First statistics fair adds up to a successful day

(CNS): The Cayman Islands’ first ever statistics fair revealed a little insight into how eleven of government’s agencies depend on numbers. Hosted by the Economics and Statistics office, its director Maria Zingapan told visiting students to the fair which was held at UCCI that “statistics is the art of telling stories using numeric data.” She challenged them to discover the stories and seek opportunities to use statistics in their lives. The ESO boss said it was important that the students learn “to distinguish between statistics that lie and don’t lie” which involved asking the right questions about how statistics are collected and by whom.

Children and Family Services, Education, Environment, Environmental Health, Immigration, Lands and Survey, Planning and Sports as well as the Health Services Authority and the Police were among the exhibitors.

Opening the event, the finance and economic development minister, Marco Archer said statistics are vital to help government and the private sector plan and monitor the local economy

“This is why I cannot over-emphasize enough the importance of good statistics not only for the sake of informing decision-making in government and the business sector. We need statistics to record and confirm our journey as a people and to help us examine the paths we have chosen. Of all the reasons for promoting statistics, I submit that this is the most crucial; unfortunately, it is often forgotten and neglected,” he said.     

He spoke about Cayman’s competitive advantage relative to the rest of the world which could not be accurately conveyed or affirmed without statistics and how the development of local statistics now significantly depends on international standards.
“The production of statistics has become global – our surveys, concepts and definitions must conform to those set by international statistical bodies in order for these to be acceptable,” he said.
The main purpose of the fair however was to encourage young people to see the importance of statistics and even encourage them to think about a formal education and career in statistics or economics.

“You can have a good future in these professional areas, especially because statistics has truly become a global profession,” Archer who is no stranger to numbers told the young people in attendance.
“The director of ESO has an ambition of having a Caymanian takeher place as soon as possible,” he said, adding that a statistics career was a meaningful way of contributing to Cayman’s development.

Archer commended organisers but challenged them to go further and develop an official statistical system.

“I envision an NSCC where all members are dedicated in assisting each other in producing and disseminating quality statistics that are sensitive to the needs of the community and in compliance with accepted international standards,” he said offering his support for such a project.