ESRC releases Future Data Services Phase One Report: Fixing the Data Pipeline
4 November 2025
The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) has released its Future Data Services Phase One Report: Fixing the Data Pipeline. The report reviews current practices and provides a roadmap for the future of data discovery and access.
ESRC has been investing in data services that enable researchers to discover, access and use data for almost 60 years. This includes projects such as the Social Science Research Council Databank (now UK Data Archive, the lead partner of UK Data Service), which was founded in 1967. Coming right up to more recent investments, the ESRC portfolio also includes ADR UK, established in 2018.
Central to ESRC’s vision is ensuring researchers can easily discover, explore and use data efficiently and effectively. This allows researchers to address challenges in our society and improve our wellbeing.
The report identifies five principles for how data services – and the people who deliver them - can play a key role in making research using data easier to deliver and improve the insights it generates.
ESRC’s vision for future data services:
“a seamless, connected, user-centred and federated data service landscape:
- driven by curiosity, collaboration and coordination,
- making use of new technologies that present boundless possibilities for researchers to use data for public good.”
Report highlights: Five guiding principles for future data services
As part of the report process, ESRC reviewed its data service infrastructures to ensure they meet the challenges of the rapidly evolving technological landscape.
The review covered the following areas, augmented by a cross-cutting theme, technology:
- Discovery and Curation
- Data Access and User Support
- People, Organisations and Culture
- Public Engagement
Through extensive consultation with researchers, data professionals, data custodians and technologists, a set of actionable recommendations were generated that aim to deliver ESRC’s vision for a seamless, connected, researcher-centred data service landscape that harnesses new technologies and maximises data usage for public good.
These recommendations were underpinned by five guiding principles that aim to transform how ESRCs data services operate:
- Co-design: Data services designed with researchers by default
- Co-deliver: Services that collaborate and 'join the dots'
- Invest in people: Building expertise in data and research
- Shift the culture: Focus on delivering better research outcomes
- Talk to the public: Confidently explaining why data and data infrastructures matter
The report signals ESRC’s intention to support data infrastructure investments to achieve a federated, 'whole system' outlook, with improvements underpinned by investment in technological change and an upskilled workforce to deliver it.
ADR UK support for report findings
"ADR UK welcomes the Future Data Services report and the guiding principles it recommends. The development phase of this work prompted a lot of constructive collaborations between the ADR UK and FDS. The result is that in the next phase of ADR UK we are committed to helping to smooth the researcher journey to accessing secure administrative data across all four UK nations – watch this space!"
Dr Emma Gordon, Director of ADR UK
What will ESRC do next?
ESRC are currently working with its existing infrastructures to support the implementation of the recommendations. This includes making funding opportunities available in the future to provide new investment in data service infrastructures and deliver more curiosity-driven research.
The next step for ESRC will be to support its data infrastructure investments to achieve a ‘federated data services landscape’ by enabling teams across the investments to connect and co-deliver consistent and improved services.
Further information
See Future data services – UKRI for more information and project updates.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by Professor Felix Ritchie and Dr Elizabeth Green, University of the West of England. A repository of technical reports that supported this review can be found here ESRC Future Data Services - Projects | UWE Bristol.
Fiona McKenzie and Olivia Ross-Hurst (Human Centred Health) supported the ESRC review of public engagement practices.
