We are an organizational unit whose business is to cover IZA’s data related needs as well as those of its associated communities in a comprehensive manner. IDSC not only handles data technology but also the political, ethical and legal aspects of the data. 

In short:

1. IDSC is International. We operate without national borders or other artificial frontiers, drawing knowledge and experience from a wide international arena. Our aim is to cater to the international research community in line with IZA’s vision of a virtual institute.
   
   
2. IDSC is about Data. A large component of our work is about inventing, developing, integrating and applying solutions for data computation and in particular with “difficult” i.e. highly sensitive and confidential data. We develop, apply and integrate know-how aimed at dealing with data in the context of  the institute’s operations. This includes administrative data as well as research data.
   
   
3. IDSC is about Service. IDSC services the data needs of the IZA resident research community, the various global and virtual IZA research communities (Fellow and Affiliate networks etc) and the research community at large in that order. The meaning of the order is dual on the one hand it expresses priority in the sense that IDSC serves the local community first and the remote ones afterwards and on the other hand it expresses deployment order in the sense that local deployment is a preparation step for the large scale deployment.
   
   
4. IDSC is a Center. Besides being an organizational unit of IZA, we are an entity in our own right, with relations to the other IZA units and the world. As a a center, we also aim to become the focal point of an international, data-related, service-oriented network of economic-minded technologists and technologically savvy economists. We also aim to become the place for scientists to look for data support, data access support and data services with an emphasis on labor economics.
   
   
5. IDSC is about Cooperation. We understand the benefits cooperation with the scientific community can bring. Therefore, it is our goal to promote this concept in order to build mutually profitable long-term relationships and alliances.