For organizational accounting all the financial transactions are accumulated in accounts and the storage is usually in a relational database controlled by the organization. Something different is needed to satisfy the analysis essential for TrueValueMetrics.
For TVM Value Accountancy, the financial and socio-economic transactions are accumulated in an
organized manner like accounts and stored in relational database ... but not only numbers, but also nonnumerical facts of importance.
Management information for development ...
- The first step is getting the data ...
- The second step is getting the data organized and into a data store where it can easily be accessed ...
The north has wealth ... and the resources to be enormously helpful.
The south has needs that are urgent.
Management information is the missing element that is needed to bring the north and the south together
for global benefit.
DATA ACCESS – EASY ACCESS
Collecting data is expensive ... and data only have value when they are used.
As in other areas of socio-economic analysis there is a value chain challenge associated with data ... data
are known to be valuable and therefore there is competition around the individual or organization that is
going to accrue the benefit from the data.
It's my data!
The academic community embraces data as a way to enhance academic reputation ...
obtain advanced degrees ... build institutional capability ...
But all of this is at the expense of the potential value of the data to society as a
whole. The opportunity costs ... or lost opportunity value of this academic behavior is
huge. Sadly there are few in the academic world who have given this issue very
much attention even though it is critical matter in the performance of socio-economic
development.
There has been a disturbing trends over the last few decades where researchers often paid for by government money take ownership of research data in order to game the system and improve the individual's career.
Intellectual property
Research and development (R&D) that results in breakthrough knowledge that can
save lives and reduce disease is wonderful and should be encouraged ... but what is
the best way to provide incentive ... what is the best way to allocate resources to
R&D and to the deployment of new therapies.
What has evolved over the past several decades is a chaotic system where the biggest
driver of decision making is profit potential and the outcome of investment
determined excessively by those that control the system. There is little or no weight
given to social value arising from any specific course of action ... as evidenced by the
“orphan drug” syndrome where good science lies dormant because theres life saving
therapies are unprofitable albeit cost effective.
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