Accreditation practices at the Hungarian Central Statistical Office Zoltán Vereczkei Methodology Department Hungarian Central Statistical Office Telephone: (+36-1) Data without Boundaries Workshop on Accreditation for Transnational Access to Official Microdata for Research Purposes Lausanne, 19 th -20 th March, 2014

Summary of types of access Release of tabular data Disseminated tabular data Release of customised tabular data (user provides definition of tabular data) Acceptance of terms of use Release of anonymised microdata sets „ Default” microdata sets Customised microdata sets can be requested (only the requested variables will be provided to the researcher) Contract and confidentiality declaration are necessary Public Use Files PUF available since March, 2014 (test file based on population census, 2011) Teaching PUF currently being developed (based on population census, 2011) Acceptance of terms of use Remote execution Limited experience (not widely used) „Last resort” solution Contract and confidentiality declaration are necessary Remote access New system will be implemented (project „MIRA”, based on experiences with ESSnet DARA) Pilot system currently tested since March, 2014 (Szeged) Contract and confidentiality declaration are necessary Safe Centre „Default set” available for all accredited researchers (free of charge) Customised sets (payment needed) Contract and confidentiality declaration are necessary

Legal background: no distinction between national and foreign researchers (not limited to EU) Low interest from foreign researchers (NSI receives few request… usually asking for information on access or methodology; or requesting EU microdata sets from Eurostat); limited experience with foreign researchers Current developments (due from May, 2014): New accreditation procedure New standardised templates for all channels (also in English) New standardised contracts, confidentiality declarations and terms of use documents (also in English) New „useful information for researchers” document (focusing on channels of access in safe environment – also in English) New, much more detailed website content on access conditions and types of access (also in English) About transnational access…

Access in safe environment (safe centre, remote access, remote execution), and release of anonymised microdata sets are foreseen for scientific purposes only (use of PUF or customised tables is available for everyone) Researchers (and their research institutions) have to be accredited and the scientific potential of the research proposals have to be checked [researchers with or without the background of research institutions can be granted access] Both the researcher accreditation and the evaluation of the scientific potential of research proposals are done every time a research proposal is received. No list of accredited research institutions or researchers (we rather evaluate every time than to update a database periodically…) Task divided between the experts of Dissemination Department and the experts of the subject-matter departments About the accreditation procedure…

Most important accreditation criteria ResearcherResearch institution Scientific potential of the research proposal Have the terms laid down in contract been breached during the last 5 years? Have the terms laid down in contract been breached by the institution or its researchers during the last 5 years? Does it support public interest, scientific progress? The research must serve the aims of society, economy or environment as a whole and not the pursuit for profit or commercial advantages of individuals Has the requirement of providing a copy of publication based on previous research been breached during the last 5 years? Legal status and organisation setup The research outputs have to be made public, accessible to everyone Carreer pathMain activity (and other activities) Why can’t the purpose of the research be fulfilled without access in safe environment or using anonymised microdata sets? Relationship between the researcher and the research institution Role or research in the operation of the research institution (if not main activity) Major results in the field of research during the previous 5 years Publication procedures of outputs Financing of institution and research IT security and physical data protection procedures (for anonymised microdata sets)

The „language barrier”: we put a lot of effort into producing more transparent procedures and English material to increase our transparency and to support foreign researchers (it takes time) Demonstrated positive experiences: there is no procedure in place to speed up transnational access, but it has significant value added in building trust between HCSO and researchers Forums (such as DwB) is a very useful way of sharing practices and solutions (national practices can further be developed or upgraded based on experiences; thus national practices will converge… it takes time) Common standardised methodology for application forms: we think a recommendation (common agreement) on the content and related procedures would be useful in practice Sharing of good practices and „success stories” would definitely help a lot to make one step forward It is very important to know what foreign researchers expect from us (same as national researchers?). If you do not know them, it is very difficult to meet their needs Reflections on speeding up transnational access… from the Hungarian perspective

Thank you for your attention! Zoltán Vereczkei Methodology Department Hungarian Central Statistical Office Telephone: (+36-1)