Stakeholder Benefits from Research Data Management

       

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The JISC-funded Research360 Project has released the summary stakeholder benefits analysis from the Research Data Management (RDM) business case for the University of Bath. The four-page document entitled "Benefits from Research Data Management in Universities for Industry and Not-for-Profit Research Partners" is available to download in PDF format from the University of Bath repository.

The benefits summary covers key stakeholder groups both within the university community (academic staff and researchers, students, professional services and the institution) and for external partners (industry and commerce, public and voluntary sectors, government and society).

Industry and private sector partnerships alongside public sector and voluntary sector partnerships are key elements of many university research programmes. Frequently partners sharing their practice, results data and laboratory methodologies can lead to vital knowledge transfer activities, improved services and products, creation of spin-out companies and further investment in the Higher Education sector.

As part of the Research360 project at the University of Bath, we are examining the data management implications, challenges and benefits associated with Faculty-Industry and Faculty-Not-for-Profit research collaborations. As part of this work, we have developed the summary list of stakeholder benefits that can arise from research data management in these collaborations. This list is now being shared with other universities and their research partners.

The summary list of stakeholder benefits was based on approaches developed by the Keeping Research Data Safe (KRDS) Project, particularly the KRDS Benefits Framework. Those interested in applying KRDS benefits analysis for stakeholders in research data preservation and curation as well as research data management will therefore find the generic list of interest. We hope the list can be used as a brain-storming tool and will assist in articulating benefits for selected stakeholders from research data management. Users can sharpen these short generic expressions of benefits into more focused value propositions for specific stakeholder audiences as required.

The stakeholder benefits were developed by Neil Beagrie at Charles Beagrie Ltd, in collaboration with members of the Research360 and REDm-MED project teams. Helpful insight and feedback were also gathered from researchers working in industry.

The stakeholder benefits analysis forms part of the RDM business case being developed by the Research360 Project to support the implementation of the University of Bath Roadmap for EPSRC. The University published University of Bath Roadmap for EPSRC : Compliance with Research Data Management Expectations in May 2012 in response to the EPSRC's Policy Framework on Research Data. More can be read about how the Roadmap was developed on the Research360 blog.

Research360 is one of a number of projects being funded through the JISC Managing Research Data Programme. It is an 18-month long institutional project designed to develop human and technical infrastructure, policies and training resources to provide high-quality support for research, ensuring that the University and its partners get the best possible value from data generated by research.

For more information and regular updates, please visit the Research360 project blog. Alternatively, please contact Catherine Pink at UKOLN or visit the University of Bath's Managing Research Data Web site.