Note regarding the removal of the microdata file of the Technological Innovation in Companies Survey
In order to obtain microdata from the Technological Innovation in Companies Survey 2000 posted on the INE website, a method has been devised for ensuring anonymity which has been seen to show some distortions.
In recent years the INE has been been involved in international work groups in which new methods have been researched for ensuring anonymity, and which provide microdata with fewer distortions, and as a result are more reliable for researchers.
According to Eurostat recommendations, in the case of the Technological Innovation in Companies Survey, the databases are only accessible under the premises of the INE, using INE infrastructures and resources. This access will be carried out through the so-called Secure Places, which consist of computers where said databases are available and which verify a series of physical and technological dispositions in order to protect the security and integrity of the statistical databases, which in practice implies that strict protocols are applied to external users who wish to access the microdata for research purposes.
Researchers who wish to gain access to the microdata must sign an agreement with the National Statistics Institute for access - for the research personnel - to the confidential data of the INE for statistical purposes. The agreement describes the project and the need for access to said microdata, specifies the period during which the research team will work in the INE, provides the name of the research team, and establishes the agreement clauses, including the statistical confidentiality clause.
The Secure Places are available not only in the Central Services of the INE, but also in the Provincial Delegations thereof.
Due to the above, it is understood that the microdata file of the Technological Innovation in Companies Survey for the year 2000 posted on the INE website may cause problems for researchers, as it may bias certain information, and therefore, the final removal of said microdata is being carried out.