DRAT: Data risk assessment tool for university–industry collaborations

Abstract

For research in the fields of engineering asset management (EAM) and system health, relevant data resides in the information systems of the asset owners, typically industrial corporations or government bodies. For academics to access EAM data sets for research purposes can be a difficult and time-consuming task. To facilitate a more consistent approach toward releasing asset-related data, we have developed a data risk assessment tool (DRAT). This tool evaluates and suggests controls to manage, risks associated with the release of EAM datasets to academic entities for research purposes. Factors considered in developing the tool include issues such as where accountability for approval sits in organizations, what affects an individual manager’s willingness to approve release, and how trust between universities and industry can be established and damaged. This paper describes the design of the DRAT tool and demonstrates its use on case studies provided by EAM owners for past research projects. The DRAT tool is currently being used to manage the data release process in a government-industry-university research partnership.

United in Big Data? Exploring scholars’ opinions on academic-industry partnership and the use of corporate data in digital behavioral research

“…In contrast, others, in the context of data sharing, argued that companies refrain from giving access to their data to protect their users' privacy from further scrutiny. This concern is in line with a recent paper from Sikorska et al (2020) that argues that reasons for reticence in data sharing include lack of trust, loss of privacy, especially risk of reidentification, and risks to regulatory compliance associated with how researchers use their data, in addition to the aforementioned inadequate economic incentives [60]. This tension only highlights the need to build a framework of trust and transparency to incentivize proper collaboration.…”

“…(2020) might prove to be an adequate step in this direction. This tool is set up to function as a medium to assess and control the risks associated with data sharing between universities and private companies, a task usually left to the individual corporate managers whose attitudes and motives for data sharing vary widely [60]. It would also be of paramount importance to investigate more closely the practices already put in place by private corporations to determine the appropriate standards to conduct research and initiate collaboration with private researchers.…”