On September 22, Insper’s Data Science Center inaugurated the Protected Data Access Service Nucleus (Sedap) of the National Institute of Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira (Inep). It is the first Sedap room installed in a private higher education institution in Brazil. The ceremony was attended by Manuel Palacios, President of Inep, Guilherme Martins, President of Insper, and Rodrigo Soares, Academic Vice-president of Insper, as well as researchers, coordinators and senior managers of both institutions.

 

André Filipe Batista, technical coordinator of the Data Science Center, explains that Sedap is a federal government service that enables access to protected data for the purpose of developing research in education.  The service guarantees that the identity of individuals and institutions is kept confidential, in accordance with current legislation. “We prepared a completely secure environment, following Inep guidelines”, says Batista. “It is an isolated web environment with strict protocols for entering the room and it does not allow any data to be exported without prior validation from Inep.”

 

With the access room, Insper is ready to receive internal and external researchers. This new space in the city of São Paulo will be a hub for accessing Inep information, eliminating the need to travel to Brasília in search of educational data. The information enables research on access and quality of education in Brazil, from pre-school to university. It is Inep that organizes the National High School Exam (Enem) and the National Exam for the Assessment of Student Performance (Enade), among other performance assessments.

 

For Luciana Arjona, executive coordinator of the Data Science Center, being an Inep Sedap nucleus supports Insper’s commitment to transforming society through scientific research. “The safe room within our school will allow researchers to access data on Brazil’s education and develop studies with the potential to contribute to public policies”, she states.

 

Contributions to research

 

Until then, Inep had only one external room available at the Pampulha campus of the Federal University of Minas Gerais, in Belo Horizonte. Cristine Pinto, Research Officer at Insper, considers that Inep’s policy of disseminating data through the installation of secure access rooms in universities in different states of Brazil is a major advancement for evidence-based research on education in Brazil. “Being the first private university to host a Sedap room is an honor and a great responsibility. It reinforces Insper’s commitment to supporting and disseminating evidence-based research”, she says. “It is an initiative that fits very well our purpose of disseminating knowledge.”

 

In Batista’s opinion, the new service is a milestone in Insper’s history and consolidates the Data Science Center’s performance as a reference in best practices for data governance. “In the coming days, the room will be open to the entire community of Insper researchers, as well as to any researcher who wants to access Inep data and who has a current research project, regardless of their school of origin.”

 

Cristine Pinto adds: “We hope that the Sedap room is just the starting point of a partnership with Inep to produce knowledge in education and that can help build evidence-based public policies.” Representing Inep, Maria Teresa Gonzaga Alves, Educational Studies Officer, and Augusto Marques de Castro Oliveira, General Coordinator of Information Dissemination, also participated in the inauguration event.