Economic Research Bureau Aims to Streamline Data with Oversight of VIVIS Database

The U.S. Virgin Islands Bureau of Economic Research (VIBER) lobbied lawmakers to grant it oversight of the massive VIVIS database during a meeting of the 34th Legislature’s Committee on Government Operations and Consumer Protection (GOCP) on Tuesday.

VIVIS, which stands for the Virgin Islands Virtual Information System, tracks data on students in the Territory from birth, through school and into employment. The data collected helps guide policy makers to make informed economic decisions. That data is currently hosted by the VI Department of Education.

 As VIBER attempts to satisfy its mandate of providing the Territory with accurate and relevant data and promoting economic development, the Bureau told the Committee that VIVIS would help it move towards achieving that goal and hopes to house the database.

“In addition to BER’s legislative mandates, the Directorship has also evolved its vision to become a central point for GVI data and a data analytics powerhouse,” said Dr. Allison DeGazon, VIBER director, testified before the committee. “This underscores not only our intention to testify in support of reestablishing VIVIS under the Office of the Governor but our recommendation to specifically place it under the supervision of the Bureau of Economic Research.”

VIVIS was first established in 2013 for an estimated $2.6 million under the VIDE. In 2019, the VIDE told the legislature “there were large gaps in data,” according to the St. Thomas Source.

A proposal moving through the legislature seeks to remove VIVIS from the purview of the VI Dept. of Education and proposes to house it under the Office of the Governor. In late October, the Government Operations and Consumer Protection committee passed Bill No. 0096, which would do just that.

The sponsor of Bill No. 0096, Senator Janelle K. Saruaw, said in October that she believed the Office of the Governor would provide the most stable and secure location for VIVIS and cautioned against calls to transfer the onus of responsibility for the database to VIBER, noting how the bureau had shifted from the oversight of multiple government agencies since its inception.

“VIVIS requires stability,” said Senator Sarauw. Sen. Sarauw. She later added: “Data cannot continue to move back and forth.”

Senator Alma Francis Heyliger suggested that VIBER should assume responsibility for VIVIS in order to empower the agency to realize its goal of becoming a centralized hub for data in the Territory and reiterated that support during the 34th Legislature’s hearing on Nov. 30.

“I think that’s the best place for it,” said Sen. Francis Heyliger.

VIBER touted a number of accomplishments during the meeting including a commendation from the federal agencies for compliance, the publication of a recent report detailing the economic impact of the Limetree Bay Refinery closure on the Territory and a number of outreach programs since its reorganization under the Governor’s office by the 33rd Legislature in 2019.

The freshman lawmaker, a self-described proponent of data and former employee of the Department of Fiance’s personnel software, Management Information Systems (MIS), said her office had begun crafting an amendment for Bill No. 0096 and hoped to collaborate with the bill’s original sponsor as it approaches the Senate’s Committee on Rules and Judiciary for a vote before it reaches the full Senate floor.