Sabrina N. Gordon, Business Reporter

Dr. Sonia Jackson, director general of the Statistical Institute of Jamaica, and chair of the RSWP Advisory Committee tasked with developing a database for Caricom. - Winston Sill / Freelance Photographer

A data collection project headed by Jamaica's Dr. Sonia Jackson has been tasked with creating a CSME database comparable to the European Union's and capable of generating statistical profiles of the 15 Caricom members.

But first, Jackson's committee has to help the countries identify the shortfalls in their socio-economic data and develop instruments to improve collection.

The Regional Statistics Work Programme (RSWP) was approved back in 2005, but the review of its implementation is just getting underway.

"Most countries have bits and pieces of the programme, but how much is not known, so we need to do the assessment to find out how far behind countries are, where they need help, and what kind of help is needed," said Jackson.

The profiles have become more urgent as plans for the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME) advance.

"We need to know what the statistical profile of the region looks like - what is the population size, education level, income, among others," said Jackson, speaking with the Financial Gleaner.

Jackson's team has set June 2008 as its timeline for developing a core set of data on the countries' social/gender and environment status, but has an initial three years to complete the job.

The committee became operational in November 2007 and is to meet twice yearly.

The eight-member body - comprising Jackson and seven chief statisticians from Suriname, St. Lucia, Barbados, Belize, the Bahamas, Trinidad and Dominica - will report annually to the standing committee of Caribbean statisticians.

The Caricom Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana, will perform the role of secretary to the group.

The assessment of countries, to be finalised ahead of the committee's October 2008 meeting, is looking at how efficiently data on the economy, social/gender issues and the environment is captured.

The results of the assessments will form the basis of a more comprehensive implementation plan for data collection under the core data headings of economy, finance and investment; population, demographics, social and living conditions; environment; and information, communication and technology.

The advisory committee will also address public relations, data dissemination and statistical coordination, examine each country's legal and institutional framework, and identify those statistical systems and offices whose operations need to be modernised.

Easily aggregated DATA

At the end of the process, all statistical offices within the region should be brought to a level where data can be easily aggregated to create a profile of the Caricom region, similar to what has happened within the European Union.

"One of the recommendations coming out of the programme is for the establishment of a standard statistics legislation for the region - again something similar to the EU," said Jackson.

"Where there is weakness in the legislation of each country, they will be asked to strengthen it so that every country is up to the same level."

Countries too will be required to change the systems under which they capture national data and replace it with the international SNA 1993 model developed by UNSTATS.

On full implementation of the RSWP, the data will be transferred to the Caricom Secretariat for the creation of such a statistical profile of the trade bloc as a geographic subregion of wider Latin America.

Jackson's group is working with a three-year timetable, which is subject to extension based on the availability of funds.

The RSWP, she said, has no real budget. The statistical offices have been drawing down funds from their resources. But, funding is being negotiated by Caricom with the European Union under the 9th European Development Fund.

sabrina.gordon@gleanerjm.com