Evaluation of the MONA system

The MONA (Microdata Online Access) system is Statistics Sweden´s (SCB) standard tool to make microdata available for research and statistical purposes. MONA was put into operation in 2004. Since 2006, parts of MONA development and all access costs for researchers have been covered by the Swedish Research Council (VR) in order to provide researchers in Sweden with well documented and quality assured register data efficiently and at lower costs.

In 2013 VR got the government’s commission to improve the accessibility to and facilitate the use of register data for research purposes. The objective of the current evaluation is twofold: to assess the value of VR´s investments so far in the MONA system and to assess the possibilities of coordination of register data for research purposes between SCB and NBHW. A Nordic expert panel has been appointed to perform the evaluation. The panel has based its assessment upon self-evaluations by SCB and NBHW, user surveys and hearings with representatives from SCB and NBHW, and with researchers using register data.