The Research Accreditation Panel (RAP) provides oversight of the framework that is used to accredit research projects, researchers and processing environments under the Digital Economy Act 2017 (DEA) and the Approved Researcher gateway in the Statistics and Registration Services Act 2007 (SRSA). On Friday 28 June 2024, the UK Statistics Authority and the RAP hosted an in-person strategic workshop in London on the DEA and data sharing. The objective of the workshop was to offer RAP the opportunity to engage directly with several key stakeholders within the data community, listen to their opinions and concerns, and discuss solutions to overcome barriers to data sharing.
The workshop was opened by the National Statistician, Professor Sir Ian Diamond, followed by a presentation from the RAP chair, Professor Paul Boyle, introducing the day and outlining the purpose of the DEA, RAP’s purpose, and the achievements of RAP. The panel then discussed three themes integral to sharing data:
- data availability
- data access
- DEA accreditation framework and the Trusted Research Environment (TRE) Operation
The panel received presentations from multiple internal and external stakeholders on a range of subjects within these themes. Each presentation provided insight on the obstacles researchers face in accessing data, or case studies from TREs and the wider research community. Subjects covered included topics such as, health data and the DEA, barriers to uptake of the DEA, issues in the data access journey, and the Office for Statistics Regulation’s review of the ‘Five Safes’ model, a set of principles which enable data services to provide safe research access to data.
Additionally, there were case study presentations from OpenSAFELY on its secure analytics platform for NHS electronic health records and Research Data Scotland, who spoke about its scientific research infrastructure and approval panel.
Each theme was followed by a panel discussion about the presentations received and the panel agreed actions to undertake. These actions, including measures regarding research proposal requirements, TRE engagement, and transparency, will be incorporated into the RAP Secretariat’s strategic plan, so that RAP and its secretariat can work closely with key stakeholders to address these points going forward.
The workshop was a success, with RAP members meeting in person, listening to the concerns of colleagues, discussing solutions to overcome barriers to data sharing, and developing next steps on how to achieve this. The Secretariat received positive feedback on the workshop given from presenters and the panel. We to further develop plans to help minimise the obstacles researchers face in accessing data.