iSHARE2 Key Acitivities
- Provide a Centre-in-a-Box (CiB) to participating centres. The CiB is a research data management appliance that hosts snapshots (analytical databases) of the HDSS’s operational database and provides a standard open source data extraction, transformation and loading utility (Pentaho Kettle ), a data documentation tool (Nesstar Publisher ) to generate DDI (Data Documentation Initiative ) metadata. The different software components are hosted in a free for use virtual environment (VMWare ESXi ) for ease of maintenance and support. Even though INDEPTH member centres use a variety of different database and data processing environments, the CiB facilitates standardised training, data transformation, and data quality measures to provide harmonised analytical datasets suitable for multi-site analyses. The CiB reduces the learning curve for data managers to master the often involved process of extracting analytical datasets from complex relational databases to a standard environment with a few well-chosen tools that eases the training and support required to produce standardised and documented data sets across multiple sites.
- Provide an intensive 7 day course to data managers and scientists from participating Centres on using the CiB to produce and document the INDEPTH core micro dataset.
- Runs the INDEPTH Network Repository. The INDEPTH Network data repository is a web-based repository (based on The World Bank’s NADA) to host research datasets and to serve data documentation to data users using the internationally accepted DDI Codebook metadata standard. Data is shared on this repository in terms of the INDEPTH Data Access and Sharing policy. Shared datasets receive a digital object identifier for ease of citation by data users.
- Participating Centres have access to an online helpdesk and project staff can remotely access and troubleshoot the Centre’s CiB to assist with and resolve any technical issues.
- Maintain a bibliography of publications emanating from all INDEPTH member centres.