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PAST OPPORTUNITY. NOW CLOSED.

Tender reference: RDPM-049

Call for tenders by the Open Data Institute (ODI) Contact: [email protected]

Process evaluation of the ODI’s R&D programme

The primary objective of this work is to review the process of how the research and development (R&D) programme has been executed since it began in 2017. The study will draw upon the work conducted in the ODI’s R&D programme, a four-year £8m programme to support and build upon the UK’s strengths in data, funded by Innovate UK. The study will also draw upon evaluations that have previously been undertaken on the programme.

This study is principally a process evaluation of the ODI’s R&D programme, with a focus on:

  • The delivery approach(es) used throughout the programme
  • The governance structures implemented and how effective they have been
  • How we engaged with programme stakeholders (Innovate UK and UK government)
  • How projects have been selected and executed
  • How findings from previous evaluations have been implemented

The successful company will work in collaboration with the ODI, who will provide guidance, review and assistance throughout.

Summary and timeline

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Terms of payment

50% of the total amount will be invoiced halfway through the project and the remaining 50% will be invoiced on satisfactory completion of the work, including responses to all feedback from the ODI and paid within 30 days.

Background

At the ODI, we work with companies and governments to build an open, trustworthy data ecosystem.

We are working to build an open future with the aim to create maximum benefit for everyone. It is part of our strategy to work with companies and governments to identify challenges and develop prototypes and tools to address them.

We are delivering a four-year research and development (R&D) programme to help develop the next generation of public and private services. The work aims to support innovation, improve data infrastructure and encourage ethical data sharing.

The programme is funded by Innovate UK, as part of a £8M, four-year programme, running to March 2021. We want to enable the UK to build on its strengths in data and analytics, break new ground in creating value from data across industries, and ensure it remains at the forefront of data innovation around the world.

The aim of this study is to provide the ODI with a greater understanding of the effectiveness of the process by which the programme has been executed. This will also include a review of how it has evolved over time and how the insights can be used to inform the way we run other similar programmes. The study will look at the programme as a whole over the last three years.

Programme themes and projects/outputs

Projects and project outputs in the programme are grouped under the three themes of:

  • Data as infrastructure
  • Supporting innovation, business growth and trade
  • Data sharing and trust

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The following evaluations have already been undertaken as part of the programme:

We expect this evaluation to build on the findings of previous evaluations, particularly ones where recommendations have been made.

Research questions

The principal research questions are:

  1. What can we learn from this programme that will enable us to more effectively run programmes of a similar size in the future?
  2. How can we undertake future R&D work more effectively?
  3. How can we achieve greater impact from the R&D work that we undertake?
  4. How can we better understand the economic and social impact of our R&D work?
  5. How have we implemented recommendations from previous evaluations, and have these helped to improve the programme?
  6. How effective has the governance structure been on the programme?

Research methods

Applicants should propose suitable methods as part of the research design phase of this work. We anticipate that this will be mostly qualitative methods.

Deliverables

Research plan

A broad research plan should be agreed with the ODI detailing the overarching research questions to be analysed, research methods to be used, information for the selection of project outputs, or if relevant the selection of stakeholders within projects and schedule.

Research findings report

We anticipate that the analysis findings will be delivered through a report and accompanying presentation. The report is anticipated to be a maximum of 50 pages along with an executive summary maximum length of five pages.

The primary audience of the report will be the programme funding representatives from UK Government. All reports will be published under an open licence for anyone to see and comment on. Relevant figures or findings may be used in reporting, communications and for future ODI bids.

A draft of the report should be submitted to the ODI for comments by 19 February 2021. Feedback from the ODI will be returned by 02 March 2021. A finalised version of the report is to be submitted no later than 12 March 2021.

Schedule of deliverables:

  • Research plan 23 October 2020
  • Draft report 19 February 2021
  • Final report 12 March 2021

Activities

Short coordination/progress update meetings will take place on a bi-weekly basis with the ODI during period of activity. These are likely to be via video call for the duration of the evaluation.

There is an expectation that the successful contractor will work closely with the ODI team.

Form of tender response

Interested parties should submit a costed proposal (in English) to [email protected] which includes:

  • the tender reference in the email subject line
  • a short (no more than 10 pages) explanation of your proposed approach (eg
  • methodology, scope), including why you are well-placed to do the work
  • a description of the team who will do the work, including bios
  • the costing should be at activity level, but feel free to provide more detail
  • a writing sample of a similar research report or impact study

If you have any questions about the tender, please contact [email protected] quoting the tender reference. The ODI reserves the right to make both anonymised questions and answers public or shared with other organisations having stated their interest.

Decision criteria

All proposals will be assessed as described in our public procurement policy. In addition, for this procurement we will be looking for experience in assessing other programmes of this size.