Introduction

A National Strategy for the Development of Statistics in Barbados was advocated prior to 2007 and a paper entitled, “Modernisation of the Statistical System- Barbados” was presented at the 32nd Meeting of Standing Committee of Caribbean Statisticians.  Subsequently the Barbados Statistical Service (BSS) Modernisation Project 2008-2016 was launched with the one of the Objectives being to:

Establish a statistics network including governmental agencies which produce Official Statistics.

Several recommendations specifically relating to the implementation of the NSS were also made and were the following:

  • A proposed Statistical Bill for BSS and the NSS
  • Draft MOUs between BSS and six (6) data producing units of the NSS
  • Implementation of a core ICT network system infrastructure for BSS with capacity of linking other units of the NSS
  • Establishment of an MOU with the Data Processing Department to maintain the core ICT core

Lessons learnt

From our experience, there were some lessons learnt as it relates to the NSS and these are as follows:

  • The Legal framework takes time to enact a new Bill
  • Change management vital for the BSS, NSS and our parent ministry
  • Culture change and authority structures needs to be managed well for effective NSS coordination and integration
  • The need for built-in network resilience and recovery from disasters.
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