UK Data Linkage Community is...
The UK Data Linkage Community (UK DLC) is an open membership community dedicated to the general practice of data linkage and entity resolution. With a focus on linkage methodologies, applications, and principles, the UK DLC facilitates cross-sector learning and collaboration.
Openly accessible
We actively invite members to shape and grow the community by contributing to discussions, participating in workshops, sharing materials, and surfacing best practices.
The community is hosted on GitHub and submissions are always welcome. For more information on joining or contributing, visit our Join page.
Collaborative
The community facilitates discussion and knowledge exchange among data linkage practitioners, identifying common practices and challenges across the field.
By fostering dialogue across institutional and sectoral boundaries, we aim to promote collaboration and reduce fragmentation within the field.
Cross-sector and domain agnostic
Data linkage is a foundational component of contemporary data use across a wide range of sectors and domains. While different domains and use cases impose distinct requirements on linked data, the core methodological approaches to linking records and identifying entities are often shared. The UK DLC presents a domain and dataset agnostic approach to strengthen and develop this common methodological foundation.
We welcome participation from individuals working in academia, government, and industry. The community supports practitioners working in areas including health, administrative data, finance, and related domains.
Productive
The community is committed to developing resources that strengthen the practice of data linkage.
These include educational and guidance materials designed to support:
- Individuals undertaking linkage activities
- Researchers and analysts using linked datasets
- Members of the public seeking to understand data linkage practices
More details on materials produced as part of the UK DLC project can be found on the Resources page
Supporting Experts
UK DLC recognises the ongoing efforts of experts in the field of data linkage, and looks to act as a supporting umbrella network working alongside existing communities to highlight and signpost to existing knowledge within data linkage themes.
For more details on related themes within the community, please see the Related Groups page.
The UK Data Linkage Community is funded by DARE UK as a Community Interest Group, and is affiliated with Administrative Data Research UK (ADR UK).
