The ESRC is leading a major initiative to identify the opportunities and challenges in global data availability and analysis. An OECD expert group has been established, composed of representatives from OECD and non-OECD countries, which will meet to examine a range of issues relating to data discovery, access and sharing across member countries. The objectives of the group are to:

• Review and advise on the major data series which ideally would be available for research from each country and made available for comparative research.
• Review the potential availability for research of new forms of data and how access to these for scientific and policy purposes can be established;
• Review new developments in technology and methodology for access to and digging into data in all its new forms and to consider related ethical issues.

IER is supporting the activities of the Global Science Forum, and is providing the secretariat to support the expert meetings.

Project Duration:

September 2010 - December 2011

Project Team:

Professor Peter Elias (Principal Investigator)

Margaret Birch