Business of Government: big data, Harkness Fellows and more...

Business of Government: big data, Harkness Fellows and more...
Researchers could use synthetic data to improve the Census. (Image: NZME)
Jem Traylen
Even bigger dataStatistics New Zealand’s integrated data infrastructure takes data about people from many different sources and links them together in one large, anonymised database. However, it’s still not big enough according to leading consultant Kevin Jenkins, of Martin Jenkins fame.Writing in Victoria University of Wellington’s latest Policy Quarterly, Jenkins makes the case for “synthetic data” which could enable faster research with fewer errors while also ensuring privacy and security. Synthetic d...

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