COMMENTARY — Stats seen as path to a ‘clear vision’

The most successful societies in terms of social and economic measures are those with a clear vision. Such a vision derives from multiple origins: geography, culture, war, industry, science and so on. These successful societies use data and other information to create a map from past to present — and to make projections about the future.

Data and other information are a central factor driving an individual, an organisation or a country or territory to a vision founded in their specific history and geography.

The most powerful businesses on earth have a clear vision. But to get there, they need data and other information about the past to form the platform for innovation and investment in the here and now. By the same token, a visionary investor or manager needs data if they are to arrive at the desired place. Vision by itself will not get them there.

 

In the VI

It is the same with the Virgin Islands. Preceding the adoption of appropriate data is the need for knowing where the territory wants to go. The Greek saying that a boat without any destination ends up on the rocks is an appropriate assertion for this territory. Vision decides the data and information that are crucial in adopting a pathway to the future. The territory’s first chief minister, H. Lavity Stoutt, often stated that without vision the people perish.

After a vision is decided, the relevant data and information are critical to reaching the Promised Land. The absence of relevant data is equivalent to a pilot flying without any idea of how to get to where they are heading. The instrument panel is typically loaded with technical and geographic data. Without this data, that instrumentation is useless. A captain and crew sailing with zero navigation or geographic information are doomed.

 

‘Historical info’

Data is historical information, in that all information exists within the context of time. An individual, organisation or society uses data and information to manage the present and project the future. It is therefore critical that data and information are preserved. That is the task of statistics and archives.