Concept

Pre-Proposal

Investment Development

Management & Close

Data Access Requirements, Guiding Principles

and Definitions
This document articulates the minimum expectations for access to datasets funded in whole or in part by the Bill &
Melinda Gates foundation.

Background and Applicability

Your Program Officer has determined that a Data Access Module
must be completed as part of developing this proposed
investment.

4. The requirement to provide for data access applies to data

generated at all phases of the value chain; i.e. from
discovery and solution development; to pilot or proof of
deliverability testing and scaled implementation; to policy
and advocacy; and evaluation.

This document articulates the foundations minimum

expectations with respect to data access. For further guidance
please speak with your foundation Program Officer.

5. The following table lists some, but not all, of the data types
generated by our investments and indicates the types of
data to which the Data Access Module may apply.

Background
1. Information generated during the course of activities funded
by the foundation in the form of research studies, datasets
and evaluation results can be significant public goods. Data
of value to the foundation and to our partners can and
should be shared to make better, faster and more wellinformed decisions and to advance fields of technical
endeavor.
2. Accelerating the translation of knowledge into products,
delivery models and policies can save and improve lives. The
completion of the Data Access Module will result in data
access plan that adheres to our principles, promotes
accessibility of data generated by foundation-sponsored
investments and demonstrates our commitment to
organizational transparency.

Data Type

Requirements Apply

Datasets generated
by focused research
studies, and clinical or
community trials

Yes

Data from
surveillance systems
or surveys

Yes

Datasets generated
by modeling or
simulation studies

Yes

Datasets generated
by evaluation studies

Yes

Financial and
Management
Information datasets

No, unless data are of

clear scientific,
evaluative, or policy
relevance as
determined in
discussion with a
foundation program
officer

Physical material such

as tissue samples,
blood-spots, or assays

No

Applicability
1 The requirement to produce a Data Access Module (resulting
in a Data Access Plan) may apply to all new and renewing
investments, as well as investments that receive
supplemental funding. For completed or existing
investments, grantees and vendors are encouraged but not
required to provide access to relevant datasets in a manner
consistent with the foundations principles.
3. The requirement to provide data access applies to data
generated from activities sponsored in whole or in part by
the foundation, where data includes information stored in
electronic form resulting from experimental or clinical
measurements; observations obtained via surveys;
interviews; questionnaires; modeling or simulation; or
abstraction of documents. Quantitative and qualitative
information stored in datasets and accompanying metadata,
including codebooks, data dictionaries, and questionnaires
(see below for key definitions related to data access) are the
focus of our commitment to increased access to data that we
fund.
Page 1 of 4

2013 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation / For Internal Use Only

Data Access Requirements, Guiding

Principles and Definitions v1.1

Requirements
1 In order to complete the Data Access Module, you will
need to provide information about what data and
datasets will be generated; what will be made
available and accessible; how access will be ensured;
the technological means of ensuring accessibility
(see the Data Access Technical Guidance Note); the
costs of making data available; and a timeframe for
data release.
6. We expect the chosen solution for making datasets
available will be implemented as soon as possible
following finalization of the identified datasets, and in
accordance with the timeline agreed with your
Program Officers.
7. The data access plan that results from completing
the module should also align with the Guiding
Principles articulated below.
8. Data should be made accessible for a period of at
least five years.
9. Satisfactory implementation of data access plans
may be taken into consideration for future funding
requests and decisions.

Guiding Principles

balanced against those of communities and sponsors

that expect benefits to arise from the activities to
which they contribute information or resources.
Innovation: Data access encourages diversity of
analysis and opinion; facilitates the evaluation of
alternative hypotheses; permits meta-analyses; and
allows synthesis of data from individual projects into
a larger whole.
Efficiency: Providing widespread access to datasets
prevents unnecessary duplication of effort, enabling
the redirection of scarce resources to the most
promising new research endeavors, and maximizing
the potential impact of investments.
Capacity Strengthening: Data access can expedite
professional development among up-and-coming
researchers and evaluators, particularly in the global
south.
Collaboration: Ensuring access to data among
institutions and across disciplines can also result in
greater productivity and creativity.

Data Access: Key Definitions

The following principles underpin our approach to data

access:
Respect: Respect must be given to matters of

identity, privacy, and confidentiality as they pertain

to the individuals and communities from or about
whom data are collected. Respect must also be given
to matters of attribution as they pertain to
researchers, evaluators, and their collaborators.
Accountability: All processes and procedures for
data access will be transparent, clear, and consistent
with data management standards that ensure quality
data, appropriate security, and equitable access.
Stewardship: All who produce, share, and use data
are stewards of those data. They share responsibility
for ensuring that data are collected, accessed, and
used in appropriate ways, consistent with applicable
laws, regulations, and international standards of
ethical research conduct.
Cost-effectiveness: We recognize that making data
available can be costly, and therefore not all data
generated in the course of a foundation-funded
activity needs to be made publicly available. There
Page 2 of 4
Requirements, Guiding

are also multiple options for providing access. The

foundation Program Officer therefore has discretion in
deciding what datasets should be shared and made
accessible, and the most cost-appropriate means of
making them available.
Proportionality: The needs of investigators must be

Data Access/Accessibility
The procedures by which any individual or
organization can freely acquire and use datasets
collected or generated by foundation grantees or
vendors with funding provided by the foundation.
Data access generally involves activities such as cleaning,
storage and retrieval of data. A grantee or vendor has
provided data access when a party who is not a member
of the funded study team is able to undertake new
analysis and generate new knowledge using study data
accessible through implementing these data access
principles. An example of satisfying data access is
depositing data in a public access data repository.

Data
Factual information, especially information
organized for analysis or used to make decisions or
produce research outputs such as publications or
working papers.

2013 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation / For Internal Use Only

Principles and Definitions v1.1

In this context, data includes experimental

measurements; clinical measurements; or observations
obtained via surveys; interviews; questionnaires;
modeling or simulation, and abstraction of documents. For
the purposes of a Data Access Plan, data does not include
laboratory notebooks, partial datasets, preliminary
analyses, communication with colleagues, drafts of
scientific papers, unpublished research protocols, or
physical objects such as tissue samples or specimens.

A common internet search engine should return a clear

description of the data and a working link to the dataset
or the repository where the data are housed.

Dataset
An electronically stored collection of data and
associated files
The data contained in a dataset may be from primary
data collection (e.g. a survey) or secondary data
generation via aggregation or synthesis. Datasets may
contain one or more files and should include files that
contain the data themselves; that document and explain
the individual variables; and that explain on the collection
or synthesis methodology. Some of the information
describing the data may be contained in metadata
stored with the dataset (see below).

Data Repository or Enclave

An online storage solution for datasets that meets
the following set of criteria and satisfies the Data
Access Principles
Data must be accessible for a minimum of 5 years
Data should be easily discoverable through

conventional search mechanisms by an informed lay

person (e.g. researchers and graduate students in
the field)
Metadata on the dataset should be made available
(see Metadata definition below)
Data must be anonymized to protect individual

personal identifiable information (PII)

Open data platforms should honor any special

ownership and access preferences as agreed

between the foundation and the data producer; data
access may be limited to a specific audience or
granted on a case by case basis

Discoverable (or Findable)

Datasets are discoverable when reference links to
the datasets are included in online directories (e.g.
from repositories); a reference link to the dataset
is provided in any publications or reports, or on the
project/institution website; and/or returned when
running a standard internet search

Page 3 of 4
Requirements, Guiding

2013 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation / For Internal Use Only

Principles and Definitions v1.1

Metadata

Methodology used to collect/compile/create data

Information stored electronically with or as part of

the dataset and should be provided along with the
data whenever they are downloaded, accessed, or
shared.
This may include items such as:
Year of data production
Content
Data Dictionary
Known Data Quality profile/issues
Data completeness

Research Outputs
Reports, publications, scientific presentations,
policy briefs, working papers that present summary
statistics, analysis and conclusions derived from
primary or secondary data.
Research outputs are distinct from datasets. Reporting
on or sharing research results and outputs (e.g. summary
statistics or tables) fulfills some of the objectives of the
foundations global access principles, but does not satisfy
the requirement of data access.

Other salient features of the data and dataset

Page 4 of 4
Requirements, Guiding

2013 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation / For Internal Use Only

Principles and Definitions v1.1