Office for National Statistics introduces replacement for the Research Accreditation Service

The Office for National Statistics will be replacing the Research Accreditation Service in the spring of 2025. They are developing a new service to meet the evolving needs of people using the ONS Secure Research Service (SRS) and Integrated Data Service (IDS).

The Research Accreditation Service is the researcher and project accreditation service for users of the ONS SRS and IDS. The current service is provided by a third-party organisation and their contract will end in the spring.

The ONS has developed a plan to ensure they can continue to provide an accreditation service. As the SRS and the IDS will run in parallel for a longer period, the ONS designed two new systems to meet the different user requirements.

• People & Projects Service (PPS): This service will serve as the accreditation and project management system for all IDS users. It will also take over researcher accreditation for SRS users. It is integrated into the infrastructure of the IDS. By being developed in-house, this service eliminates dependency on third-party systems.

• Project Accreditation Service for SRS (PASS): This service will take over all project application functionality for SRS users. It has been developed separately to meet the different needs of SRS users.

All data currently stored in the Research Accreditation Service related to person and project accreditations will be securely migrated to the relevant new services.

Researcher accreditation

A person wanting to become an accredited researcher to use data stored safely in the SRS or IDS will use the People & Projects Service.

• The People & Projects Service will be responsible for accrediting all new researchers and re-accrediting those whose status is expiring, regardless of whether they use the SRS or the IDS
• Changes to the Secure Researcher Training process will also be introduced as part of this service, with further details to be shared soon.

Project accreditation

Users of the ONS SRS will use the Project Accreditation Service for SRS to submit their project applications or modify an existing project. This service is a purpose-built solution. Development of it is progressing on schedule, and it will be implemented well before the Research Accreditation Service is decommissioned - allowing time for rigorous user testing.

Users of the IDS will use the People & Projects Service to submit their project applications.