‘suspect’ data, knowing that the initial rough information can always be updated
and improved.
There is an adage which holds that ‘the worth of any planning prognosis is
reflected in the quality of data available as the input for analysis and diagnosis’.
But there is a corollary stricture about relevantaccuracy, whereby the veracity of
data is seldom accurately reflected in the eventual outcome. In other words, for
the general conservancy or development situation, 100 per cent (even 90 per cent)
data accuracy is notnecessary. This is especially so in contexts where there are
several unknowns, where fluctuations in the global and the national economies
are likely, where the shifting sands of central government politics apply, and
where there are uncertain population growth rates and population movements.
Fully accurate sets of factual data are never parlayed into guaranteed or near
certain outcomes.^4
Additional to the usual flat depictions of pattern data, an inputs–outputs array
can assemble and order economic information and thereby highlight the tactical
significance of industry versus agriculture versus tourism within an overall
matrix. While fresh initiatives will not be indicated from such static situational
reviews, depictions from an input–output array can yield insights which benefit
growth management policy through the identification of ‘gaps’: say, for example,
no cement factory; or a service gap (a lack of a dentist or a weather forecaster?);
a need for a locational improvement (fresh food grown closer to consumers?); or
the facilitation of a latent industrial linkage (sawmilling and furniture factory sited
in proximity to each other?).
For most non-metropolitan regions the activities which are profiled for input–
output analysis are likely to include pastoral, horticultural, exotic forestry and fruit-
growing activities; some resource extraction activities (indigenous and exotic
timber exploitation, water abstraction, fishing, mining); some manufacturing and
processing activities (food-processing, service and manufacturing industries);
tourism and recreational activities; and several commercial and servicing enter-
prises (banks, insurance and brokerage agencies). Information about transactions128 PracticeBox 4.3 Continued
acquisition; employment and jobless statistics; consumer
preferences; population movements into, out of, and
within a region; social and kinship services, and welfare
facilities; recreational and vacationing patterns. Cultural
connections to other regions and elsewhere.
Extrinsic data: government and institutions
Central government: interventions, controls and involve-
ments. Procedures of Government Departments.
Statutory undertakers: roles, rules and activities. Services
for health, electricity, water, gas, phone, flood control and
emergency support.
Local government: obligations and ambitions. Status of
theultra viresand ‘general competence’ doctrines.
Information and Services: consumer bureau, police fire
and ambulance facilities, sporting and recreational clubs,
church and cultural organizations,
Accessory government service agencies: (e.g. Land Title
Registry, charities, statutory commissions).
Commercial: Range and availability of goods and
services.
The local-regional-central government connection.
The roles of statutory undertakers and authorities. Local
politics of decision-making and chains of command.