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| OECS Secretariat Launches OECS INFO “FACTS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS” |
| Thursday, 05 November 2009 13:35 |
 OECS Secretariat, Castries St. Lucia November 2nd, 2009: The OECS Secretariat launched its OECS INFO statistical database on Tuesday November 3rd 2009. The OECS INFO data system is an adaptation of the generic United Nations Development Information System (DevInfo), for the dissemination of social and economic statistics. The OECS Development Information System is the first to be launched in the Caribbean, using the latest Dev Info 6.0.Version.
OECS INFO is also intended to provide useful information for tracking progress of OECS Member States in areas such as achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) and other development pursuits including economic integration such as the proposed OECS Economic Union, poverty reduction as well as sector development. OECS Director General Dr. Len Ishmael declared the launch a major step to meet demands for OECS data, essential for informing social and economic policies: “There is a heightened awareness of the need to invest in comprehensive and current evidence based policy making data/information systems to underpin social and economic development. At the same time there are perennial demands for statistics to be produced by Member States on a regular basis; on a standard set of key social and economic indicators which will allow for the setting and  active pursuit of targets for long term economic and social progress, in keeping with our social and moral responsibility to enhance and expand economic opportunities for all OECS citizenry, while combating poverty, and ensuring that we are on track to achieving Millennium Development Goals and other social and economic targets, which we set for ourselves in this region. The OECS Secretariat has taken the significant step towards meeting these various data and information demands by establishing an OECS region-wide data-base system, which will serve as a repository of social and economic data of interest to policy makers, researchers the private sector and the general population of the OECS itself. We therefore take great pleasure in officially launching “OECS INFO- FACTS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS” and look forward to the continued support of OECS Member States and our development partners in providing the resource and data input necessary to ensure that the system remains dynamic, current and relevant in providing the information and data requirements to enhance the quality of policy and decision making and ultimately to positively impact the quality of life of those persons for whom these policies and decisions are meant to serve.” The launch of OECS INFO follows several successful training sessions for users and system administrators at the OECS Secretariat, carried out by trainers from the CARICOM Secretariat and followed by in-house trainers from the OECS Secretariat. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has provided tangible support in the creation of OECS INFO.  Tom Olsen of UNICEF also welcomed the OECS initiative as a catalyst for further versions at the national level in OECS Member States: “We in UNICEF, envision a world in which people come together as equals and dialogue so that all children, families and communities have access to information, skills technologies and process they need to generate solutions, are empowered to make firm choices, reach the fullest potential, participate meaningfully in decisions affecting their lives and realize their rights. Dev Info and the OECS Info can contribute to that. ..I seriously don’t think that knowledge is power if it is not being shared.” Edwin St. Catherine, Saint Lucia’s Director of Statistics and who’s department has already adapted the Dev Info system as “Helen Info”, applauded the data system as an opportunity to standardize the access and transmission of information in a more efficient way: “What Dev Info has represented is an opportunity to standardize, using specific templates for statisticians and users to standardize the transmission of information from the producers to the final users in a format that will be as seamless as possible. What we are doing now is moving over our systems to operate in a much more multi-user environment by implementing the more multi-user version of Dev. Info” Tuesday’s launch of OECS INFO attracted the participation of OECS Member States, via video conference. The participants were also given a preview on various components of the OECS INFO web site. Sean Curtis Mathurin a Programme Officer at the OECS Secretariat told the launch the data contained in OECS INFO will be disseminated by the OECS Secretariat initially by CD-ROM but will subsequently be released on the internet, with periodic updates. |
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