Administrative and Survey Files for Research Purposes Q2008 Annie Giguère Madeleine Filion Institut de la statistique du Québec

Presentation outline Background General description Submission of researcher’s request Processing of researcher’s request Remote access to research file Environment and Development Added values Status of current project

Background In recent years, the Institut de la statistique du Québec (ISQ), the official statistical agency of the province of Québec (Canada) has been faced with : An increase in demand for statistical information and a growing diversity of users Users, particularly researchers, who are increasingly seeking access to microdata files they can process themselves

Background (cont.) In 2004, a partnership project with a network of researchers and other government agencies was launched Access by researchers to confidential information taken from administrative files is a complex process when the information is requested from different holder agencies The ISQ was chosen to host the service platform

General description The service platform is not a data warehouse The service is accessible by means of an Internet portal, through which researchers can submit their requests, follow up on them, and make remote use of the research files

Submission of researcher’s request To help the researcher formulate his request, there is a search engine on the Internet portal that can consult the dictionary in order to obtain information on a specific data source or a holder of information It is also possible to search by keyword, year of data source, categories or data source owner

Processing of researcher’s request Create the research file resulting from linkages Control the risk of disclosing confidential information

Remote access to research file High-level security measures for authentication of the researcher are required It is not possible for the researcher to download or print the data or results of his analyses The user’s work session is recorded and can be studied at any time (in real or delayed time)

Environment & Development Products used : Oracle Fusion Middleware 10G (AS and BPEL, Collaboration Suite, DB) Suze Linux APIs used : Oracle ADF, Oracle BPEL, Jasper Reports, JAAS, XML, PL/SQL Development tools used : Oracle Jdeveloper, Tortoise, DMS Loading Tool

Added values The new service : Facilitates research Gives new means to the researchers Accelerates the current access process Generates economies of scale Provides networking of knowledge and expertise Facilitates standardization The location of the service platform at the ISQ provides guarantees that the confidentiality and security of the data will be ensured, given our legal oversight (statistical secrecy) and normative framework in that regard

Status of current project The service platform has been in operation since July 2007 Researcher’s requests currently in process Intensification of the project’s promotion Negociation of agreements with our partness Business plan : Pricing policy Action plan for the next five years

For further information contact : www.epsebe.ca For further information contact : annie.giguere@stat.gouv.qc.ca Institut de la statistique du Québec, Canada www.stat.gouv.qc.ca