Admin DataTwo-headed Dragon

Anatomy

• Two heads:

• increasing admin burden

• decreasing capacity to measure

• One body:

• no information (data) flows

Researchproposal

Researchactivity

PersonResearch

results

Financialreporting

Funderpolicies

Institutionalpolicies

Data management plans & infra

Impacts –social, economic

& culturalSubstantive

reportingMetrics

Researchservices data

BudgetResearch

classificationHQP

trainingData

IDPerson

ID

Outcomes(e.g. Knowledgeadvancement)

Regulatoryrequirements

Ethics approval& monitoring

Peerreview

OrganizationID

Contributorroles

Collaborativetypes

Outputs

Some elements of a complex ecosystem that we trackRESEARCH ADMINISTRATION DATA

All Funding Agencies are…

All Institutions are…

All Governments are…

All Industry Partners are…

...but each in a silo

•Substantivereporting

•Metrics

•Impacts –social, economic& cultural

•Outcomes(e.g. Knowledgeadvancement)

•Data ID

•Person ID

•Outputs

•Researchclassification

•Funderpolicies

•Financialreporting

RESEARCH ADMINISTRATION DATAThe players and how they use research admin data

ID-ing, Defining, Classifying, Grouping:

People, Orgs, Projects,

Equipment, Investments,

Outputs, Impacts

•Budget

•DataManagement plans & infra

•Regulatoryrequirements

•Ethics approval& monitoring

•Collaborativetypes

•Peerreview

•Contributorroles

•HQPtraining

•Researchservicesdata

All Funding Agencies are…

All Institutions are…

All Governments are…

All Industry Partners are…

ID-ing, Defining, Classifying, Grouping:

People, Orgs, Projects,

Equipment, Investments,

Outputs, Impacts

•Budget

•DataManagement plans & infra

•Regulatoryrequirements

•Ethics approval& monitoring

•Collaborativetypes

•Peerreview

•Contributorroles

•HQPtraining

•Researchservicesdata

•Substantivereporting

•Metrics

•Impacts –social, economic& cultural

•Outcomes(e.g. Knowledgeadvancement)

•Data ID

•Person ID

•Outputs

•Researchclassification

•Funderpolicies

•Financialreporting

RESEARCH ADMINISTRATION DATABenefits of a practical, standards-based view

HOW DOES THE PROBLEM IMPACT KEY STAKEHOLDERS?

IMPLICATIONS

• RESEARCH TEAMS - time-

consuming to adhere to largely

common administrative

requirements; retype the same

data repeatedly when applying or

reporting; 42% overhead

• ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGERS -

lack robust data to track their

operations and have evidence of

the difference their interventions

make.

• POLICYMAKERS/EVALUATORS -

consistently frustrated by an

inability to draw meaningful

conclusions from a growing

mountain of disconnected data

• TOOL SUPPLIERS - must build

customized tools for each

stakeholder based on ‘silos’;

harder to scale and launch in

new markets; more expensive for

each funder or institutional client.

A USEFUL

ANALOGY

with thanks to:

Mu

ltip

lici

ty o

f G

oo

ds

Mu

ltip

ilic

ity

of

met

ho

ds

for

tran

spo

rtin

g/s

to

rin

g

Do

I wo

rry ab

ou

t ho

w

go

od

s interact

(e.g. co

ffee b

eans n

ext to

spices)

Can

I transp

ort

qu

ickly and

sm

oo

thly

(e.g. fro

m b

oat

to train

to tru

ck)Cargo Transport Pre-1960

? ? ? ? ? ? ?

? ? ? ? ? ? ?

? ? ? ? ? ? ?

? ? ? ? ? ? ?

? ? ? ? ? ? ?

? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Also an NxN Matrix

Mul

tiplic

ity o

f G

oods

Mul

tiplic

ity o

f m

etho

ds f

or

tran

spor

ting/

stor

ing

Do I w

orry about how

goods interact (e.g. coffee beans

next to spices)

Can I transport quickly and

smoothly

(e.g. from boat to train to truck)

Solution: Intermodal Shipping Container

…in between, can be loaded and unloaded, stacked, transported efficiently over long distances, and transferred from one mode of transport to another

A standard container that is loaded with virtually any goods, and stays sealed until it reaches final delivery.

This eliminated the NXN problem…

and spawned an Intermodal Shipping Container Ecosystem

• 90% of all cargo now shipped in a standard container• Order of magnitude reduction in cost and time to load

and unload ships• Massive reduction in losses due to theft or damage• Huge reduction in freight cost as percent of final goods

(from >25% to <3%)massive globalizations • 5000 ships deliver 200M containers per year

INSTITUTIO

N? ? ? ? ?

INSTITUTIO

N? ? ? ? ?

INSTITUTIO

N? ? ? ? ?

FUNDER ? ? ? ? ?

FUNDER ? ? ? ? ?

FUNDER ? ? ? ? ?

INDUSTRY ? ? ? ? ?

INDUSTRY ? ? ? ? ?

FUNDER FUNDERINSTITUTIO

N

INSTITUTIO

NINDUSTRY

RESEARCH ADMINISTRATION INTEROPERABILITY NXN PROBLEM

Open standards are a

shipping container system

for research administration

INSTITUTI

ON

INSTITUTI

ON

INSTITUTI

ON

FUNDER

FUNDER

FUNDER

INDUSTRY

INDUSTRY

FUNDER FUNDERINSTITUTI

ON

INSTITUTI

ONINDUSTRY

CASRAI VIEW OF RESEARCH ADMINISTRATION

• Neutral body convening/facilitating the table

• Known community leaders (chairs) as champions coordinators (volition)

• Representative subject experts (working groups) focus on the content

• Scope containment - small projects that fit into a larger whole

• Unambiguous agreements for IT/software experts

• Standardize the policy agreements - a common reporting format

• Least imperfect solution to a hard problem

WHERE OPEN STANDARDS FIT