The Role of the Bundesbank Microdata Production in Times of Big Data: The Need for Data Access, Data Sharing, and an Integrated Digital Information System

Deutsche Bundesbank - as other central banks - collects monetary, financial and external sector statistical data, comprehensive sets of indicators and seasonally adjusted business statistics. So, the Bundesbank is one of the largest data producers in Germany and its data are of high quality. This applies also to its micro data - quality-tested administrative data covering the fields of banks, securities, enterprises and household finance. To meet the demand of data users and data compilers for (granular) data sharing and to facilitate the implementation of the G20-Recommendation II.20 of DGI-2, the Bundesbank provides free of charge access for external independent researchers to its (linked) microdata for research purposes in its Research Data and Service Centre (RDSC). To improve the knowledge RDSC together with NYU (Julia Lane) are developing an Integrated Digital Information System (IDIS). IDIS is a dynamic and adaptive repository which connects data producers, RDSC and Bundesbank researchers, by building a community around research projects, data sets and publications (knowledge map) The knowledge map turns fragmented knowledge produced at all stages of the research process into discoverable and reusable knowledge. Second, by incorporating possibilities for all data users to feed back their information, the knowledge map becomes dynamic. So, IDIS creates value by making discovery of data and related projects, people, and publications at Bundesbank more comprehensive and efficient through storage of usable knowledge in a repository. It also enables analysis about research using modern statistical tools.