At its 59th meeting on 11./12.03.2021, the German Data Forum (RatSWD) set the framework for deeper cooperation in direct exchange with representatives of academic associations. With a stronger involvement of the academic associations, the German Data Forum (RatSWD) directly brings the perspectives of data users into KonsortSWD.
For empirical social and economic research, the confiscation of research data represents an unacceptable threat to the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of research, and is in contradiction to central, ethical research principles. The German Data Forum (RatSWD) therefore calls for the establishment of a legal basis to ensure the confidentiality of research data. This is in response to a pending case in which research data was confiscated from a forensic psychologist by Bavarian investigative authorities in 2020.
The German Data Forum (RatSWD) welcomes the strong focus on research in the Data Strategy of the German Federal Government. The potential of the scientific use of data for evidence-based policy advice is emphasised, and register modernisation is a crucial part of this strategy. Nevertheless, research clauses are absent in the Register Modernisation Act passed by the German Bundestag. A stronger attention to science in the upcoming and future modernisation of registers creates opportunities for pioneering socially relevant research. The German Data Forum (RatSWD) therefore calls for the research clauses proposed in the data strategy to be implemented in future legislative initiatives.
In its 7th appointment period, the German Data Forum (RatSWD) will specifically address issues of empirical research in politics and legislation, new challenges in data collection, and will advocate for a change in data culture. Recommendations should be developed regarding research ethics, research data management, and the scientific use of unstructured data and register data. The German Data Forum (RatSWD) will closely involve the research community in all activities. The strategic agenda 2020-2023 was adopted at the 58th meeting of the German Data Forum (RatSWD) on 10.12.2020.
In 2019, 55,270 researchers used date from the German Data Forum (RatSWD) and its accredited research data centres (RDC), and thus published around 2,360 scientific articles. The usage figures highlight the importance of transparent access to research data. The network of 38 RDCs will ensure low-threshold access to research in the future. Since 1. October they have helped set up the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI). The RDCs are part of the consortium for social, behavioural, educational, and economic sciences (KonsortSWD) and are actively involved in the development of user-oriented services.
The German Data Forum (RatSWD) has been appointed for its 7th appointment period (2020-2023) by the head of Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Ulrich Schüller. At the constituent meeting on 16/17.07.2020, members of the German Data Forum (RatSWD) elected Prof. Dr. Monika Jungbauer-Gans (DZHW and University of Hannover) as chairperson, and Prof. Dr. Kerstin Schneider (University of Wuppertal) as her deputy. The 7th appointment period is characterised, among other things, by the development phase of the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI), which the German Data Forum (RatSWD) provides with its expertise. For this purpose, the members exchanged views with the director of the NFDI, Prof. Dr. York Sure-Vetter.
The German Data Forum (RatSWD) has fundamentally revised its Data Protection Guide and adapted it to the new European legal framework. The guideline provides a brief overview of the data protection principles and their implications for social, behavioural, and economic research practices. With this publication, the German Data Forum (RatSWD) is pursuing the goal of strengthening data protection skills when planning research projects and handling sensitive, personal data. The Data Protection Guide is openly accessible on the German Data Forum (RatSWD) website.
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed significant shortcomings in the recording and documentation of mortality in Germany. A current working paper from the German Data Forum (RatSWD) focuses on the main deficits: long information flows, a lack of centrally collected recordings of meaningful mortality data, and a lack of access to such data for research purposes. For years the German Data Forum (RatSWD) has been recommending the establishment and further development of a nationwide mortality register. The German Data Forum (RatSWD) therefore welcomes the contributions to the discussion, especially against the background of the COVID 19 pandemic.
The Joint Science Conference (Gemeinsame Wissenschaftskonferenz – GWK) of the German federal and Länder governments decided to fund the Consortium for Social, Behavioural, Educational, and Economic Sciences (KonsortSWD) as one of nine founding consortia of the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI).
The German Data Forum (RatSWD) accredited four new research data centres (FDZ) at its 55th meeting: the DeZIM.fdz, the IOER Monitor, the GePaRD Database, and the SAFE-FDZ. The DeZIM.fdz offers a comprehensive range of data on migration and integration. The IOER Monitor provides small-scale geo-data. The GePaRD database allows for the analysis of health insurance billing data. The SAFE-FDZ allows for interdisciplinary, historical research into financial markets. At its 55th meeting, the German Data Forum (RatSWD) also discussed ways to optimise access to police crime statistics, judicial statistics, and other data from criminal research in order to to support the broader research field.
Remote Access to data from official statistics agencies and social security agencies, directly from a researcher’s workplace, would make the research process more flexible and increase the use of these data in a scientific context.
A number of initiatives are currently emerging that are empirically recording the effects of the corona pandemic and how to combat it. The range of these initiatives is large, including self-selected samples from ad hoc surveys, representative surveys, corona diaries, and the integration in long-term studies. The German Data Forum (RatSWD) presents key information about the individual initiatives on its website, thus creating an overview, and promoting wide participation in the open surveys. Suggestions and notes on further surveys, their content, or first results are very welcome.