Ceremonial opening for ADRC-E
The Administrative Data Research Centre for England (ADRC-E) was opened on 4th July by the Vice-Chancellor Professor Don Nutbeam, with ADRC-E Director Professor Peter Smith, and David Hand, Chair of the Administrative Data Research Network board.
The centre's remit is to provide approved researchers with secure access to linked, de-identified data from government departments for research and policy evaluation. In practice, this will mean complex co-ordination with data suppliers, trusted third parties who will link the data, and the public whose data must be de-indentified properly, handled appropriately and kept safe at all times.
The research team is led by the Professor Peter Smith, Director of the ADRC-E and former Director of S3RI, and involves co-investigators from S3RI, from other departments in Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences, from two other faculties, and from our partners at University College London, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and UCL's Institute of Education.
The ADRC-E is one of four centres, one in each country of the UK, making up part of the Administrative Data Research Network. The Network is funded by the ESRC as part of its £64 million investment in big data initiatives. A chunk of building 39 has been substantially reconfigured to ensure ADRC-E is equipped to meet rigorous security protocols. Preparations are ongoing for welcoming our first researchers before the end of the year.