The Education department is outsourcing the collection of research commercialisation data, relying on industry and research groups to provide the information that informs multi-billion dollar government programs.
The outsourcing, which now includes the departments first funding of the external work, comes despite warnings from universities about the “precarious governance model” of one of the suppliers and declining data quality from the outsourced work.
At around $50,000 for the data collection, going to an established provider is a more cost effective approach than the department conducting surveys itself, according to its first assistant secretary, research division, Dom English.
Mr English told InnovationAus.com the department will have “full access” to underlying data for verification and to generate customised reports, adding he is confident stakeholders are working towards a common goal.
“The government, universities and the wider research sector have a mutual interest in demonstrating the impact of the world-class research Australia produces, along with our translation and commercialisation outcomes,” Mr English said.
Almost $1 million more is being spent with another supplier for a series of reports for future research commercialisation opportunities for the department to consider.
The federal government collected research commercialisation data itself from 2000 to 2016 through the Industry department’s National Survey of Research Commercialisation.
When the survey ended, member-based peak body Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia (KCA) filled the gap with its Survey of Commercialisation Outcomes from Public Research (SCOPR).
The group’s annual survey and report – which is outsourced again by KCA to consultancy firm gemaker — delivers aggregated metrics for outcomes like research expenditure, intellectual property, commercialisation revenue and university spin out companies.
In a submission to a 2021 consultation on what would become the government’s $2.3 billion, 11-year Research Commercialisation Action Plan, the peak universities group Universities Australia raised concerns about the arrangement.
“Universities Australia is concerned that the measurement of the commercialisation of publicly funded R&D worth many billions of dollars is now managed by a not-for-profit, membership-based organisation that has subcontracted it to a small private consulting firm.
“It is a precarious governance model and it also appears that the coverage and quality of the survey has declined from that of the [National Survey of Research Commercialisation].”
Universities Australia, representing some of the nation’s largest research institutions, called for the government to “reinstate” a measurement that captures the “entire research sector”.
The Education department has this year backed the outsourced model, part-funding the KCA SCOPR survey and bringing in the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering to produce a range of additional reports on “future-focused” research commercialisation areas of high potential.
ATSE is being paid just under $1 million to produce the reports over the next two years and three months. KCA has received an initial short contract to enhance SCOPR over three months for $49,500. Both contracts were awarded under limited tender.
Mr English said both suppliers had expertise and their data would deliver additional evaluation of research commercialisation not captured by government funded programs while helping to inform new programs like Australia’s Economic Accelerator, which is expected to award nearly $500 million in grants and PhD support to university researchers over the next four years.
“The department will have full access to the underlying data, including historical records, and will explore with KCA the potential to provide reports customised to departmental requirements,” Mr English said.
“Access to the underlying data will enable verification for accuracy, and enable us to address any potential ambiguities and discrepancies in the survey questions or the data itself.”
Relying on KCA for the survey data is cheaper for the department too, and it will encourage more publicly funded research organisations to participate in it.
“Partnering with KCA to enhance their current system is also far more cost effective than the Department establishing a new data collection system,” Mr English said.
KCA announced the partnership with the Education department last week, saying it may lead to an expanded survey.
“KCA maintains its commitment to continue and hopefully expand the participation by all organisations conducting publicly funded research in Australia and New Zealand,” KCA Chair Quin Chang said in a statement.
