ADAT
A separate, but linked, problem is that of research data dissemination and archiving: surveys and other data conducted and collected by researchers may not be stored in appropriate formats, nor easily disseminated. Access to such results is often dependant on the original researcher still being contactable. Software obsolescence means that inevitably some datasets will no longer useable at all.
Providing access to economic data sources to economic researchers has been one of TIPS's key contributions to capacity in the field of economic research for a number of years. TIPS has been the de facto provider of such data to a significant number of researchers and students.
However, TIPS's capacity to provide access to economic databases has degraded somewhat over the last few years due to:
- Dedicated funding no long being available;
- Increased data licensing complexity and cost; and
- Blurring of lines between researcher/academic 'public good' and commercial research work.
However, due to the experience gained in administering such data resources, TIPS has decided to take up this role on a more formal and large scale.
ADAT will provide access to any student or researcher affiliated to any economics or related department of any South African university to a range of data sources in a consistent, powerful and easy to use online interface.
The relationship between the network and the universities would be a reciprocal one - research data generated by the universities will be stored at this central data repository and disseminated, according to required restrictions, back through ADAT.
By providing a single source and a single interface for the data, significant economies of scale can be achieved in sourcing data, administering licences and controlling IT resources.
A range of ancillary services will also be developed, such as systematic data training, both on the data dissemination tool and other data analysis tools.
