Research data governance in low- and middle-income countries

Ferrer Breda, Pedro; Green, Elizabeth; Ritchie, Felix

Abstract

Research and policy development on the governance of confidential research data is dominated by the work of academics and government agencies based in high-income countries (HICs). This leaves three quarters of the world’s population faced with a corpus of theory and good practiced guidelines which, although robust and well-established, makes little or no reference to the specific circumstances of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). It may be that the data governance models developed in LMICS may be easily transferable to other contexts (there is some evidence, for example, that human-centred training adapts well), but in general there is little or no examination of this issue. There is however a large demand; a recent announcement of a training course in data governance for LMICS was 10x over-subscribed within the first two weeks of launch.
This paper reports on a virtual workshop held at the end of August 2023 which explored this topic with researchers and statistical organisations across LMICs. The topics included:
- How do attitudes to research data governance vary across countries?
- Are there key gaps in education, training, or information resources?
- Are there general lessons that can be applied across cultures and continents?
- Where and how do we develop capacity?
- Are there specific issues relating to LMICs which are poorly covered in HIC models (e.g. treatment of indigenous peoples)?

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: UNECE/Eurostat Expert Group on Statisticial Data Confidentiality
• Start Date: Sep 26, 2023
• End Date: Sep 28, 2023
• Deposit Date: Oct 8, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 10, 2023
• Keywords: development, low income countries, middle income countries, confidentiality, research data
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/11165734
• Publisher URL: https://unece.org/statistics/events/SDC2023