"When it comes to access to research data for empirical economic and social research, Germany is lagging far behind in international comparison. There is therefore a lack of evidence for political decisions. But if politics is not targeted precisely, it is expensive. This has been known and undisputed since the Corona pandemic at the latest.
Against this background, a Research Data Act (FDG) was announced in the coalition agreement to remedy the situation. A draft law has now been presented that would be a major step forward for society and science. The research data culture would be further developed in compliance with data protection regulations, as has been the case in our neighboring countries for years. The draft law is ambitious by German standards. But it has to be, because the deficiencies in data access are significant and must be addressed fundamentally. From a scientific perspective, the FDG is the only way to finally make progress.
The fundamental problem with the existing legal framework lies in the restricted access to administrative microdata. A lot of data is available, but it is not available to research or is only available to a very limited extent. Data is often not allowed to be linked together. Strict deletion deadlines also hinder and prevent research. In Germany, this means that important questions cannot be answered - in contrast to our neighboring countries.
During the pandemic, people waited for studies from abroad to justify decisions.
If we want to base decisions on evidence from Germany, science must be allowed to use and combine data. This can be done in compliance with data protection regulations via a data trustee.
Researchers must have modern, technically advanced remote access. The draft Research Data Act from the beginning of October aims to achieve exactly this. It creates the legal basis for a contemporary research data culture and establishes a German Center for Microdata (DZM), which makes data from accredited institutions available and linkable for researchers. The planned law also gives the Federal Statistical Office a long-overdue research mandate for the first time, which is very welcome.
The distribution of costs is unclear. From a research perspective, it is important that the costs for data users are not prohibitively high so as not to prevent research. In addition, the law must regulate data access via the DZM across all areas. If concerns in individual areas have not yet been completely eliminated in the draft, solutions must and can be found to make the project a success.
According to the draft bill, the work of the German Center for Microdata is to be specified through legal regulations. The involvement of other actors in the decentralized German data ecosystem is still open - in particular the research data centers (FDZ). These have expertise in dealing with the specific data and prepare the documentation of the data. They advise researchers and take over output control, also to ensure compliance with data protection requirements. In order to be able to work competently with complex data, the expert knowledge of the research data centers is indispensable for the DZM. Therefore, and in order to avoid unnecessary duplicate structures, it will be important to closely integrate the research data centers into the processes and structures of the DZM.
The value of modernizing research data access may not be immediately visible and measurable, but it is immense. It is about enabling transparent and informed decisions in the national interest and ensuring resilience in crisis situations through data-based action. The costs of missing data and unused scientific potential are high. A small increase in the efficiency of funding programs saves many times the resources required under the law.
Germany does not have to break new ground, but can instead follow internationally common, legally secure and data protection-compliant approaches to data use. The examples in France, Austria and the Netherlands, for example, show that strict data protection can be combined with contemporary data use in the interest of the common good.
The planned law is a complex and ambitious project. It can only succeed if experts from many different institutions and departments work together across party lines and unite behind the goal of providing research in Germany with the necessary data basis. Individual interests must not allow the project to fail. German science now needs a research data law. We appeal to all political actors to push forward this central science policy project in the interest of gaining knowledge for society as a whole.
Andreas Peichl heads the Ifo Center for Macroeconomics and Surveys.
Regina T. Riphahn is Professor of Statistics and Empirical Economic Research at the FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg.
Kerstin Schneider is Professor of Public Finance and Taxation at the University of Wuppertal.
There is a lack of evidence for political decisions. That is expensive." [1]
1. Das Forschungsdatengesetz muss kommen! Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung; Frankfurt. 01 Nov 2024: 20. Von Andreas Peichl, Regina T. Riphahn und Kerstin Schneider
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