Digital

Improving data access for ethical research and innovation

March 23, 2026 by deborahamzil No Comments | Category Data, Research Data Scotland, Scottish Government, Unlocking the Value of Data

Blog post by Chris Bergin, Strategic Data Policy Adviser, in the Scottish Government’s Digital Citizen Division.

Today marks the publication of an Operational Framework  to support the secure and ethical use of public sector data, by Scotland’s innovators and researchers.

Scotland’s public sector personal data is a rich resource, that if used in ethical, transparent and publicly trusted ways, can deliver tangible benefits for citizens, businesses, and public sector organisations.

If we are to unlock real value from this data to improve people’s lives – from enhancing health and social care to driving economic growth – we need to ensure Scotland’s data controllers, researchers and innovators are fully supported.

Improving data access for researchers and Scottish businesses, including SMEs and start-ups, while maintaining robust safeguards, can generate high-value insights and accelerate product and service innovations.

As part of the Unlocking the Value of Data programme, the Scottish Government tasked Research Data Scotland (RDS) with developing an Operational Framework to support this aim.

As Roger Halliday, Research Data Scotland’s Chief Executive, explained in his January blog, this will guide informed, confident and consistent decision-making by Scotland’s public sector data controllers when managing data access requests by industry for research purposes.

The Framework is anchored in a foundation of public trust. Ensuring the public has a voice in how data is used is essential, and building on previous work undertaken by Scottish Government and across the sector, RDS sought public input to understand their views on how the private sector should access this data. The key findings from this public engagement initiative were published last year.

RDS is introducing this Framework as a first iteration. It will continue to evolve based on user feedback, emerging evidence and insights drawn from its practical application. The scope is focused initially on access to de-identified data in the health domain, where there is strong, evidenced demand for access to data.

This Framework delivers on a commitment the Scottish Government made in its response to the recommendations of the Independent Expert Group for the Unlocking the Value of Data programme, and is informed by the guiding principles advocated by the group.

We are grateful to RDS, and to all our partners, for their contribution to the development of this guidance, and we look forward to seeing it put into practice. Our ambition is that this tool can become a key resource to drive greater value from Scotland’s public sector data assets, to benefit wider society.

If you would like to provide feedback on the Framework to help RDS develop future iterations, please get in touch.

Tags: Data, Public engagement, scottish government

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