Levels of co-operation between government bodies, semi-state agencies,
community groups and private industry in Northern Ireland and the
Republic of Ireland are increasing rapidly with respect to issues such as
coordinated infrastructure planning, health care, trade and enterprise, as
well as peace and reconciliation. These initiatives require joined-up thinking
and detailed rationales for their formation and funding, which in turn are
dependent on evidence-based arguments. However, at present, providing
consistent, coherent and reliable evidence on a cross-border basis for use at
different scales is extremely difficult due to issues of data interoperability
across the jurisdictions. In other words, data are often incompatible and
therefore difficult to compare. Addressing issues of data interoperability
is crucial to successful cross-border, evidence-based initiatives