Identification of benefits arising from the curation and open sharing of research data

Funded by Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC)

Identification of benefits arising from the curation and open sharing of research data produced within the UK Higher Education and research institutes

Project staff: Professor Charles Oppenheim and Dr Jenny Fry, Department of Information Science; Suzanne Lockyer, LISU; Professor John Houghton of the Centre for Strategic Economic Studies, Victoria University, Melbourne.

Duration: May - October 2008

Description
It is becoming increasingly clear that effective and efficient management and reuse of research data will be a key component in the UK knowledge economy in years to come, essential for the efficient conduct of research and its dissemination and use. This project will identify the benefits of the curation and open sharing of research data, with specific objectives to:
• Identify a methodology by which to estimate the benefits to UK Higher Education and the UK more generally of curating and openly sharing research data produced by researchers in UK HE;
• Identify benefits of curating and sharing research data;
• Use the methodology as far as possible to derive an estimate, expressed in financial terms where possible, for each identified benefit;
• Document case studies and examples of data reuse, where that reuse led to tangible benefits.

As a comprehensive generalisable assessment is not possible, we will adopt an embedded case study approach to identify costs and benefits, focussing on difference disciplines and including qualitative analysis. Analysis of this phase will inform a model to estimate actual costs and benefits which will be developed by Professor John Houghton of the Centre for Strategic Economic Studies, Victoria University, Melbourne.

Contact - Dr Jenny Fry, Lecturer, Department of Information Science
J.Fry@lboro.ac.uk
Tel 01509 223074