Secure Data Lab
Cyconsol provided Melbourne Institute Data Lab (MIDL) with a secure data enclave, designed for sharing highly critical data with Australian researchers.
The Client Challenge
The Melbourne Institute, a research department within the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Melbourne, has a mission to inform Australian economic and social policy. The Institute has been involved in the design and management of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics (HILDA) Survey for the Department of Social Services since 2001, having followed the lives of more than 17,000 Australians. The HILDA Survey provides policymakers with unique insights about Australians, enabling them to make informed decisions across a range of policy areas, including health, education and social services.
Additional surveys and data assets over its 60 year history have further strengthened their work – the Consumer Attitudes, Sentiments and Expectations in Australia (CASiE) survey, Medicine in Australia: Balancing Employment and Life (MABEL) longitudinal survey, and the more recent Taking the Pulse of the Nation (TTPN) survey, which has enabled the Institute to capture and understand the Australian population’s sentiments and behaviours related to current economic and social issues
The Melbourne Institute provides an environment for researchers to work with this data. Over time, as new survey data was added, and with the rising interest in using administrative data for economic analyses, requirements for data security were increasing. An assessment of the environment showed that the Institute needed to increase their level of security maturity.
Cyconsol was asked to investigate and identify opportunities for improvement to enhance the operability, security and resiliency of the platform. Key functionality such as remote access, particularly in times of COVID, were absent. It was an opportunity to design a new environment that enabled collaborative work on data sets in partnership with authorised researchers and analysts.
Solution Features
Cyconsol provided these essential services for the Melbourne Institute:
Technical environment – this included platform planning, design, implementation and testing; assisting with the development of pricing and cost recovery mechanisms, and the procurement of hardware, software and licensing quotes through vendors; the physical setup of hardware and software at the data centre; configuration and tuning; remote access through a secure virtual desktop;
Data governance model – assisting in the development of the data management model; documentation and training on how to access the data;
Operational environment - management of access controls; management of all elements of service delivery (ITIL); and platform automation capability including data migration and destruction as per Australian Government requirements and specific contractual requirements; remote support;
Security governance - implementation of the security program consistent with the Information Security Manual (ISM); Adherence to the Australian Privacy Principles; physical security; preparation for IRAP assessment; ongoing compliance.
“MIDL is a collaboration between the Melbourne Institute and Cyconsol, incorporating enhanced security and remote access capabilities. It utilises the Five Safes Framework to manage disclosure risks and aims to transform administrative data into researchready datasets for effective economic and social policy research.”
The Results
MIDL provides a unique service to researchers across the country. Data analytics are undertaken by over 40 researchers from Melbourne University and other universities, as well as support agencies such as community organisations, in the development of strategies for public benefit.
The Office of the National Data Commissioner has recently approved the University of Melbourne’s application for the Melbourne Institute Data Lab to be an Accredited Data Service Provider - the first non-governmental entity to be recognised [Link]. MIDL provides the necessary complex data integration, de-identification and secure data access services to support data sharing, and has been IRAP assessed against the requirements of the Australian Government’s Protective Security Policy Framework and Information Security Manual (ISM) at the PROTECTED level.
Dr Samarage said, “The National Data Commissioner’s data service provider accreditation has given the University and other accredited users of the scheme the ability to request access data inside the MIDL platform from the Australian Government Data Catalogue, which houses over 55,000 data assets and over 160 restricted sensitive files. This really changes research practice with researchers now having the ability to access administrative data that were previously unavailable for the university sector.”
“Cyconsol’s ongoing support for MIDL is essential in maintaining a trusted reputation among current and prospective data custodians, data users and other stakeholders,” said Dr Samarage. “I greatly respect the expertise and knowledge of the team at Cyconsol. They are contributing to a world-class platform for Australian researchers, with cybersecurity meticulously woven into its foundation.”