Caricom develops Online platform for statistical capacity-building

The Regional Statistics Programme of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Secretariat has established an electronic platform for training, research, and knowledge acquisition that is aimed at improving sustainable statistical capacity in the Region.

The platform is the “Statistical Training and Research in the Caribbean” (e-CISTAR), financed under the 11th European Development Fund.
As one of the deliverables of the Regional Strategy for the Development of Statistics, the platform is aimed at training members of staff of the National Statistical Offices and other stakeholders across the Region.
In a statement, Caricom informed that visitors to the site will find training materials derived from a pilot activity that was supported by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), as well as links to other training resources. There is a tab for the Statistics Centres of Excellence, which are being developed among statistical agencies in Caricom.
“Manuals, guidelines, and other reference documents are included in the Knowledge Base component of the e-CISTAR, as are Frequently Asked Questions. The Knowledge Base is secure with strong encryption standards for sensitive data and also has the facility for the creation of groups of users, collaboration on live documents, as well as powerful live and custom-filtered searches,” the regional entity detailed.
While there will be continuous updates, and design and development work being undertaken on the Moodle-driven platform, it is currently semi-operational. Once the site is fully operational, some of the key functions would include access to training of staff of the Caricom Statistical System (CSS) including the National Statistical Systems (NSS) in Member States/Associate Members and other Caricom agencies with statistical units.
The availability of statistical resources and the sharing of knowledge to support the production and dissemination of statistics; networking on statistical issues and concerns, the sharing of best practices across the CSS and the facilitation of exchange visits will also be included.
This platform will allow access to and support for the conduct of applied research and analysis as a support service required to be conducted by countries to enable the adoption of regional and international work programmes, recommendations, and related statistical analysis and research.