1. © Federal Statistical Office, Research Data Centre, Maurice Brandt Folie 1 ESSnet Projects “Decentralised Access to EU microdata” Maurice Brandt Research Data Centre Federal Statistical Office Germany ESSnet workshop, Cologne 27.- 28. October

2. © Federal Statistical Office, Research Data Centre, Maurice Brandt Folie 2 Outline 1. Introduction 2. Feasibility Study: ESSNET on „Decentralised Access to EU microdata sets” 3. Implementation of a pilot: ESSNET on “Decentralised and Remote access to Confidential Data in the ESS” 4. Outlook

3. © Federal Statistical Office, Research Data Centre, Maurice Brandt Folie 3 1. Introduction  by now: increasing demand of microdata  access to national datasets in MS  access to 12 community statistics via Eurostat  ECHP (European Community Household Panel)  LFS (Labour Force Survey)  CIS (Community Innovation Surveys), …  request of slightly anonymised microdata  for community statistics: access only via safe-centre in Luxembourg  barrier due to local constraint  idea: network of national safe-centres

4. © Federal Statistical Office, Research Data Centre, Maurice Brandt Folie 4 2. Feasibility study Decentralised Access to EU microdata  Feasibility study of setting up a network of safe-centres for decentralised access to community statistics  ways of access to microdata throughout EU-countries  is an implementation possible?  framework requirements  international Partners  Office for National Statistics, UK  Statistics Netherlands  Institutio Nazionale di Statistica Italy  Hungarian Central Statistical Office  Statistical Office, German Federal State NRW  Federal Statistical Office, Germany  start: 1st February 2009; end: 31st January 2010

5. © Federal Statistical Office, Research Data Centre, Maurice Brandt Folie 5 2.1. Tasks  I-II: Most feasible types of decentralised access  matrix with possible candidate solutions  shortlist with description of legal, technical etc. consequences  III-V: Guidelines  certification system for safe-centres  consistency in output checking  documentation of Metadata  VI: Feasibility and Cost Analyses  VII: Information and Communication  website  presentation within UNECE/Eurostat conference

6. © Federal Statistical Office, Research Data Centre, Maurice Brandt Folie 6  Network Schemes  reduce burden from Eurostat  consider legal constraints  “Pilot Recommendation”  short term applicable  decentralised solution via remote access  “Strategic Aim”  long term solution  improvement of remote access  expansion of the network 2.2. Results

7. © Federal Statistical Office, Research Data Centre, Maurice Brandt Folie 7 “Pilot Recommendation”

8. © Federal Statistical Office, Research Data Centre, Maurice Brandt Folie 8 2.3. Results and Recommendation: The Pilot System based upon a thin centre Set up  Eurostat sets standards for safe centres, output clearance, approval of applications  NSIs take responsibility for operating to this basic level  NSIs operate with delegated authority Legal approval of applications  Eurostat manages list of admissible institutions  NSI manages personal elements of application, using Eurostat info (above)  NSI makes decision

9. © Federal Statistical Office, Research Data Centre, Maurice Brandt Folie 9 2.3. Results and Recommendation: The Pilot System based upon a thin centre Data Transmission  No physical data transfers: access trough thin-client via remote access system (from a certified safe-centre of MS to Eurostat) Management of IT systems  Eurostat provides a thin client service to NSIs  NSI manages remotely Eurostat IT system, including user accounts  NSI operates to ‘safe centre’ standards specified in this project

10. © Federal Statistical Office, Research Data Centre, Maurice Brandt Folie 10 3. Implementation of a pilot: ESSNET on “Decentralised and Remote access to Confidential Data in the ESS” Goal Implementation of a remote access from NSI Safe Centres to the community statistics in Eurostat Start is October 2011, Duration: 24 months Partners  National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, France  Hungarian Central Statistical Office, Hungary  Office for National Statistics, United Kingdom  Instituto Nacional de Estatistica, Portugal  State Statistical Institute Berlin-Brandenburg, Germany  Federal Statistical Office, Destatis, Germany (co-ordinator)

11. © Federal Statistical Office, Research Data Centre, Maurice Brandt Folie 11 3.1 Planned action  Project is divided into two parts 1) Administrative, organisational and preparing phase 2) Implementation phase where the connection of NSI’s safe centres via remote access to the remote access system in Eurostat (VIP) shall be executed.  Issue If the remote access infrastructure of Eurostat should not be ready on time, then a fallback scenario is to experiment all the processes and workflows from an existing NSI’s remote access.

12. © Federal Statistical Office, Research Data Centre, Maurice Brandt Folie 12 3.1 ESSnet on “Decentralised and Remote Access” Documentation and Workflow Concept of technical implementation and safety requirements for remote access Cost benefit analysis Implementation of remote access - case study Communication and dissemination to the ESS Task I Task III Task IV Task V Task II Task VI Project management

13. © Federal Statistical Office, Research Data Centre, Maurice Brandt Folie 13 3.2 Tasks 1) Documentation and Workflow  Define rules and standards for data access  Draft of a request form for data access  Compile a manual for NSI regarding workflow when data access is requested  Documentation and communication 2) Concept of technical implementation and safety requirements for remote access  Define client requirements, authentication process and accreditation  Clarify role of NSI (workflow and process)  Define input/output checking process (who, where...)  Possible operability of different system and interfaces  Integration of existing system  Test procedure: check-list of security verification (from client to host)

14. © Federal Statistical Office, Research Data Centre, Maurice Brandt Folie 14 3.2 Tasks 3) Cost benefit analysis  Based on the cost template of the former project - staff planning (rates each qualification/grade) - breakdown on strategy and operational costs - breakdown on fixed and variable costs - number of projects, IT costs 4) Implementation of remote access - case study  Define all the necessary elements needed to implement a pilot (hardware, software, organisation, use-cases)  Implementing a pilot in one country and evaluate it  Extend the pilot to 2 or 3 other countries for evaluation purpose (double-output checking, workflows...)  Organise a security audit of each process 5) Communication and dissemination to ESS  Upgrading and update of project website  Presentation of intermediate and final results on project website

15. © Federal Statistical Office, Research Data Centre, Maurice Brandt Folie 15 4. Outlook  Implementation of „pilot study“ should be linked with other ESSnets and Projects like  VIP-Project  DWB  EuroGroups Register (EGR)  ESSnet on SDMX  WDA  Metadata  Ongoing discussion on Standardisation  Share of costs  Eurostat supports?  Self-financed?  User covers costs?

16. © Federal Statistical Office, Research Data Centre, Maurice Brandt Folie 16 Thank you for your attention Decentralised Access to EU Microdata Sets: http://www.safe-centre.eu Eurostat ESSnet Projects: http://www.essnet-portal.eu Maurice Brandt Research Data Centre Federal Statistical Office Germany Tel. +49 611/75 4349 maurice.brandt@destatis.de http://www.forschungsdatenzentrum.de http://www.destatis.de