Dr Michelle Harricharan, principal research data steward and head of profession for at Research Data Stewardship at UCL’s Centre for Advanced Research Computing (ARC), investigator at GeoDS, and co-lead on the ACCoRD project, details the vital work underway to improve how data contracts work and enable UK research and innovation
The case for a UK-wide framework for research data contracts
The UK government is positioning artificial intelligence (AI) as the cornerstone for national growth and public sector transformation. Through its AI Opportunities Action Plan (DSIT 2025), it has pledged to build the compute and data infrastructure needed to secure the UK’s leadership in AI research and innovation.
Unlocking private and public data assets, including scientific data, and enabling that data to be accessible across a national federated research data infrastructure is at the core of delivering on this plan.
A federated National Digital Research Infrastructure (DRI) will rely on streamlined and interoperable data contracts to enable data to be accessed, processed and moved within the ecosystem.
A data contract is a formal agreement between a data owner and a user and/or distributor of that data. It stipulates how the data is to be stored, managed, transferred and used. For a federated national DRI, data contracts will need to be aligned across multiple stakeholders: (i) the data providers; (ii) infrastructures in the federated ecosystem; (iii) UK researchers and innovators.
However, it is well-established that the contracting landscape for research data is notoriously difficult to navigate — fraught with challenges, inefficiencies and uncertainty, which significantly delay or block innovative research.
The ACCoRD (A Community for Contract Regulation for Data) project at University College London (UCL) brings together experts in data governance and community engagement to deliver:
- The evidence, components and roadmap for a national framework for data contracts in research, and
- A community to take that evidence forward
Through extensive stakeholder engagement and community development we are mapping the complex process involved in drafting and agreeing data contracts, gaining a thorough understanding of the challenges and opportunities for data contracting, identifying best practice models and producing meaningful solutions to unblock data for the UK’s DRI.
A community-led approach to unlocking the UK’s Digital Research Infrastructure
ACCoRD recently launched with an in-person workshop at UCL’s Centre for Artificial Intelligence in London. The workshop brought together interdisciplinary colleagues working across the data contracting process — from legal and contracting services to research infrastructure professionals to libraries and data service providers to researchers themselves — all working collaboratively to share their experiences and challenges in data contracting and committing to working together to streamline the process.
What stood out most during the project workshop was the energy in the room. Participants, regardless of their role in data contracting, were eager to exchange experiences and learn from each other. The open sharing of stories and points of intersection not only drove the conversation forward but laid the groundwork for trust and a shared commitment to practical solutions.
Many valued the rare opportunity to discuss data contracting — a topic often overlooked — and to share examples of good practice.
GeoDS centre manager Ellen Koumi, who participated in the workshop, reflects:
“It was great to meet people from other universities who also work with research data contracts — especially as we work in different areas — so we could gain an understanding outside of our own direct experience. The workshop was interactive, and we mapped out the processes from beginning to end. It was a lot to go over in half a day, but photos of the maps we created were taken by the ACCoRD team so that they could be considered later. It was interesting to hear how we experienced many of the same issues, and to discuss ideas for improvement.”
As the session closed, several asked when they would meet again — an encouraging sign of momentum in building this emerging community.
Next steps and how to get involved
We are continuing work throughout the year to engage the stakeholder community and develop a roadmap for a national framework for research data contracts.
We will be holding our next workshop online on Monday 10 November, 10am–12:30pm.
Anyone involved in data contracting is welcome to join us and help us to map the stakeholders involved in research data contracting and identify challenges and best practices across the contracting process.
If you’d like to learn more about ACCoRD and be kept updated on our activities, you can:
Impact
ACCoRD is funded by the National Federated Compute Services Network Plus (NFCS) which is producing the wider roadmap for the national federation of compute services to support the UK’s DRI. Our community’s insights and solutions will feed directly into the national roadmap and shape how data contracts support research across the UK. At the end of the ACCoRD project, the community will be managed by the NFCS and will focus on delivering on the roadmap produced by ACCoRD.
Project team
Claire Ellul
James Wilson
Katie Buntic
Rahil Alipour
Michelle Harricharan
