OECS Advances Development of Regional Micro Data Catalogue to Improve Access to Official Statistics

The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission, through its World Bank-funded OECS Data for Decision Making (DDM) Project, is advancing the development of the OECS Micro Data Catalogue, a regional initiative designed to provide a central gateway through which users can discover and access information on surveys and datasets produced by participating Member States.

As part of this effort, the Commission conducted a series of technical workshops in Saint Lucia (6–9 October), Grenada (12–16 October) and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (19–23 October 2026). The workshops brought together national statistical personnel, information technology teams and documentation consultants to establish the technical infrastructure and strengthen the national capacity needed to support the Catalogue.

The OECS Micro Data Catalogue is an important step towards making the region’s statistical resources more visible, accessible and useful for evidence-based decision-making. By bringing together standardised information about surveys and datasets from participating countries, the Catalogue will provide researchers, policymakers, development partners and other authorised users with a practical means of discovering available data and understanding how these resources may be accessed.

Building the national systems behind the Catalogue

The workshops focused on ensuring that participating countries have the tools, skills and procedures needed to document their statistical data in a consistent and structured manner. Through hands-on exercises using actual national survey files and supporting documentation, participants worked on documenting surveys, datasets, questionnaires, variables and other metadata required for inclusion in the Catalogue.

Technical teams also installed and tested the Online Metadata Editor and the National Data Archive (NADA) platform within national environments. These systems will support the preparation, review and publication of survey metadata at the country level, while facilitating connections between national data resources and the regional Catalogue.

This approach ensures that the Catalogue is supported by national statistical systems rather than operating as a standalone regional repository. Participating countries will retain their role in managing their data resources, while the regional platform will help users identify relevant datasets and understand the procedures for accessing them.

Improving data discovery and responsible access

An important feature of the OECS Micro Data Catalogue is its potential to improve access to information about the region’s statistical resources while supporting appropriate safeguards for confidential data. Depending on the dataset and the applicable national arrangements, access may be provided through publicly available resources, licensed access, or requests subject to review and approval.

The project manager for the OECS DDM, Sherma Beroo, stated in her remarks,

"By improving the documentation and discoverability of national surveys, the Catalogue will help reduce the challenges users face in identifying relevant data, locating supporting documentation and determining the conditions under which datasets can be accessed. It will also strengthen opportunities for research, regional analysis and the use of official statistics in policy development and programme planning."

The workshops in Saint Lucia and Grenada advanced the installation of national systems and commenced practical documentation activities. The workshop in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines forms part of the same three-country programme, extending the initiative’s technical support and capacity-building efforts across the participating countries.

A lasting investment in the region’s data ecosystem

The development of the OECS Micro Data Catalogue represents an investment in the long-term accessibility and use of official statistics across the region. By combining national ownership, standardised documentation and a regional discovery platform, the initiative aims to strengthen the connection between the production of statistics and their use by policymakers, researchers and development partners.