Key personnel from the Bureau of Statistics and other National and Regional agencies were recently trained in the use of a Statistical Business Register (SBR) application which facilitates the integration of administrative data.
This training was provided by Statistics Canada through the Government of Canada-funded Project for the Regional Advancement of Statistics in the Caribbean (PRASC) and was conducted at the Bureau of Statistics Headquarters in Georgetown from February 27 to March 2.
The Structured Query Language (SQL) application contains a complete list of businesses within a given country required for business statistical purposes and is accompanied by a user-friendly interface which facilitates browsing and updating of records.
Participants of the training were from the Bureau of Statistics, CARICOM Secretariat, Statistical Institute of Belize, Guyana Revenue Authority, National Insurance Scheme, and the Commercial Registry.
The main objective of the workshop was to build the capacity of persons who will be directly involved in the maintenance and updates to the SBR application, in both Information Technology and subject-matter areas.
Participants now have the necessary knowledge to upgrade and support the database management system, to upgrade and support the SBR application, to deploy new versions of the application, to answer questions on the usability of the SBR and to offer technical and subject matter assistance to CARICOM member states.
PRASC Expert on Business Register and Administrative Data at Statistics Canada, Mr. Gaéton St-Louis explained that the PRASC project commenced in March 2015 and will conclude in March 2023.
The SBR, he emphasised, is the foundation for a Business Statistical System and the training is geared towards ensuring the sustainability of the SBR, which is a component of the Business Survey Infrastructure of PRASC.
“To meet the high demand for statistical information and address challenges with response burden and privacy of survey respondents, National Statistics offices around the world are increasingly using data collected by other organizations,” he highlighted.
Mr. St-Louis added that the use and sharing of Administrative Data in statistical programmes not only decreases the response burden but also allows the National Statistical Systems (NSS) to improve the quality of their official statistics.
PRASC has deployed the SBR in nine (9) member states – Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Montserrat, and St. Lucia. The application is operational in most of those countries.
