Statistics New Zealand’s Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) is changing the landscape when it comes to providing data for evidence-based policy evaluation and research. By integrating administrative and survey data collected from source agencies across government in New Zealand, the IDI enables analysis on pathways and outcomes that were previously not possible.

The IDI is a linked longitudinal dataset, which currently contains economic, education, justice, health and safety, migration, and business data. All of this linked data in one place means the IDI can inform transitions of individuals, households, and firms, and allows researchers to answer research, policy and evaluation questions with the goal of supporting informed decision making. Significant work has been undertaken to expand the datasets in the IDI with a focus on data that will further enable research on social outcomes for families.

Research communities are able to address real world problems by examining outcomes of population groups and the effectiveness of interventions. The IDI is used for a variety of projects by researchers from across government, and there have been policy changes as a result. The IDI is available to approved researchers (government and non-government) and Statistics New Zealand provides access through secure remote access facilities in agencies and universities. The IDI will be a key research dataset for the National Science Challenge work in New Zealand.

The presentation will describe the history of the IDI, the data available, how it is put together, and the steps taken to ensure privacy and security. It will highlight examples of use, how secure access is provided to the IDI, and its potential future.