Caricom SG urges data revolution for better statistics

Irwin LaRocque

Caricom Secretary-General Irwin LaRocque has called for a data revolution to strengthen national statistical systems in his message to mark the sixth Caribbean Statistics Day.

“The first observance of Caribbean Statistics Day arose out of a decision of the Thirty-Third Meeting of the Standing Committee of Caribbean Statisticians (SCCS) which agreed to this Day being commemorated on 15 October 2009, as a mechanism to garner a greater profile for statistics in the Community and promote a culture of evidence-based decision-making in the Region,” LaRocque said in his address, according to the Caricom Secretariat.

The commemoration is also a means of recognizing the crucial role of statistics across a wide range of activities – from daily decision-making of individuals, businesses and students to planning, policy-making and research among governments, academia, scientists and other users. This year’s observance follows from the conduct of the Second High-Level Advocacy Forum on Statistics in May and has as its theme ‘Data Revolution for