Data

In its pilot phase, the SDS is focusing on enhancing access to ESRC-funded data resources, in particular the British Household Panel Survey. Negotiations are underway to provide nominated user access to the Pupil Level Annual School Census (PLASC)-linked Millennium Cohort Study education data and to pilot secure remote room access at St Andrews University to a nondisclosive Scottish Longitudinal Study teaching dataset.

SDS is also working closely with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to provide access to ONS data resources not previously available under Standard or Special Licence. ONS has given its support in principle for using SDS as an outlet for some of its sensitive and potentially disclosive data, and its support is a welcome vote of confidence in the new service.

When the full service is launched in 2010, it is anticipated that many of the data resources currently only available to academics onsite at the ONS's Virtual Microdata Laboratory will begin to become available by remote secure access via SDS, subject to individual project/usage approval by the ONS Microdata Release Panel.

Another important potential role for the SDS is to provide a secure setting where appropriately authorised researchers can work with survey data matched with potentially disclosive administrative data (such as educational records), particularly for those researchers whose home institutions cannot provide the rigorous IT security environment required to receive such linked data. In this, the SDS is working very closely with the newly commissioned Administrative Data Liaison Service.