Dickson C. Igwe. Photo: Internet Source

The most powerful businesses on earth have a clear vision. Data and information about the past form the platform for innovation and investment in the here and now. A visionary investor or manager must adopt data and information if he or she is to arrive at the desired place. Vision by itself will not get him there, however. Action, in the form of exertions from using data and information will.

It is the same with the Virgin Islands. Preceding the adoption of appropriate data is the need for knowing where the country wants to go. The Greek saying that boat without any destination ends up on the rocks is an appropriate assertion for this country. Vision decides the data and information that is crucial in adopting a pathway to the future. A great Virgin Islander once stated that without vision the people perish.

Appropriating the relevant data and information is 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 he or she is heading. The instrument panel is typically loaded with data, technical and geographic. Without this data, that instrumentation is useless: purposeless. The ship’s captain and crew sailing with zero navigation or geographic information is doomed.

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