Service
Data Governance and Stewardship
Governance that works in practice, not just on paper.
The problem
Governance fails at adoption, not at design
Most organisations handling research data have policies on privacy and storage but few have governance that is implemented consistently and effectively. The framework is circulated and then drifts from how work is actually done, because it was never translated into the decisions people make day to day, never supported by controls that fit the processes already in use, and never reported in a way that shows anyone whether it is working. Governance fails at adoption far more often than it fails at design.
The service
Making the framework operate
This service is about implementation. It takes a governance framework, existing or new, and makes it work: requirements translated into clear and business-friendly language, controls embedded in the systems and processes people already use, reporting that gives leadership a real view of where the organisation stands, and the stakeholder work that turns a requirement into a routine.
Research data carries obligations that organisational data does not: consent given for a specific purpose, confidentiality owed to participants who may be vulnerable, and provenance that must be transparent if findings are to be defensible. Governance for research data must carry both the discipline of data management and the ethics of research practice. This work is grounded in research ethics and integrity, not in systems procurement.
What it involves
- Framework development and adaptation: building a governance framework, or adapting an existing one so it reflects how the organisation actually works rather than how it was once described.
- Embedding controls: turning governance requirements into controls that sit inside existing processes and systems, rather than a parallel set of rules people work around.
- Governance reporting: reporting that tells leadership something useful, where the organisation is holding, where it is exposed, and what needs attention, rather than a return that is completed and filed.
- Translation and communication: putting complex governance concepts into clear, practical language those expected to follow them can understand and apply.
- Stakeholder adoption and change: bringing teams, partners, and leadership through governance transformation, so the framework is understood and used rather than resented and circumvented.
- Roles and accountability: Findings that can be traced to their source, with clear ownership of research quality and data classification, retention, access, and sharing.
Rates run on a sliding scale designed to make high-quality research support accessible across different budgets.
More on how we work togetherThis is the right service when an organisation is introducing data governance for the first time, has a framework that is not being followed, is digitising or updating governance that has fallen out of step with practice, or is answering a funder, partner, or regulatory requirement and needs the answer to hold beyond the immediate deadline.
How to get started
Start with a scoping conversation
A short, no-obligation conversation to understand your context and what success would look like. You then receive a fixed-fee quote and an estimated turnaround time.