The ESRC’s Administrative Data Liaison Service will be holding a one day conference to highlight the power of administrative data using examples of current or completed research. The event will also provide an opportunity to explore the future for administrative data as a research resource, including new and developing mechanisms for accessing data. I am now pleased to provide full details of the speakers and the talks for the conference as outlined below:

Innovative research using administrative data

Professor Mike Brewer, University of Essex – Starting school and leaving welfare: the impact of public education on lone parents’ welfare receipt.

David McLennan, University of Oxford – Understanding the dynamics and characteristics of deprived neighbourhoods.

Professor Simon Burgess, University of Bristol – What parents want: an analysis of school preferences in England.

Innovative methods using administrative data

Professor Nicky Best, Imperial College – From health to politics: case studies in combining survey and administrative data to reduce biases in observational studies.

Ian McGregor, Office for National Statistics – How ONS has used administrative data sources to produce new local authority immigration estimates.

Dr Ruth King, University of St Andrews – (Bayesian) Capture-recapture techniques for estimating hidden population sizes using administrative data lists.

New mechanisms for accessing administrative data

Karen Dennison, Secure Data Service – The Secure Data Service.

Mike Hawkins, HM Revenue and Customs – The HMRC Datalab.

The future for administrative data in research

Dr Kieron O’Hara, University of Southampton – Privacy, deanonymisation and transparency: a review for the Cabinet Office.

Dr Chris Dibben, University of St Andrews – Looking to the future: the challenges and potential of administrative data.

Deadline for conference bookings is the 8th July. Further details of the conference are detailed below:

Date: Monday the 11th July 2011.

Time: 1000-1700 (registration from 0930).

Where: Royal Statistical Society, 12 Errol Street, London EC1Y 8LX.

Price: £25 – £45 (including lunch).

Further conference details are available at:

http://www.adls.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/ADLS-Conference-Information-Final.swf or visit www.adls.ac.uk.

Bookings: For secure credit card bookings please visit the University of St Andrew’s online shop at:

https://onlineshop.st-andrews.ac.uk/browse/extra_info.asp?compid=1&catid=12&modid=2&prodid=212&deptid=29&prodvarid=0.

For purchase order and discounted rates for group bookings please contact the ADLS on 01334 463901 or email adls@st-andrews.ac.uk.

## Open Government: Open Data,  Open Source and Open Standards
[http://punkish.org/opengov/index.html]

You are invited to attend a workshop titled [Open Government: Open
Data, Open Source and Open Standards][og] organized jointly by
[Dr. Hanif Rahemtulla][hr], Horizon Digital Economy Research and
[Puneet Kishor][pk], Creative Commons.

The workshop will be held in conjunction with the annual [Open
Source GIS Conference][oc], June 21, 2011, Nottingham, United
Kingdom, and will be held at the [School of Geography/Centre
for Geospatial Science][cg] at the University of Nottingham.

[og]: http://punkish.org/opengov/index.html
[hr]: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/computerscience/people/Hanif.Rahemtulla
[pk]: http://punkish.org
[oc]: http://cgs.nottingham.ac.uk/~osgis11/os_home.html
[cg]: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/cgs/index.aspx

This workshop builds on the [Law and the GeoWeb][lg] workshop held
recently at Microsoft Research, Redmond, WA, and will bring together
speakers from across industry, research and academia to contribute
toward some of the fundamental theoretical and technical questions
emerging in the Open Data space.

[lg]: http://punkish.org/geoweb/index.html

The following speakers and topics have been confirmed:

* Producing and consuming open data by Dr. Peter Mooney, Department
of Computer Science, NUI Maynooth, Ireland
* Mapping the UK population over time by Prof. David Martin, School
of Geography, University of Southampton
* Curating geographic and other data by Zach Beauvais, Talis
* Discussant: Bob Anderson, Horizon Digital Economy Research,
University of Nottingham
* Legal implications of open data by Dr. Katleen Janssen,
ICRI, Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven, Belgiu
* Open rights campaign, Javier Ruiz Diaz, Open Rights Group
* Exercising our rights over information about us by Prof. Derek
McAuley, Horizon Digital Economy Research Institute, University
of Nottingham
* Discussant: Prof. Estelle Derclaye, Faculty of Law, University
of Nottingham
* Tackling global challenges through open innovation and
geographic information  by Dr. Chris Parker and Ian Holt,
Ordnance Survey, Southampton
* Topic TBD by Diane Cabell, Director, iCommons
* Discussant: David Martin

## Contact

Please register for the workshop at the main [OSGIS web site][rg]
by June 3, 2011. For further information please contact
[Dr. Hanif Rahemtulla][eh] or [Puneet Kishor][ep].

[rg]: http://osgis2011.wufoo.com/forms/third-open-source-gis-conference-osgis-2011/
[eh]: mailto:hanif.rahemtulla@nottingham.ac.uk
[ep]: mailto:punkish@creativecommons.org

Following the unprecedented success of the first series, Horizon Digital Economy Research, Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), OS GeoVation in partnership with Esri UK and The National Institute of Continuing Adult Education (Niace) is proud to announce a second series of FREE one-day Open Data Master Classes. These classes will reach a wide cross section of people (i.e. individuals, communities, grassroots organisations, NGOs to civil servants and professionals) who will benefit from a greater understanding of the opportunities around open data as well as providing them with the tools and techniques needed to use and analyse a range of Open Datasets relevant to them; for example, school census data, crime statistics and transportation data.

The Open Data Master Classes combine theory and practical sessions given by guest lecturers within the fields of government, academia and business. The Master Classes will provide participants the opportunity to use and harness Open Datasets from various government departments and public sector organisations including; Higher Education, Health Care, Transport and Environment. Participants will learn a range of techniques from data collection and processing to data analysis and map visualisation. The content of the Master Classes is suitable for a wider spectrum of participants with various levels of IT experience, although some familiarity with web browsing and Microsoft Excel is assumed.

The Open Data Master Classes form part of a series of classes starting in June 2011 at the following institutions:

Swansea University on the 1st June 2011 – www.opendatamasterclassswansea.eventbrite.com

The University of Manchester on 16th June 2011 – www.opendatamasterclassmanchester.eventbrite.com

The University of Nottingham on 24th June 2011 – www.opendatamasterclassnottingham.eventbrite.com

Newcastle University on 11th July 2011 – www.opendatamasterclassnewcastle.eventbrite.com

The University of Reading on 21st July 2011 – www.opendatamasterclassreading.eventbrite.com

We will be able to offer each master class to 30-40 participants with the exception of Newcastle University which will be limited to 26 participants. We have secured use of purpose built facilitates within each university including state-of-the-art lecture theatres and computer rooms.

If you require any further information please contact Dr. Hanif Rahemtulla, Horizon Digital Economy Research at the University of Nottingham [hanif.rahemtulla@nottingham.ac.uk]

A two-day part-BSPS funded interdisciplinary workshop on childbearing and evolutionary theory will take place in St John’s College, Oxford between March 31st and April 1st 2011. BSPS members are cordially invited to apply to participate. There are a limited number of places available.

Registration is free but participants will be expected to pay for travel, food and accommodation (although we can arrange accommodation at St John’s College on your behalf). The cost of a package of overnight accommodation and meals at the college will be around £100, although participants are welcome to make their own arrangements.

If you wish to apply to participate, please e-mail a short statement of your professional interests to anna.rotkirch@socres.ox.ac.uk by 18.2.2011. Please indicate in the email that you are a member of BSPS. We will notify you of acceptance by 25.2.2011.

The workshop is organised by the Oxford Centre for Population Studies and the research project “Reproductive behaviour in contemporary societies”. It has received funding by St John’s College, the Kone Foundation, the Galton Foundation and the British Society for Population Studies.

IAOS Conference 2011: Belfast, Northern Ireland 17-19 August 2011 “The Demography of Ageing and Official Statistics”

An International Association for Official Statistics conference will be held in Belfast, Northern Ireland between 17th and 19th August 2011. The theme of the conference will be “The Demography of Ageing and Official Statistics”. The conference will consist of 12 invited speakers. Amongst others confirmed speakers include

Dr Richard Suzman: Director of Social Research at United States National Institute on Aging – Keynote Speaker

Professor James Banks: Research Director, Institute for Fiscal Studies, London Professor David Canning: Professor of Economics and International Health, Harvard University Dr. George Leeson: Deputy Director of the Oxford Institute of Ageing, University of Oxford Professor Nico Keilman:  Professor of Economics, University of Oslo and Editor of Demographic Research Journal Professor Brendan Whelan: Professor of Gerontology, Trinity College Dublin and Director of The Irish Longitudinal Study of Ageing

On-line registration for the conference will open in March and the cost will be around £200GBP. If you wish to be put on the conference mailing list or require further details please e-mail: IAOS2011@dfpni.gov.uk

LSE Health is hosting a ESRC-funded seminar on ‘Reproductive morbidity and poverty’ on the 6th of November, 2010. They invite the submission of abstracts from now, with the deadline on the 31st of July.

Poverty reduction is a core target in the international development agenda. Reproductive morbidities include physical disorders such as fistula and infertility, as well as maternal depression and mental ill-health. For every maternal death, there are an estimated twenty women with maternal morbidities. Although these morbidities cause widespread disability and reduce the quality of life, they receive little attention as public health problems. The burden of reproductive health morbidities falls heaviest on the poor who often do not have access to essential health care and services.

More informaiton on the seminar, and the call, can here found in this pdf.

The Scottish Health Informatics Programme (SHIP) are hosting a training workshop from 6-10 April 2010 at the University of St. Andrews on the topic of “Advanced Analysis of Linked Health Data“.

This is an intensive five-day course on the theory and practice of analysis of large sets of linked health or social data at an intermediate to advanced level. Advanced principles of epidemiology are combined with hands-on practical exercises in the implementation of computing solutions. This course follows on directly from the highly successful Introductory Analysis of Linked Health Data course run by Professor Holman in St Andrews from12-16 September 2009. As part of the course two lunchtime seminars will be presented by David Preen and Rachael Moorin to illustrate their latest linkage research.

The course co-ordinators are Professor D’Arcy Holman, Associate Professor David Preen and Associate Professor Rachael Moorin.

The course assumes that students have completed Introductory Analysis of Linked Health Data or have equivalent knowledge. The computing component of the unit assumes a facile competence in the preparation of computing syntax for SPSS, SAS or STATA and familiarity with the statistical analysis of linked data files at an introductory to intermediate level.

More information SHIP Workshop 2010 pdf.

The University of Surrey are hosting a workshop on the ONS longitudinal study specifically geared towards exploring population and health trends.

Workshop: Exploring population and health trends – the ONS Longitudinal Study
Time: 14.00-16.30
Date: Friday, 22 January 2010
Venue: Room 46AD03, The University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 7XH

The Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study (LS) offers a 1% sample of the population of England and Wales. It draws its data from each Census (1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001 so far), linking the information (on both individual and household) together to form a developing history for each sample member. Data are also drawn from the Registrar General’s birth and death records, among other sources. It is a very important data source for many fundamental population studies. Recent topics of LS research have included inequalities in life expectancy, health and socio-economic status; a profile of the ‘oldest old’; migration trends; the outcomes of cohabitation; the effects of childlessness and of single parenthood in women; and the changing ethnic distribution of the population.

Despite the importance of the LS it remains little-known outside government departments, and yet it is not difficult to use. The aim of this workshop is to describe the LS, some possible research uses of it and how to access it; and to offer hands-on experience of analysing the LS by means of specimen datasets. The Longitudinal Studies of Scotland and Northern Ireland will be briefly described, as will the other Census data resources available for academic use in England and Wales.

Hands-on exercises will use SPSS; guidance will be provided for those unfamiliar with it.

The workshop is free to attend, booking and further information is available here.

Workshop details:

Time: 14.00-16.30
Date: Friday, 22 January 2010
Venue: Room 46AD03, The University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 7XH

The Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study (LS) offers a 1% sample of the population of England and Wales. It draws its data from each Census (1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001 so far), linking the information (on both individual and household) together to form a developing history for each sample member. Data are also drawn from the Registrar General’s birth and death records, among other sources. It is a very important data source for many fundamental population studies. Recent topics of LS research have included inequalities in life expectancy, health and socio-economic status; a profile of the ‘oldest old’; migration trends; the outcomes of cohabitation; the effects of childlessness and of single parenthood in women; and the changing ethnic distribution of the population.

Despite the importance of the LS it remains little-known outside government departments, and yet it is not difficult to use. The aim of this workshop is to describe the LS, some possible research uses of it and how to access it; and to offer hands-on experience of analysing the LS by means of specimen datasets. The Longitudinal Studies of Scotland and Northern Ireland will be briefly described, as will the other Census data resources available for academic use in England and Wales. Hands-on exercises will use SPSS; guidance will be provided for those unfamiliar with it.

This workshop is free to attend.

Booking and further information:
http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/news/eventdetail.asp?id=2348