UN Millennium Development Goals e-learning materials

Background to the ESDS International data service

The international data service, ESDS International is part of the wider Economic and Social Data Service (ESDS), a national data service that came into operation in January 2003 as a jointly funded initiative sponsored by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC).

ESDS International has negotiated national data re-distribution license agreements with a number of international governmental organisations including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations (UN), the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the International Energy Agency (IEA). Through these agreements, the UK academic community has free access to the full versions of the macro databanks covered by the licences.

In addition, the service helps users to locate and acquire international micro-level datasets, such as Eurobarometer, the European Social Survey and Latinobarómetro.

If you are interested in finding out more about the establishment of the international data service please see the publications section of the ESDS International website where a paper on 'Delivering the World: the establishment of an international data service' is available.