The Caribbean is often described as "data poor" due to:

1. Limited access to high quality, locally relevant, openly accessible data.
2. Cultural and institutional habits as well as capacity limitations in both the public and private sectors that often forego the use of data and other forms of evidence, for policy and decision making.

The Caribbean Open Institute, through initiatives such as the Caribbean School of Data, with its particular emphasis on Youth Digital / Data literacy is seeking to contribute to a cultural transformation where data is valued as an asset and ultimately exploited to create value for businesses, improve service delivery in the public sector, and enhance the way our citizens engage with and participate in the Digital economy. Harnessing data for the public good in key regional sectors such as Agriculture, Tourism and Education will help to accelerate the countries of the region towards knowledge-based economies.

The Global Data Barometer will serve as a key enabler, by helping various stakeholders across the political spectrum and the private sector, to situate their data needs and value opportunities using measurable evidence of what exists, what works and what does not; thus, helping to benchmark and inform their strategies and interventions based on a robust and globally recognized GDB Index.