PRESS RELEASE
DR. MARIO MARAZZI‐SANTIAGO
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

April 3, 2018

AUTHORIZED STATEMENTS BY THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE STATISTICAL INSTITUTE REGARDING APPROVAL OF REORGANIZATION PLAN #7

Last night, the Senate approved Reorganization Plan #7 to reorganize the Department of Economic Development and Commerce, merging into it several government entities, including the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics.

We agree that several statistical divisions from different entities can be consolidated to achieve cost-efficiencies, and the Institute is ready to assume those functions under the right circumstances. In fact, we are under the orders of the Governor and the Legislative Assembly to develop a Plan for the Reorganization of the Statistics System that consolidates these functions into an independent institution.

However, the aforementioned Reorganization Plan #7 also proposes to eliminate all the Institute's independent governance structures and transfer them to the Secretary of the Department of Economic Development and Trade, and then “outsource” the statistical functions. This is not the way to solve problems with Puerto Rico's statistics.

Thousands of people, 16 members of Congress, the Private Sector Coalition, the Transparency Network, the American Statistical Association and even the Fiscal Oversight Board have recommended that the Institute remain an independent entity of the Government of Puerto Rico, free from political intervention. We urge the Legislative Assembly to carefully weigh the bills. We are once again at your disposal.

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Press Contact: Sandra Morales Blanes (787) 688-0401

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PRESS RELEASE
DR. MARIO MARAZZI‐SANTIAGO
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

March 28, 2018

AUTHORIZED STATEMENTS BY THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE INSTITUTE OF STATISTICS ON STATEMENTS MADE BY THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE FINANCIAL ADVISORY AUTHORITY AND FISCAL AGENCY OF THE GOVERNMENT OF PUERTO RICO

Faced with the enormous fiscal and credibility challenges facing our Government, we renew our invitation to the Executive Director of AAFAF to demonstrate his real commitment to financial transparency, providing us with access to the “general ledger” of AAFAF and all the other subsidiaries it manages, so that we can incorporate them into the Puerto Rico Financial Transparency System, managed by the Institute: Financial Transparency. pr.

The “general ledger” is the accounting database that records every expense or revenue transaction of an organization. It contains information about who receives each payment, when they receive it, how much they received it and what they received it for.

Since 2016, the Institute has invited all public entities to join the System. So far, AAFAF has shown no interest in participating in the System, despite the fact that this server personally presented the System to AAFAF and invited not only AAFAF to join, but AAFAF to order the entire Government to join.

Globally, more and more countries, states and cities are using open data portals, such as the Financial Transparency System, to report to their citizens on how every penny of public funds is spent. In addition, as soon as the information is recorded in the System, great cost and efficiency are achieved in the management of public financial information.

All the information on the Institute's operating expenses is available there, in an open format that allows data to be downloaded, analyzed and visualized.

For example, one of the lines requested by AAFAF is the expenditure on the employer's contribution to the health insurance of the Institute's employees. If he spent about five minutes, the Director could see that the Institute has spent a large total of $41,844 on health insurance for its employees so far so far in fiscal year 2018:
Fiscal 2018: http://www.transparenciafinanciera.pr/

For more information on the Institute's finances, you can view all of the Institute's audited financial statements, together with the auditing reports that the Office of the Comptroller has carried out on the Institute's finances, at: Mission-and-Vision.

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Press Contact: Sandra Morales Blanes (787) 688-0401

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PRESS RELEASE
DR. MARIO MARAZZI‐SANTIAGO
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

March 17, 2018

AUTHORIZED STATEMENTS BY THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE INSTITUTE OF STATISTICS ON THE DECISION OF THE SUPREME COURT OF PUERTO RICO

Yesterday, the Supreme Court denied a motion calling for the resumption of the work of the Board of Directors of the Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico. The decision of the Supreme Court confirms that the Institute can continue to carry out its work and functions, while the Court of Appeals hears the matter. It seems to us that this is a prudent decision in the face of the enormous fiscal and credibility challenges that Puerto Rico is facing.

The Institute's Board of Directors had been unable to meet for 7 months. It was able to meet this week after the judgment handed down by the Court of First Instance, in favor of the lawsuit filed by the Institute.

The restart of the work of the Institute's Board of Directors allows us to resume our quasi-legislative and quasi-judicial functions to guide a public policy of transparency and high-quality statistical processes.

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Press Contact: Sandra Morales Blanes (787) 688-0401

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The Importance of Programming in Statistics, Promoting Greater Participation of Women

The main objective of this conference was to highlight the importance of programming or coding in statistical processes. In the same way, greater participation of women in the programming area, the use of free platforms for statistical analysis, women in science and technology and the importance of a data scientist or “Data Analyst” were promoted.

Presentations

• Skills and competencies of the 2020 graduate

• • Dr. Orville M. Disdier, Conference Director
• The importance of STEM and computer science in Puerto Rico
  • Lucy Crespo, CEO of the Puerto Rico Trust for Science, Technology and Research
  • Ana H. Quintero, Department of Mathematics, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras
• Coding in statistical processes in Puerto Rico
  • Pedro A. Torres, Professor of Statistics, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez
  • María Egleé Pérez, Department of Mathematics, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras
• Gender Equity in Science and Mathematics
  • Sonia Bartolomei, Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez
• The inclusion of women in coding and statistics
  • Patricia Ordoñez, Department of Computer Science, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras
  • Sofía Stolberg, CEO of Pilot 151 and Codetrotters, supporter of the local tech ecosystem

Materials

Prog

‍Videos

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PRESS RELEASE
DR. MARIO MARAZZI‐SANTIAGO
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE INSTITUTE OF STATISTICS MEETS AND RESUMES PENDING WORK

The meeting took place after the San Juan Court of First Instance issued a dismissal
and desist from the Governor to stop political intervention in it

San Juan, PR, March 13, 2018 — The Board of Directors of the Institute of Statistics met today and resumed its pending work, after 7 months without being able to convene as a result of the
controversy arose as to its composition, after a series of dismissals and appointments made last July, which were declared null and void by the San Juan Court of First Instance last week.

The following issues were addressed during the meeting:

1. A series of minutes from past meetings that were pending were approved.
2. It was approved to hold an extraordinary meeting to address technical issues related to the statistics of deaths due to hurricanes Irma and María
3. Resolution No. 2018-01 was approved to interpret the scope of administrative and fiscal autonomy granted to the Institute of Statistics by its Organic Law, in the light of Law No. 8-2017, also known as the Single Employer Act.
4. Resolution No. 2018-02 was approved to interpret the scope of administrative and fiscal autonomy granted to the Institute of Statistics by its Organic Law, in the light of Law No. 2-2017, also known as the Financial Advisory Authority and Tax Agency Act.
5. It was approved as an institutional position to favor the approval of P. de la C. 1476, who proposes to amend the Statistics Institute Act to provide that no public official can be part of the Board, and to establish restrictions applicable to former officials who wish to be members of the Board. In addition, some additional technical recommendations to the project were approved.
6. Several extensions were approved that the agencies had requested for violating the Institute's Information Request Orders related to the Interagency Validation Portal Act for the Granting of Incentives for Economic Development.
7. The Institute's Implementation Plan and Operational Budget for fiscal year 2017-18 were approved.
8. It was agreed to request a meeting with the Governor of Puerto Rico in order to be able to discuss pending issues related to the future of the Institute and the best ways in which the Institute can collaborate with the management of the Government for the benefit of the public interest.

“We have been able to restart the quasi-legislative and quasi-judicial functions exercised by this Board of Directors in search of promoting changes to the Government's data collection and statistics systems so that they are complete, reliable and quickly and universally accessible. For example, we were able to close a complaint from last year that helped the Graduate School of Planning of the University of Puerto Rico to maintain its accreditation with the American Planning Association for non-compliance with an information request order from the Institute for Statistics of the Examination Board of Professional Planners,” said Dr. Mario Marazzi-Santiago, executive director of the Institute.

For his part, Dr. Antonio J. Fernós Sagebién, president of the Institute's Board of Directors, said: “We have major initiatives that are essential for Puerto Rico to recover and to have reliable and accessible statistics. To lift Puerto Rico up, we need to join forces; it can't be done any other way. Therefore, we have requested a meeting with the Governor to align our work agendas, putting the benefit of the public interest first.”

The meeting was attended by Dr. Antonio J. Fernós Sagebién, Dr. Ana L. Dávila, Dr. Sonia Balet, Dr. Marta Alvarez, Lcdo. Alex López Echegaray and Mr. Arnaldo Cruz.

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute is an autonomous governmental entity responsible for coordinating the Government's statistical production service to ensure that the data collection and statistics systems, on which public policies are based, are complete, reliable, and have quick and universal access. The Institute has in its inventory, accessible through https://estadisticas.pr.gov, over 300 statistical products. In addition, it is a custodian and provides access to over 100 data sets or “data sets” through https://data.pr.gov and to over 40 tables and more than 6 thousand indicators through: https://indicadores.pr.

For more information you can visit our website: https://estadisticas.pr.gov. In addition, you can follow us on social networks through Facebook (estadisticas.pr), Twitter (@EstadisticasPR) and LinkedIn (Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico) accounts.

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AUTHORIZED STATEMENTS BY DR. MARIO MARAZZI-SANTIAGO, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE INSTITUTE OF STATISTICS OF PUERTO RICO, ON THE JUDGMENT ISSUED YESTERDAY BY THE TRIAL COURT, SUPERIOR CHAMBER OF SAN JUAN, IN RELATION TO A LAWSUIT FILED BY THE INSTITUTE

Yesterday afternoon, the Court of First Instance, Superior Chamber of San Juan, issued its judgment and declared in effect the lawsuit filed by the Institute of Statistics. This opinion is another endorsement of the independence of the Institute of Statistics, which is so essential to its operation and its reason for being. After the strong statements of the Court and the President of the New York Federal Reserve this week, we hope to be able to close this chapter, so that at the Institute we can concentrate all our efforts and resources on fully complying with our duties and responsibilities. We reiterate our interest and willingness to meet with the Governor and make the Institute's services and resources available to him.

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Press Contact: Sandra Morales Blanes (787) 688-0401

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