The Government of British Columbia, Ministry of Citizens’ Services, in partnership with Population Data BC, recently launched the Data Innovation Program for academic researchers, allowing access to cross-sector data from multiple provincial ministries and organizations for the first time.
The Data Innovation Program (DI Program) is a data integration and analytics program for government analysts and academic researchers. While every BC ministry and broader public sector organization collects and manages its own data, the DI Program securely links and de-identifies cross sector data for a better understanding of BC’s complex issues. The Program supports population-level analysis (not individual- or case-level analysis), unlocking the potential for new insights that can lead to better programs and services for British Columbians.
In addition to data from health and education, other data sets now available from the DI Program include:
- BC Benefits Program
- BC Employment and Assistance
- Child Welfare Program
- Community Living Programs
- Family Maintenance and Enforcement Program
- Labour Market Programs
- Private Market Rent Supplements for Eligible Seniors and Working Families
Population Data BC (PopData) is a pan-provincial partnership, physically based at the University of British Columbia, with an Education and Training Unit at the University of Victoria. PopData has been providing data access and linkage services to Canadian researchers for over two decades and is delighted to be in partnership with the DI Program, providing services related to data linkage, project and data management, and a secure virtual research environment.
For more information on the data sets available, and the data access process, visit the PopData website at: https://www.popdata.bc.ca/data. For information on the DI Program, visit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/data/about-data-management/data-innovation-program.
A webinar will be held this Wednesday July 21, from 1-2pm to provide more details. This can be accessed at:
https://www.popdata.bc.ca/index.php/events/webinar/DI_Program_Jul21_2021
If you would like further details, or if you are interested in an information session to hear more, please get in touch. Our colleagues at PopData and the DI Program would be happy to answer questions and assist researchers in making use of this significant new data resource.