In July 2012, the ESRC announced it will become a partner in the UK Data Service, to be established as of October 1st of 2012.
[1] ESDS provides access to and support for a wide range of key economic and social data in the UK.
ESDS service is a distributed service, based on collaboration between four key centres of expertise: UK Data Archive, Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER), both based at the University of Essex; Manchester Information and Associated Services (Mimas) and Cathie Marsh Centre for Census and Survey Research (CCSR), both located at the University of Manchester.
These centres work in collaboration to acquire, process, preserve and disseminate a wide range of data across the social sciences.
ESDS also provides enhanced user support and training for the secondary use of data for the research, learning and teaching communities.