About
Based at the University of Essex, we are the lead partner of the UK Data Service, providing researchers with support, training and access to the UK’s largest collection of social, economic and population data.
Funded by UK Research and Innovation, through the Economic and Social Research Council, we provide a Trusted Digital Repository for national data resources including many surveys conducted by the Office for National Statistics, national centres for social research and Census data.
Our expertise and reputation in data governance and information security, along with our technical data infrastructure, help to make us trusted providers of data management services for research. We help to spread best practice in data management around the world.
History
The University of Essex has been home to the UK Data Archive since 1967 when it began life as the Social Science Research Council Data Bank. The Government Statistical Service began to deposit government surveys with us in the 1970s. In 2005, we became a place of deposit for public records for the National Archive, and in 2012, the lead partner in the UK Data Service.
