Trusted access to government data: UK reflections

Hosted by the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods, and Australian Data Archive

Australian departments and agencies have recently begun exploring models for trusted access to research data, culminating in the recent release of the ABS Trusted Access Model and the Trusted user model included in the draft report of the Productivity Commission into Data Availability and Use.

Both of these models have their origins in the United Kingdom, and the 5 Safes Model developed in collaboration between the UK Data Service and the Office of National Statistics.

In this public lecture, Professor Matthew Woollard, Director of the UK Data Archive (University of Essex), will give some reflections and impressions on the Productivity Commission report, from a UK (and European) perspective. He will particularly consider the Trusted User model outlined in Section 10 of the report “Trust: The Foundation of the New Data Framework” , in the light of his experience in providing secure access to sensitive data to researchers in the UK under the 5 Safes framework.

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About the speaker

Matthew Woollard is Director of the UK Data Archive. He has practical and theoretical experience in all aspects of data service infrastructure, providing leadership in data curation, archiving and preservation activities. From 2002-2006 he was the Head of the History Data Service and from 2006-2010 an Associate Director and Head of Digital Preservation and Systems at the UK Data Archive. He currently provides leadership and strategic direction of the both the UK Data Archive and the ESRC-funded UK Data Service.

Matthew is also the Principal Investigator of the Enhancing and Enriching Historical Census Microdata project and the UK Data Archive's lead on the EC-FP7 4C project, a 'Collaboration to Clarify the Cost of Curation'.