2022-11-03

Nordic Microdata Database will be led by Antti Valkonen

Antti Valkonen from Aalto University has been nominated as the manager for a new NeIC project Nordic Microdata Database (NMD). The project goal is to create a one-stop service to Nordic corporate micro data. Ultimately this will lead to improved research landscape and information for policy makers. NMD is funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers and aims at increasing the quantity of high-quality research into policy-relevant questions in economics and finance. NeIC was chosen to host the project, and the work is estimated to begin in December 2022.

Valkonen started in his new role on 1 November. He will be able to draw from his experiences managing various projects at Aalto University relating directly to microdata, register data and facilitating the use and access to them. With a background in economics he is also able to position himself in the shoes of the future user of NMD.

– This project is a very natural continuation to what I have been doing for the past two years professionally. I’m truly excited to take what I’ve learned and put it to use in a Nordic context. I’ve worked both in the policy interface of research and also in the infrastructure/service side and I can see the benefits of this project clearly in my head. There’s a momentum all around us to enhance the use of administrative register data, let’s not waste it, Valkonen says.