IN our daily lives, everyone is confronted with data and conclusions drawn from data, sometimes unknowingly. As such, Guyana joined its CARICOM partners in observing Caribbean Statistics Day recently in addition to World Statistics Day that was held on October 20, 2015.Last week, the Bureau had a range of activities at its 57 High Street office. Many schoolchildren flocked the Bureau of Statistics (BOS) to learn what the agency does and its relevance in society.
The BOS also announced its Poster Competition to celebrate Caribbean Statistics and World Statistics Day. This competition is aimed at raising awareness of the organisation and the importance of statistics. The general theme is: “Better Data, Better Lives”, however for the poster competition the theme is: “The importance of Statistics in everyday life”.

DECISION-MAKING
Bureau of Statistics Chief Statistician Lennox Benjamin said undoubtedly statistics played a vital role in facilitating and monitoring sustainable economic and social development. From daily decision-making by governments, businesses and individuals to the monitoring of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the conduct of opinion polls and surveys of living conditions and the execution of population and housing censuses, statistics provide the information required to facilitate decisions that can lead to business growth, poverty alleviation, and the engendering of a better quality of life for all our citizens.
According to Benjamin, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has to be the tool that powers the data revolution that will be used for the sustainable development of regional economies.
ICT, he noted, has the potency to help countries move forward quickly and effectively through making available timely and high quality data to empower citizens and make progress towards building resilient and highly adaptable societies.

STATISTICS CANADA
He disclosed that Statistics Canada will be assisting Guyana in technical assistance and training support, which will be available to all the statistical offices in the region over the next seven years. Their first technical assistance support missions are expected to arrive in January, 2016.
The Chief Statistician said that Statistics Day was geared at highlighting statistics and its crucial role across a wide spectrum of activities that range from daily decision-making by individuals, businesses, students and others, to planning, policy-making and analysis and research activities of governments, academia and other users. The observance of Caribbean Statistics Day sought to raise the profile of statistics in the community to create more awareness of its production, dissemination and use in decision-making.
Meanwhile, Minister of Finance Winston Jordon disclosed that it is his expectation as well as the Cabinet that on the eighth commemoration of Caribbean Statistics Day in October 2016, the Bureau will be housed for the first time in its 58-years of existence in its own building. This will be at the old Customs Building on Main Street.