PRESS RELEASE

February 4, 2018

DR. MARIO MARAZZI-SANTIAGO
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

AUTHORIZED STATEMENTS BY THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE INSTITUTE OF STATISTICS ON CONGRESSIONAL EXPRESSION AGAINST PROPOSED CONSOLIDATION AND OUTSOURCING

Last Friday, a group of 15 congressional members of the United States House of Representatives, both Republican and Democratic, signed a letter to express their rejection of the provisions on the Institute of Statistics contained in Reorganization Plan No. 1 and its enabling bills, both Senate Bill 809 and House Bill 1403.

In their communication, the congressmen recognize that the Institute of Statistics is a key ally of federal statistical agencies and that, greater collaboration between the Institute and federal statistical agencies, is essential for the Federal Government to produce the same statistics on Puerto Rico, which are already produced for all 50 states of the United States.

We greatly appreciate these expressions and we join them. That's the way it is. The Institute has been working for years, for example, to include the economy of Puerto Rico in statistics on the United States economy. For this reason, the Federal Government has required us to make some improvements to the methodologies used by the Planning Board.

In fact, we are currently the only entity in Puerto Rico that dedicates its own resources, including 10% of our budget, to making these improvements. For this purpose, there are already newly signed interagency agreements between the Institute and the Federal Government. It's just a matter of being allowed to execute them. We are extremely concerned that the proposed reorganization will stop or postpone these important projects, which could undermine the inclusion of Puerto Rico in the United States economy.

We are confident that in the coming days their counterparts in the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico will carefully weigh Reorganization Plan No. 1 and its enabling bills and will also join the call of their peers in the Federal Congress regarding the importance of maintaining an independent Institute of Statistics.

Likewise, we trust that in the coming days more voices will continue to unite and speak out against the proposed reorganization, just as more than 1,700 people have already done through the cyber petition on the change.org platform initiated and promoted by the American Statistical Association.

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

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Press Release

Lack of people certified in libraries to provide technological assistance to people with disabilities

The data comes from a study carried out by the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics.

According to the report of the study on inclusive services and technological assistance in libraries in Puerto Rico by the Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico, 83% of the participating libraries do not have people certified in technological assistance to people with disabilities. Similarly, almost 40% of libraries indicated that they do not have computers or electronic equipment required to comply with a technological assistance program for people with disabilities.

The main objective of Law No. 63 of 2011 is to establish the Inclusive Library Services System for Technological Assistance in all libraries in Puerto Rico. In the same way, this law orders the government to “collect annual statistical data on Inclusive Library Services for Technological Assistance”. Since its approval, the government has not been able to fully comply with this mandate. It is for this reason that the Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico, in collaboration with the Technological Assistance Program of the University of Puerto Rico (PRATP), designed a collection system and a set of data so that the Government of Puerto Rico has the capacity to collect, analyze and disseminate data on the implementation of this law.

The data presented correspond to the calendar year 2019 and includes a sample of the libraries of the University of Puerto Rico system, private universities, higher education institutions and municipalities. This is the first report that Puerto Rico has made on statistics related to the implementation of Law No. 63 of 2011

“As a society we must and must guarantee all people access to education and information, and people with disabilities cannot be discriminated against. This study allows us, in addition to complying with the law, to determine where we should make the necessary adjustments to meet the access to information needs of people with disabilities,” said Dr. Orville M. Disdier, lead author of the study and acting executive director of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics.

Here are some of the study's most salient findings:

• A total of 36 libraries completed the questionnaire, the largest of them from private universities (39%).
• 36% of participating libraries do not have a plan to implement Act No. 63.
• Most (83%) of participating libraries reported that they do not have people certified in technological assistance.
• Only 8% of participating libraries indicated that the administration has plans to provide training on the use of technological assistance programs and equipment.
• Nearly 40% of participating libraries indicated that they do not have computers or electronic equipment required to comply with a technological assistance program for people with disabilities.
• Although 67% of participating libraries claimed that their library meets the requirements established by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regarding the accessibility of physical spaces for people with disabilities, all indicated that they do not have official certification for these purposes.
• Among the reasons that participating libraries established for not complying with Act No. 63 of 2011 are: Lack of financial resources, lack of guidance, lack of support from the administration and lack of human resources.

The Puerto Rico Statistics Institute is an autonomous governmental entity tasked with 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 accessible quickly and universally. To access this report or to learn more about the Institute of Statistics, you can access the website: www.estadisticas.pr.gov. On social media through Facebook (@estadisticas .pr), Twitter (@EstadisticasPR) and LinkedIn (Institute of Statistics of Puerto Rico) accounts.

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Contacts:

Idia M. Martinez, R-28

787-603-3200

Lourdes Burgos, R-27

787-562-2932

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Statistics Institute requests budget for its projects