Page 329 - Invited Paper Session (IPS) - Volume 1

IPS155 Laura B.
Banca d’Italia introduced BIRD (Banca d’Italia Remote access to micro
1
Data) in March 2008. We are not the only central bank or data provider
allowing for remote job submission (see for example: Germany – Gesis -
Leibniz Institute for Social Sciences, with MISSY; Netherlands – CBS, with
23
Microdata Services; Sweden – National Statistical Institute, with MONA).
Instructions for using BIRD, information on available datasets and other
useful documentation are published on Banca d’Italia web site, but BIRD does
not work online. All communication between the researcher and BIRD happen
via email. First interested researchers have to file for using BIRD. As explained
on the dedicated web page, each researcher has to request a user license,
filling in a form providing personal information (including a valid ID) as well
some details on the research project for which data are needed. As said, this
is an important step, as Banca d’Italia intends providing the use of elementary
data only for research purposes and not for commercial use. In order to verify
the scope of the requested access, the dedicated personnel of Banca d’Italia
examines the form, mainly focusing on the current position of the researcher
(whether or not she works for a university, research institute, etc. or for a
private firm) and the research project. The user also signs a formal agreement
with the privacy law and the deontological code. Once it is clear that there will
be no commercial use of the data, Banca d’Italia admits the researcher to work
with BIRD. Authorized users receive detailed instructions on how to submit
programs for processing. Hence the researcher performs her statistical and
econometric analyses in writing a program in a supported format (Stata, SAS,
R) and submits it by email to a dedicated address.
First the program is subject to a legitimacy check: BIRD verifies that the
program does not include any command comprised in a given list of
commands (depending on the statistical package in use), namely those
potentially able to disclose individual information (like “list” in Stata, or “proc
print” in SAS). When the program includes one of these commands, execution
is blocked and the system automatically sends an email to the researcher
informing her about the formal rejection of the submitted elaboration. On the

1 BIRD relies on the Lissy system of the Luxembourg Income Study, a project started in 1983
with the objective to open up microdata from a large number of countries for comparative
research. Lissy consists of a series of software components connected through one or more
networks, these components work together to receive, process and return statistical
elaborations. All the components of the system are physically separated and at no moment is a
user in direct contact with the data.
2 See Schouten and Cigrang (2003) for a brief survey of other remote access systems worldwide.
3 Available databases include: Survey of Industrial and Service Firms (since 1984); Business
Outlook Survey of Industrial and Service Firms (since 1993); Survey of expectations of inflation
and growth (since 1999); Italian housing market survey short-term outlook (since 2009); Survey
on cross-border transactions in services by non-financial and insurance firms - direct reporting
(since 2013); Selected items of banks’ balance sheets (forthcoming).
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