The International Association for Social Science Information Services and Technology (IASSIST) conference is always a highlight of our year. This year’s conference, held online on 2–5 June, proved to be no exception, with eleven presentations featuring UK Data Service staff being delivered across the four days.
In addition to presenting our work, it was fascinating to hear other developments from across the data landscape. The collaborative discussions that took place during the event really underlined the community that exists around data and we’re already looking forward to next year’s event in Vancouver!
The UK Data Service at IASSIST 2026
The topics covered by UK Data Service speakers included the new UK Data Service Moodle platform, how the UK Data Service supports the provision of synthetic data, the UK Data Service ReShare repository, and many more.
Links to the abstracts for each presentation are available at our IASSIST 2026 page. A full conference archive will later be published on the IASSIST website, as well as a selection of recordings.
Championing data
Jools Kasmire, a Senior Research Fellow and Computational Social Science Training Leader for the UK Data Service Training and User Support team, was one of the UK Data Service speakers at this year’s event.
Reflecting on the conference, Jools said: “One of the most beneficial things about conferences like IASSIST is hearing what other people interpret from your presentation, what interests people, and what motivates them to ask a question. This year’s event was really rewarding in that way.”
“The keynotes were also a real highlight. Maybe because it was a virtual conference this year, the keynote speakers seemed really relaxed and casual and I could clearly understand the presentations and see the slide deck. It felt like an intimate one-on-one discussion with speakers on topics that they feel passionate about.”
The theme of this year’s conference was “championing data” and Jools noted that this is a central part of what the UK Data Service offers: “I think the UK Data Service is really a key voice in this area by making all of the access and training that we provide free, which is just such an excellent way for people to get access to reliable, valuable data.”
“That’s something that I think sets the UK Data Service apart from a lot of other data services. I work in training, so perhaps I’m a bit biased, but I think the training is so useful and valuable for getting people comfortable with how to use data, how to interpret it, and how to understand how it can help them reach a conclusion or support an argument.”
“That’s such a powerful thing and I think it’s only going to get more powerful. As people get more overwhelmed by data, they’ll need more training in the future.”