Contacts:
In Washington: Ana Elisa Luna (202) 473 2907
alunabarros@worldbank.org WASHINGTON, April 10, 2008 – The World Bank announced today the winners of its first Regional Award for Innovation in Statistics. More than 150 programs from 20 countries participated in the contest— the first of its kind not only in Latin America and Caribbean but worldwide — which aims to recognize the importance that statistics have in development and promotes innovation in this area. “This competition has accentuated the inventive ways in which Latin American countries are pursuing new ideas to better meet the pressing demands for timely, accurate and accessible information,” said Pamela Cox, World Bank Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean during the Award Ceremony. Programs from Mexico, Colombia and Brazil were recognized for their groundbreaking work. Other countries received honorable mentions for their innovative work. According to Cox “quality of information is a critical foundation of solid policy making because it provides a clear understanding of local realities and is a way to measure the impact of policy change. The information that these programs develop provides invaluable guidance to policy-makers in your countries, helping them in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policy decisions that can improve the quality of life of the people of Latin America and the Caribbean.” The winners are: FIRST PLACE – National Survey on Household Living Conditions of the Center for Economic Research and Teaching and Associated Institutions at the Universidad Iberoamericana (Mexico). This survey, conducted at the national, regional and urban-rural levels, compiles information about the well-being of the people of Mexico. It includes detailed data on income, savings and consumption patterns, nutrition and health. Two of the most innovative aspects of the survey are the inclusion of information on Mexican migrants to the United States, which constitutes an enormous leap forward in the gathering of information on migration and its effect on the rest of the household; and the multi-purpose nature of the survey, which has allowed for the longitudinal nationwide research of many social issues, such as mental health, violence and crime. SECOND PLACE – Consumer Price Index (CPI) produced by the Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística (National Administrative Department for Statistics) in Colombia. The CPI is a long-standing and highly utilized source of information in the country, incorporating various inventive features that have increased its use and reliability. An innovative and comprehensive management quality certification system has been incorporated into the production of the index based on the review of international norms by independent experts. The consumption basket is calculated using both flexible and fixed variables. The use of mobile devices for the collection of data has further facilitated the compilation and dissemination of information. THIRD PLACE – Bank of Evaluators of the National System of Higher Education, or BASIs program, of the Ministry of Education of Brazil. This program has made it easier to evaluate the quality of higher education in Brazil by integrating the collection and updating of data on professors, evaluators and courses, and linking it to other relevant agencies. The system has facilitated the dissemination, evaluation and statistical analysis of higher education, improving the evaluation of institutions and promoting the excellence of higher education in Brazil “The Regional Award for Innovation in Statistics is an effort to highlight new, more accurate and more comprehensive ways to gather the facts and figures that ought to underpin successful public policy. Latin-America has proven to be a leader in this field. Its wealth of statistical talent is making it possible to measure development outcomes that were, until very recently, only part of the realm of perception.”said Marcelo Giugale, World Bank Director for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management in the Latin America and the Caribbean Region. “Given the high quality and large volume of applications received, the World Bank is setting up a permanent platform that will allow us to further disseminate and cross-fertilize these programs not only within Latin America but worldwide.” The jury also awarded seven honorable mentions to programs that showed an outstanding level of innovation: - Observatorio de Empleo y Dinámica Empresarial, Ministerio de Trabajo (Argentina)
- Sistema Integrado de Información Educativa (SIED), Ministerio de Educación/(INEP) (Brazil)
- Estadísticas laborales, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (Mexico)
- Encuesta Demográfica y de Salud Familiar - ENDES Continua, INEI (Peru)
- Niños del Milenio – Young Lives, An International Study on Childhood Poverty, Grupo de Análisis para el Desarrollo (GRADE) (Peru)
- Census and Survey Data Usage, Central Statistical Office (Trinidad & Tobago)
- Monitor Educativo de Enseñaza Primaria, ANEP (Uruguay)
All applications received were evaluated by a group of experts from the IMF, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat), the U.S. Census Bureau, the Spanish Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas (INE) , and the World Bank. - |
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