Administrative Data Research Centre, England (ADRCE)

Our vision is to transform the way that administrative data, routinely collected by government departments and other agencies, are converted into knowledge and evidence for public and economic policy. Improved access to, and use of these data, will ensure we can tackle some of the major issues facing society, innovatively and efficiently. This will be achieved by safely managing and maximising the use of new data linkages across sectors and government departments, and working across academic disciplines. This will create new evidence to guide development, implementation and evaluation of public policy and future research, as well as new methods to link and analyse data. We aim to develop new linked data resources, provide access to these data, ensure it is used safely and effectively, and develop research capacity. Our programme is based around seven integrated aims: 1) State of the Art Facilities: will allow access to administrative data by accredited researchers. We will strictly manage the data and researchers who are allowed to access the data, to prevent the identification of individuals. These new facilities will combine exceptional physical facilities with high performance computer systems, database management systems and advanced data analysis and statistical tools. 2) Data management and statistical analysis support: will allow external researchers to securely access the data. We will build our expertise to include providing access to and support analysis of linked data as these new resources are developed. We will work with the Administrative Data Service (ADS) to upgrade our existing secure IT facilities in line with the required standards. 3) New Data Resources: We will link administrative data sets from across different services and government departments and make them accessible for research. These new resources will be relevant for developing policy and services. At the same time we will work with the ADS to begin more ambitious linkage projects, and work in collaboration with partner organisations to link data, and develop and test different approaches to do this. 4) Original Research: We will develop a variety of new methods that enhance the use of administrative data for policy-focussed research. Key research in the first 2 years of the Centre include: methods of linking data; data quality; and policy-focussed research. A Scientific Panel of expert researchers will drive forward our research plans. Each of these researchers will lead a specific research project, which will form a rolling programme of two-year projects. The panel will also review and provide guidance on other proposed projects. 5) Training and capacity building: will increase and improve the use of administrative data by researchers (at all career stages) across social and biomedical sciences (from universities, government departments, third and private sectors). We will offer short training courses, workshops and seminars, online material, six PhD studentships, internships, and a network of national and international experts. This will deliver both the necessary safe researcher training, and improve their skills to take advantage of the opportunities provided by new linked data. 6) Collaboration with the ADRN: We will provide a range of tools and a forum for working closely with our key partners ADS, ESRC and the Office for National Statistics (ONS), as well as other who will benefit from this work. We will work to standardise datasets across the UK and beyond to allow national and international comparisons. We will develop our established links with government departments, data providers and Trusted Third Parties, and a range of organisations managing cohorts and surveys. 7) Public Engagement: We will engage with the public about linking administrative data. A Communications & Engagement Officer will lead activities in this area, and we have further dedicated staff working on legal and policy development.