Expressions of interest: Academic access to data

This is an open tender for expressions of interest for a research study.

Budget: Up to £15,000. Budget to be submitted with bid, guidelines below. 

Subject: Proposals are invited for research to explore topics that might include but are not limited to the areas below.

Access to research data

• What data does the accountancy profession hold, or could it reasonably gather, that would be of value to academic researchers? 
• Why is that data of interest for research?
• What data quality considerations exist and how can they be overcome?
• What are the ethical considerations and operational risks attached to data access and how can they be managed?
• How would access to data be provided, managed and maintained? This should cover technical design of the data environment and practical considerations for partners.
• How can the public interest be considered in the design of the access environment? How would this contribute to ICAEW’s charter objectives and vision of a world of sustainable economies?

Design of a centre for data on the profession for academic research purposes

• What governance arrangements would be appropriate in the public interest? How can the independence of a centre be assured?
• Which researchable topics would particularly benefit i) the profession; ii) the public interest? Which practical problems could a UK-based centre particularly assist with resolving through the application of professional data?
• How could academic studies on these topics provide these benefits? 
• How do academic incentives promote or conflict with practical use of findings?
• Which UK and international stakeholders should be consulted and how is a structured approach to data access likely to affect them?
• How much funding would be required and how should this be structured?

Knowledge exchange with practicing accountants and professional bodies

• What routes could be used to disseminate findings for practical use and for enabling dialogue between the profession and academics?
• How can the audience be maximised?
• What good examples currently exist and how might they be improved on?

Implementation

• Set out the next steps for implementation of a centre for academic data.
• Highlight the essential and desirable conditions that would need to be addressed.
• Assess the risks and their mitigation.
• Propose a timeline and roadmap for implementation.

Conditions

The successful team will have operational knowledge or access to knowledge of academic use of data. They will also have demonstrable experience of the technical, risk, security and ethical aspects of data access.

Bids should be accompanied by a budget setting out the time expectation, grade of staff and hourly rates for each element of the project.

The research project will run for six months. Researchers will provide plans and drafts to ICAEW for review at three stages:

1. Scoping;
2. Information gathering;
3. Draft report.

Please submit application forms to tosin.akande@icaew.com