SAS South Africa has come out in support of the first ever World Statistics Day on October 20, 2010, declared by the United Nations (U.N.).
On its official website, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon proclaimed World Statistics Day as a way to raise awareness about the importance of official government statistics. He also said that it aims to acknowledge and recognise the service provided by global statistical systems at national and international levels and hopes to help strengthen the awareness and trust of the public in official statistics. He said it aims to serve as an advocacy tool to further support the work of statisticians across different settings, cultures and domains.
“At SAS we have a long history of helping our government and business customers gain insights from their data using our analytics and business intelligence solutions,” says Maphum Nxumalo, managing director at SAS South Africa. “We are delighted that there is finally a day in the global calendar earmarked to elevate the efforts of statisticians around the world.”
Countries around the globe have all bandied together to support the event, with South Africa’s own Statistics SA, a local SAS customer, scheduling a series of events to support the goals and aims of World Statistics Day.
To date governments around the globe are using SAS software to tackle challenging social issues such as improving public health, enhancing public safety and conserving natural resources.
“As consumers we are often not always aware of the data that has been crunched to reach the decisions that impact our day-to-day lives,” he adds. “From simple shopping selections, to CPI data, right through to your local government’s decisions on where to build roads in your areas – statistics paves the way for it all.
“It is with this that on 20 October 2010 we at SAS South Africa will acknowledge and laud the efforts made by our local statisticians, as well as their contribution to the world as we know it,” ends Nxumalo.