Speaker
Description
Ensuring secure, efficient, and transparent data-sharing mechanisms is a key challenge for modern public administration, particularly when handling sensitive microdata for policy development and evaluation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic (MFA) has implemented an innovative Strategic and Operational Planning (SOP) function, incorporating digital tools and Business Intelligence technologies to enhance data security, confidentiality, and controlled access in accordance with governmental and international frameworks.
This case study presents the MFA’s approach to secure remote data access, particularly in policy-driven microdata management. The MFA has developed a role-based access system, ensuring that microdata used for strategic planning and evaluation are available to authorized stakeholders while maintaining statistical confidentiality. This system allows:
• Controlled remote access to anonymized datasets for policy evaluation.
• Automated confidentiality mechanisms, ensuring sensitive data remains protected.
• A centralized digital platform for intragovernmental data exchange, supporting cooperation among line Ministries of the Hellenic Republic in foreign policy planning.
A key feature of this approach is the use of Business Intelligence reports for data analysis and confidentiality preservation. The MFA has developed a secure environment that enables decision-makers to analyze aggregated data outputs, ensuring both usability and compliance with data protection principles.
The presentation will discuss the technical and organizational challenges of implementing a remote, secure, and transparent data-sharing mechanism within a government entity. Additionally, it will highlight best practices for balancing data accessibility with confidentiality, including lessons learned from data user engagement, emphasizing the trade-off between data security/availability and policy usability.
Greece’s experience provides a scalable model for integrating statistical confidentiality measures into policy-driven microdata management. By sharing insights from the MFA’s SOP function, this contribution aims to inform future discussions on international trans-border data access and secure microdata sharing frameworks.
Keywords: Secure microdata access, confidentiality, remote data sharing, Business Intelligence, policy-driven data management.