Intent on strengthening data harmonisation practices in the region, the OECS Commission conducted a Symposium on Using Administrative Data to Fill Data Gaps for Economic Statistics from September 24 to 26, 2024. This Symposium focused on the critical role of the International Standard for Industrial Classification (ISIC) to enhance the quality of economic statistics across Member States.
Compared to costlier surveys and censuses, administrative data are increasingly becoming an important, cost-effective, reliable, and rich data source for national statistics offices (NSOs) to collect information.
“As we continue our integration journey, the need for reliable, timely, and disaggregated data cannot be overstated. Data are the fuel that powers our decision-making. They tell us how well we are moving toward the free movement of people and free circulation of goods within the OECS, and how effectively we are implementing the Right of Establishment across our Member States. Without accurate and high-frequency data, our regional policies risk being built on assumptions rather than evidence.
“Administrative data—data that are already being collected by government agencies such as inland revenue departments, social security offices, and business registries—represents a rich, yet underutilised resource. If we can unlock these data, standardise their use, and make them accessible for statistical purposes, we can significantly reduce costs, improve the timeliness of our data, and enhance the quality of the insights we derive from them.”
The Symposium brought together statisticians, practitioners, and technical experts from OECS Member States NSOs, social security agencies, inland revenue departments, and business/company registries, as well as the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB). The discussions focused on the importance of consistent and correct use of ISIC to capture the principal economic activities of businesses; national policy and decisions; and for country–comparable economic data. The discussions highlighted the essential collaboration between and among the four data-producing national agencies to contribute to the quality and availability of economic indicators and official statistics.
Mindful of this, Dr. Gale Archibald, Head of the Statistical Services Unit, OECS Commission, noted that the
“Symposium forms part of a programme of support to the OECS Member States to reduce the burden on NOSs and instead design and manage business registers so that they can be integrated and accurately represent the structure of the OECS’ economies at the country and regional levels”.
Participants also learned about the practical applications of ISIC 4 and the mutual benefits of its consistent use across Member States. The Symposium emphasised the importance of safeguarding data quality through better coordination among national agencies and outlined strategies for effective data management.
Discussions and activities during the Symposium shed light on the existing gaps in administrative data and participants thrashed out plans to address them and to build on the momentum at the national, regional, and international levels:
National level – Create a national task force with members from the four represented agencies to improve coordination. They will discuss ways to share data using agreements, share successful practices, compare data to ensure businesses have the right ISIC codes, and work with business support groups to explain why it’s important for businesses to accurately describe their activities when registering and setting up social security and tax accounts. This will help ensure businesses are correctly classified.
Regional level – The OECS Commission, ECCB, CARICOM, and CDB will form a regional group to standardise procedures and laws, ensure the correct use of classifications (including transitioning to ISIC 5), provide ongoing training, and emphasise the importance of ISIC to decision-makers.
International level – Provide expertise and resources to support ongoing skill development.
Judell Simmons of the National Insurance Service in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines had this to say about his experience at the Symposium: “It leaves me energised and focus-driven to ensure that when we meet again like this we won’t have the same issues that we are faced with. We’ll see that we would have able to put measures in place that would have reduced the errors and also the inconsistency that exists on a national level and also on a regional level.”
Peggy Fraser-Brown from Social Security in Saint Kitts and Nevis said, “I must say that this experience has been extremely rewarding meeting new people and sharing information from different backgrounds. I listened to other stakeholders and the problems they’ve been faced with. It is so important as statisticians to analyse data and input them into the ISIC system. Thanks again for this opportunity.”
This symposium is an action item in the OECS Regional Strategy for the Development of Statistics 2016 to 2030; and was funded by the 11th European Development Fund-OECS Regional Integration Through Growth Harmonisation and Technology (RIGHT) programme. Learn more about its regional integration activities in the link.