An International Life Sciences Measurement and Testing Organisation, UK Framework Agreement

The international life sciences measurement and testing organisation in 2018 won new contracts for the management of the health research institute and Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) grant schemes, which are to be managed alongside historical grant schemes that the life sciences organisation Grant Management Group (Government Measurement Group (GMG) already support. Project management and monitoring in each of these seven funding programmes has grown organically, meaning that each programme has its own internal monitoring and procedures. This makes it difficult to compare and manage staff resources across programmes as they are not interchangeable. The life sciences organisation wanted to understand what project management and monitoring activities were happening in each programme with a view to identifying common processes across the programmes. The Grant Management Group (Government Measurement Group (GMG) of the life sciences organisation delivers funding programmes aimed at bringing forwards innovations in the healthcare domain to the benefit of the UKs health and wealth. These programmes are: The Small Business Research Initiative (Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI), Invention for Innovation (i4i), and Artificial Intelligence in Health and Care Award (AI). The life sciences organisation commissioned Oxford Oracle to support the development of a logic model and evaluation framework that will enable to the life sciences organisation Innovations Team collect, measure and report key metrics for the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI), i4i and AI funding programmes. The data collected via this framework will be used for reporting for the next Spending Review (in September 2019) and will also feed into the Annual Reports and marketing materials and presentations for both programmes.

Oxford Oracle conducted interviews with each of the assistant programme directors and reviewed the project management and monitoring documentation for each of the seven programmes. Oxford Oracle then prepared a consistent summary process map for each programme and a matrix of features across all programmes. This formed the basis of discussion for a workshop with all assistant directors along with the governance and IP teams. Multiple client meetings and workshops with internal key stakeholders, such as Programme Managers were conducted to develop drafts of Logic Model. The following steps were applied in developing the programme logic model for the life sciences organisation: 1. Preparation & Requirements Gathering Activities included a planning workshop with the life sciences organisation Impact and Innovations teams, an audit of existing data gathering and reporting processes, confirmation of programme objectives, research to compile relevant examples of other logic models, and drafting a skeleton version of the logic model. 2. Design & Refinement - Members of the Impact team, Innovations Team, and other internal teams gathered for a 1-day workshop to map out the elements of the logic model. This was followed by 3-4 iterations with a working group to refine the model. A document listing the measures for each indicator was developed to accompany the logic model diagram. 3. Process Development - Two workshops were held to review the revised logic model, discuss the processes that are required to utilize the logic model, and agree next steps. 4. Refinement & Reporting Based on feedback from workshops and the Innovations team, the final logic model was agreed, and a final report was prepared to summarise the process changes and compile the insights from the pilot process. An interim report on lessons learned was also produced mid-way through the project.

The process maps for each programme highlighted similarities and differences but made it clear that there was enough similarity between programmes to develop a unified process. The outputs of the workshop identified a pathway forward to achieve a common process after months to years of trying to address the situation with no clear way forward. Author: Richard Johnson March 2019 191552: Communications and Stakeholder Engagement Plan 191570: Medtech Angel Network 191557: Scoping Workshops (1) Health Economics and (2) Training Materials 191595: Value Framework planning workshop 191533: Stakeholder Engagement Plan 191622: IP Unit Capacity Development 191571: Logic Model Pilot The intention of this project was to use Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) and i4i to pilot a process for developing a logic model and framework. Findings from the pilot will be used to inform how the process could then be rolled out to other the life sciences organisation programmes.