Source: Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
Posted: 14-07-2005
A major objective of the VCI Project is to identify the availability, relevance and accessibility of data that will assist local government and communities to measure progress towards community goals. 'Community Accounts' is of direct relevance as a model of how local area data and information can be distributed to enable more effective community planning.
As background, Community Accounts was established in 1996. This was initiated as an outcome of public consultations held to determine what was happening in the daily lives of the province's citizens and whether programs and policies were meeting needs. A major recommendation was that government programs and policies be developed and implemented based on strong statistical evidence, clear target groups and measurable results.
To achieve this community of practice the Newfoundland and Labrador Statistics Agency in partnership with the Strategic Social Plan (SSP) of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and Memorial University, developed a government and public-wide system that embraces an integrated, evidence-based approach to policy and program development through collaboration within and across government departemtns, and economic and social sectors. Termed the 'Community Accounts', it is the first Internet-based data retrieval and exchange system in Canada with unrestricted access to view and analyze data down to the community. It provides citizens and policy makers with a single comprehensive source of key social, economic and health data a indicators that would not be readily available, too costly to obtain, or too time consuming to manually or otherwise retrieve and compile. The site provides an excellent working model of how data can be made directly accessible and relevant to local communities.
Website:
Community Accounts
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