infinitE - An informational infrastructure for the E-science age, OR, Improvement of data access The long way to remote data access in Germany

The project infinitE aims at improving the access to micro data in Germany. At present, researchers have the possibility to gain access to micro data via remote execution. By doing so, the researcher is provided with a so-called "data structure file" that enables him to develop a code that is applied to the statistical software of the researchers choice by the staff of the Research Data Centers. Afterwards, the output is manually checked for confidentiality and is handed over to the researcher. Unfortunately, this imposes a substantial waiting period on the researcher. In addition, the process of manual output checking demands a lot of manpower in the Research Data Centers. That is why in the course of infinitE the foundation for an automatization both of the process of starting the code of the researcher and the output checking was laid. This comes along with the need of the application of new methods of output checking instead of the cell suppression method currently used in the Research Data Centers. The outcomes of infinitE have demonstrated that a partial automatization, or even a full automatization of the German micro data acceess is not a question of feasibility, but of costs.