MEDIA ADVISORY: Navigating Administrative Data Access: “Navigating administrative data access: strategies, reasons, and partner perspectives”

The National Treasury of South Africa, the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), the Spatial Economic Activity Data South Africa (SEAD-SA), and the Southern African Towards Economic Development (SA-TIED) programme and other key partners, invite members of the media to the launch of a public sector capacity development initiative at the Statistics South Africa head offices in Pretoria.The capacity development initiative draws on the experience of the UK Office for National Statistics (UK-ONS) and the National Treasury Secure Data Facility (NT-SDF) in facilitating access to administrative data to support evidence-based economic policy, planning and investment. Given the sensitive nature of some administrative datasets training is required in the handling and protection of personal data. 

The partners will facilitate in-depth discussions on international best practices for secure data access and protection, improve understanding of various data access modes, and introduce innovative training approaches. This collective effort, underlined by an emphasis on the details of establishing safe and secure environments for researcher data access — encompassing principles, policies, training, and monitoring — underscores the National Treasury and UNU-WIDER's commitment to ensure the continued effectiveness and security of the infrastructure supporting data access for research purposes. It signifies a forward-looking approach that acknowledges the evolving nature of data management. 

The initiative brings together over 100 senior officials from diverse government institutions, ministries of finance, and tax authorities across the southern and east African regions and provides unparalleled access to the individuals driving change in administrative data utilization. 

High-level speakers for the launch include Boipuso Modise, Head of Economic Policy at the National Treasury, Antony Phillipson, the High Commissioner to South Africa from the British High Commission. 

Details of the launch: 

Date: 4 December 2023 

Time: 09:00 am – 11:30 am

 Venue: Isibalo House, Koch Street; Salvokop, Pretoria 

Register : https://www2.wider.unu.edu/content/local-registration-sa-tied-and-sead-sa-data-access-training-insights-uk-ons-data-expertise

 For a detailed programme please click on the link below: 

https://sa-tied.wider.unu.edu/article/navigating-administrative-data-access-strategies-reasons-and-partner-perspectives