistics, and activities are now ongoing in a phased approach to the deployment of the new entity and centralization of the NSS.