When it comes to unexpected outcomes, the importance of 2011 Census aggregate data in understanding the impact of the pandemic jumps to mind because that wasn’t an anticipated outcome at t of the data. It’s often the unanticipated importance of these data. When there is a shock, these data can help understand how to respond.
Knowing these data are important is one thing. Knowing saudi arabia rcs data that they’re useful in a range of research projects is another but knowing that these data are critical to responding to something like a pandemic, to help understand the effect on populations and communities, is another thing entirely.
The 2011 census data was used a lot from January 2020, right through to now. So, the new Census 2021 and 2022 data that’s coming out adds to that canon of knowledge. In the Service collection we make available open Census aggregate data from the four nations of the UK from 1971 up to 2021 (and are ready for Scotland’s census aggregate data to be available this year), which is unique. I think it’s critical that that we maintain that stability, for data to be able to be called on for unanticipated use cases.
One of the things that I see is the Service’s long-term impact. Given that, in one form or another, it’s been going for well over 50 years, in a way it’s a witness to society. It’s a core sustainable route to understanding the changes and the pressures and the ways in which we need to respond to those changes and pressures in society.