„Decentralised and Remote Access to

Confidential Data in the ESS“

ESSnet DARA

Maurice Brandt, DESTATIS, Germany

ESSnet / ESS.VIP Workshop in Valencia, 23-24 January 2014

Modernisation of European Official Statistics

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Outline 1. Introduction

2. Goals and Content of ESSnet DARA 3. Results of ESSnet DARA - Remote Access Pilot

3.1 Outlook ESSnet DARA 4. Administrative Issues 5. Outlook

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1. Introduction

Increasing demand for statistical microdata

Access to national datasets in Member States (MS)

Access to EU statistics via Eurostat, (EU) No 557/2013

Request for detailed confidential microdata

For European statistics: access via Safe Centre in Luxembourg Very high barrier due to local constraints

Feasibility study: “ESSnet on Decentralised Access

to EU microdata sets” (2009-2010) Idea: set up a secure network of national Safe Centres

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2. Content of ESSnet DARA

ESSnet on “Decentralised And Remote Access to confidential data in the ESS” (ESSnet DARA)

Project period: from October 2011 – November 2013

Partners Groupe des Écoles Nationales d'Économie et de Statistique, France Hungarian Central Statistical Office, Hungary Office for National Statistics, United Kingdom Instituto Nacional de Estatistica, Portugal State Statistical Institute Berlin-Brandenburg, Germany Federal Statistical Office, Destatis, Germany (co-ordinator)

Funded by the European Commission (70%)

Task: Implementation of a pilot of a Remote Access connection

from National Statistical Institute (NSI) Safe Centres to the EU statistics at Eurostat

WP1

Handbook for members of the ESS, especially Access Facility staff with description of workflow and accreditation criteria for Access Facilities

Handbook for Researchers on Remote Access to Confidential Data of the ESS

WP2

Concept of technical implementation and safety requirements for an European Remote Access System

WP3

Cost and benefit analysis

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3. Results

WP4

Test results of DARA pilot implementation: Proof of concept with a remote access infrastructure with 5 access points in Europe to a central node in France (GENES) with a PUF

WP5

Dissemination of results to the ESS WP6

Final report with future recommendations

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3. Results

Planned model for the pilot Tested DARA pilot model

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German Management - Create projects - Create users - Enrolment - Output Checking

Hungarian Management - Create projects - Create users - Enrolment - Output Checking Portuguese Management

- Create projects - Create users - Enrolment - Output Checking

UK Management - Create projects - Create users - Enrolment - Output Checking

IT DESCRIPTION OF DARA PILOT CENTRALISED NETWORK OF RDC

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3. IT infrastructure for Remote Access Description of the ESSnet DARA pilot until the Eurostat final implementation

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Clear recommendation for European remote access: The DARA pilot with Eurostat as central node ! or a system that fulfills all defined user and security requirements, whereas the DARA pilot is an example that has been tested according to the specifications

There are still investments necessary for the final system at Eurostat Test of Eurostat implementation Connection of MS

Member States need to agree on a specific remote access system – this can be only the final implementation!

Accreditation of Access Facilities, starting with NSIs

Build up a circle of trust and competences for microdata access for scientific purposes in Europe

Strategy, roadmap and timeline for the next steps after DARA is needed soon

3.1 Outlook

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What are the key aims of „Decentralised and Remote Access to Confidential Data in the ESS“ (DARA)? To which extent have the aims been fulfilled so far? The core of the ESSnet DARA project was to deliver a pilot for a remote access system to use confidential EU microdata from the safe centres in the Member States. From a project management point of view, the project was very

successful. Everything that has been announced in the project proposal has been done (incl. alternative pilot).

BUT: We haven‘t reached the actual goal: To connect the MS to Eurostat.

We made very good progress, we have produced very useful

deliverables, but we are still one step behind a remote access infrastrucure. This still needs to be done!

4. Administrative Issues

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During the inception phase, were there other NSIs considering joining the project team, who did ultimately decide not to join? If so, were you informed about their rationale for not joining the project?

During the preparation of the project the NSI of the Netherlands (CBS)

and Italy (Istat) had been asked to join the project.

Due to the European economical crisis and budget cuts, the NSIs decided not to join the project for financial reasons, because the coverage by the EC is only 70%. (30% own contribution)

4. Administrative Issues

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How has the project team communicated with other NSIs? Information about goals, progress and results at ESSnet workshops in

Cologne, Rome and Valencia

Information about the aim and progress of the DARA project for other NSIs at the „Directors General of the National Statistical Institutes” (DGINS) Conference 2012 in Prague

Information of researchers at project meetings in Lisbon and Budapest

Presentation and discussion of the DARA project at meetings of the Working Group on Statistical Confidentiality (WGSC) and IT WG 2012/13

Presentations at UNECE 2011/2013, OECD and scientific conferences

28 presentations have been given (please see list final report, chapter 6)

4. Administrative Issues

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To you knowledge, have the deliverables of DARA - Decentralised and Remote Access to Confidential Data in the ESS been used (or are they likely to be used) across the ESS? Accreditation Guidelines for Access Facilities (AF) shall feed into

Guidelines of Reg. (EU) No 557/2013

Handbook for the ESS, how to use the system Handbook for researchers

List of user and security demands for a remote access system Proof of concept with the DARA pilot

ALSO: Many investigations that are valuable experience, but that will

not be used in the future

4. Administrative Issues

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What is your opinion about the usefulness of the deliverables to the ESS? Do you know of other NSIs using, or planning to use some of the deliverables? If so, how? The NSI of Hungary (HCSO), decided after the experience with DARA

to start a remote access system for their microdata access on national level

Official National Statistics in UK, (ONS) is interested to use the technology as well

Destatis has started a pilot for remote access on national level

IPUMS-International is interested in the results of the DARA project to build up a remote access infrastructure

4. Administrative Issues

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Design and structure of the project ESSnet DARA was depending on internal Eurostat project VIP-SICON The problem was not, that the internal Eurostat part was not ready on time The problem was communication, because the date for VIP-SICON was postponed from time to time and it was not made clear early enough that it is not possible to finalise it on time. Therefore, the work on the alternative pilot in DARA has started very late (Jan 2013)

4. Administrative Issues

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2013 ESSnet project assessment report Evaluation of projects is important, necessary and helpful

Of course, evaluators will be supported with all information

Very unsatisfied about the procedure, how 2013 assessment was

carried out

Neither ESSnet project leaders nor Eurostat coordinators have been contacted during the evaluation

Results of the assessment are incorrect and misleading

It refers only to publications on the internet and not to the interim report itself with all deliverables

4. Administrative Issues

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2013 ESSnet project assessment report

Intermediate results are not supposed to be published, only final results

For some WPs that are declared „missing“, was no delivery foreseen by midterm

Even for the final official publication by Eurostat, the coordinators have not been contacted for chance of clarification

No feedback from Eurostat or clarification, no willingness to take those wrong statements back

Positive: The procedure for 2014 assessment has improved with announcement and deadline to store final results on cros-portal

Very happy with „our“ project coordinator at Eurostat, Ms Bujnowska

4. Administrative Issues

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Positive aspects

The work in ESSnet projects is considered as very important

ESSnets are necessary to handle the complex challenges in the ESS

It brings together experts and perspectives from different MS

It raises awareness for certain topics at the „home“ institution

NSIs can benefit from exchange with other experts and technologies

Democratic decision making is considered as very necessary, even when not always possible

4. Administrative Issues

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ESSnet projects with interdependencies to other projects are very difficult to manage

Delays need to be announced early enough to have time to react

With the ESSnet DARA team it was possible to handle several difficult circumstances during the project phase

BUT the ESSnet projects are usually extra work for the project colleagues on top of their daily business

Assessment need to be communicated, what parts are expected to be published and when, otherwise it is demotivating for the whole team

Summary: Those results can’t be achieved by a single country, the collaboration and exchange of knowledge of MSs is needed

5. Outlook

Thank you for your attention

Decentralised and Remote access to Confidential Data in the ESS:

http://www.cros-portal.eu

Maurice Brandt

Federal Statistical Office Germany Research Data Centre

Tel. +49-611-75-4349

maurice.brandt@destatis.de

http://www.destatis.de http://www.forschungsdatenzentrum.de

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Access point integration What is required to setup a Dara Box ?

It’s a plug and play dedicated (standalone) hardware an Internet access on port 443 to the identified central node: either

though the local network (can be isolated in a VLAN if mandatory) or through a dedicated broadband connection. Out of the box, the system is in DHCP mode, but IP settings can be set, a proxy

server,… That's all

Once setup, what is needed ? No user helpdesk No exploitation, maintenance : remote administration from central node A Dara-Box can easily be replaced : they’re all the same

What are the interactions with the local network ? No incoming connections allowed (integrated firewall) Dara-Boxes will only access the central node, no additional

communication other than what is needed to do so is established Where to place the Dara Box ?

Location requirements will be defined in guidelines

ESSnet / ESS.VIP Workshop in Valencia,� 23-24 January 2014�Modernisation of European Official Statistics���Outline�1. Introduction2. Content of ESSnet DARA3. Results3. ResultsFoliennummer 7Foliennummer 8Foliennummer 9Foliennummer 10Foliennummer 11Foliennummer 12Foliennummer 13Foliennummer 14Foliennummer 15Foliennummer 16Foliennummer 17Foliennummer 18Foliennummer 19Foliennummer 20Foliennummer 21Foliennummer 22Foliennummer 23Foliennummer 24 Access point integration