Remarks
by Dr. Wayne Henry, CD, JP, PhD.
Director General, Planning Institute of Jamaica

Official Launch of Data 4 Development Online Monitoring Platform
June 22, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

The Online Monitoring Platform is geared towards promoting the use of evidence in decision-making by the various stakeholders who directly or indirectly develop policies and plans, provide financing, and implement programmes that advance Jamaica’s national development towards our 2030 goals and beyond. This extends beyond government, private sector, civil society, academia and the country’s regional and international development partners to every single Jamaica. The primary level student should be able to find something on the platform that supports the preparation of a research paper and makes that student a more informed participant in personal, community and national development.

For government, the Data 4 Development Online Monitoring Platform is an important component in advancing integrated results-based management, which is being led by the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, PIOJ, and Cabinet Office. It facilitates the translation of data and statistics on global, national and local level indicators produced by STATIN, international organizations, and other data producers into evidence targeted at addressing specific development problems towards producing planned development results.

It is an important pillar in the PIOJ’s institutional capacity building in support of fulfilling its mandate. This includes advancing national and sector plans that promote efficiency and effectiveness in the use of our resources; and support the empowerment and enablement of every Jamaican at home and in the diaspora as well as the country’s development partners to participate in the development process.

Specific areas where the resources of the Platform will be applied include:
• improved results-based national development policy and planning
• supporting the alignment of development financing with the national development agenda, including medium-term results-based budgeting,
• and results-based monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning towards action (MEALA)
I thank all stakeholders who have contributed to the development of the Platform, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which has been our main partner, the Community Systems Foundation (CSF) that has built out the platform using their Data for All (DFA) architecture, and provided great service to our team; the Ministries of Education and Youth, and Transport and Mining that have collaborated with us in developing Statistical Dashboards; and our data providers, particularly our sister entity the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN), which continues to position Jamaica as a world-class producer of national official statistics.

The journey to this Launch started in 2019 under the UNDP supported project “Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through Vision 2030 Jamaica. The Platform was first developed with funding from the UNDP and counterpart funding from the Government of Jamaica (GOJ. It started with an integrated “Jam Data” database of social, economic and environmental development indicators and associated time series data. The Jam Data database comprises data from the Jam Stats, Child Protection and Education Statistics databases that were previously available on the Jam Stats site. Note that the Jam Stats has been discontinued. A Vision 2030 Jamaica Monitoring Dashboard, a Metadata Hub, Child Protection and Education Statistical Dashboards, and a Mobile Application are the other features of the first phase of development of the Platform.

The PIOJ has made significant investments in expanding the Platform, including installing a Data Visualizer that supports the use of the data on development indicators by everyone; adding to the functionalities of the Vision 2030 Jamaica Monitoring Dashboard and creating a Local Development Dashboard with parish level disaggregation of the National Outcome Indicators, where data are available; adding a Jam Data Dashboard and a Road Safety Dashboard to the menu of statistical dashboards; and developing an Online Resource Library for Vision 2030 Jamaica and the SDGs. While there is a functioning mobile application, we are in the process of upgrading it to the latest software. There are also other functionalities that are being built out and not yet publicly available, so please stay tuned. The Platform is intended to support evidence-driven and results-based national development to beyond 2030 and therefore, we will continue to build and grow using the latest available technologies and informed by lessons learned and emerging knowledge.

The PIOJ invites everyone to partner in advancing the Data 4 Development initiative as together we make government more effective, the use of our resources more transparent and efficient, and the achievement of our national development goals and the SDGs more attainable. Let us continue to work towards making “Jamaica, the place of choice to live, work, raise families and do business.
END