STATIN Plans Yearlong Celebrations to Mark 70th Anniversary

The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) is celebrating its 70^th anniversary this year and has planned a slew of activities to mark the milestone.

The yearlong celebrations commenced on Sunday (April 24), with a church service at the Boulevard Baptist Church in St. Andrew.

Director General at STATIN, Carol Coy, said the entity will be relaunching its website in May, aimed at enhancing the provision of data to its stakeholders and the Jamaican populace.

In June, STATIN will host the CARICOM 9^th advisory group on statistics, which will see a number of heads of agencies from other statistics offices in the region meeting to discuss and highlight best practices, concerns and issues within the sector.

The entity will host an Open Day in October, where schools, various entities and the general public will visit the organisation to learn about its role, function and services.

Other activities throughout the year will include a media breakfast; the publication of a newspaper supplement; the launch of Jamaica Industrial Classification and a long service awards ceremony.

“We will also be having stakeholder meetings to gather concerns and to find out if the statistics we are producing is satisfying their needs and wants…so we will be starting with a session looking at our labour force statistics and later on in the year, we will be looking at the economic statistics,” Miss Coy said.

STATIN was established in 1946 as the Central Bureau of Statistics with the passage of the Statistics Act.

With further amendments to the Act in 1955 and 1984, the entity was renamed the Department of Statistics and Statistical Institute of Jamaica, respectively.

The functions of the Institute include collecting, compiling, analysing and publishing statistical information relating to the commercial, industrial, social, economic and general activities and condition of the people.