Doing ESRC data better

Combining three project stages and a mixed methods approach, we will conduct a robust review of the current ESRC policy and research, policy and legal landscape, solicit views from interested parties and construct an evidence base on which to make informed recommendations for an updated ESRC data policy for implementation. The project team is led by Professor Angela Daly, international expert in data governance and protection and recent Chair of the Independent Expert Group on Unlocking the Value of Data to the Scottish Government. The team brings interdisciplinary research, knowledge exchange and practitioner expertise across ESRC disciplines and data infrastructures to reviewing the current ESRC data policy and recommending updates to it in light of stakeholder feedback and views that we will seek through a comprehensive consultation process involving a survey and focus groups/interviews. We will also ensure that best practice in social science research data policies from international examples are identified and inform our work, to produce an updated ESRC data policy that is fit-for-purpose, easily implementable and future-proofed. The recommendations for an updated policy will be in line with the highest legal, ethical and best practice standards in the UK and internationally, and cohere with wider UKRI data policies and those of other relevant organisations in the UK and internationally. We will also suggest reasonable and feasible resources needed to implement the updated policy in practice.