The heads of the National Statistics Institute (INE), the State Tax Administration Agency (AEAT), Social Security (General Treasury, National Social Security Institute, Social Institute of the Navy and IT Management), the Bank of Spain and the State Public Employment Service (SEPE) have signed an agreement by which they will allow combined and integrated access to records and databases owned by them to researchers who carry out scientific work in the public interest.

Access to data will be carried out using procedures that ensure at all times the confidentiality of the information, the protection of personal data, compliance with current legislation and statistical secrecy, guaranteeing the impossibility of directly identifying any of the subjects or units whose information is contained in the databases.

In this way, the Spanish administration has made a significant qualitative leap and is now on a par with the most advanced countries in terms of public data management, by making one of its main assets, data, available to researchers so that they can be used in analytical projects that can inform the decision-making process, as well as the design and implementation of public policies.

The reuse of data provided by citizens, companies and entities to public institutions through the performance of work for scientific research purposes reinforces their added value, contributing significantly to the economic and social progress of countries. Access to cross-referenced information from databases of different institutions also allows for maximizing the value that this information can bring to research.

This action is also in line with the objective of the recently approved European Data Governance Act, a key pillar of the European data strategy, which seeks to increase confidence in the exchange of data, strengthen mechanisms to increase their availability and overcome technical obstacles to their reuse for purposes that seek the benefit of citizens, such as research in the public interest.

Access operation

The operation of the system will be determined by a monitoring committee, composed of representatives of the signatory institutions, which will decide on the viability of the access requests submitted, as well as on the most efficient procedures to manage them, always taking into account that the institutions involved in each request must agree to the transfer of their data.

The evaluation of each application will analyse aspects such as the social interest of the results that are intended to be obtained in the research, the profile, career and scientific publications of the principal investigator and the associates or the history of research projects of the entity that supports the project. Depending on the confidentiality regime and the legal framework applicable in each case, it may be necessary to manage the request for access to the combined data of the different institutions using a secure centre in one of the signatory institutions.

The monitoring committee, whose secretariat is the INE, will begin its work immediately, so the system will be fully operational before the end of the first quarter of 2024. Publicity regarding the operation of the access system will be carried out as extensively as possible by all signatory institutions.

Extension of the agreement to other institutions

The agreement remains open for other institutions of the Administration to join in the future. This would allow the incorporation of new databases and increase the number and type of research work that can benefit from this system in the public interest.