CALL FOR ACADEMIC PROPOSALS: Developing an enabling Innovative Medicines Information Governance Framework for Scotland

The AIM4ALL (Access to Innovative Medicines for All) Initiative has been established to develop a 21st century technology partnership solution to help address the pricing and reimbursement access challenges of introducing innovative medicines. This initiative brings together countries, health systems, researchers, and pharmaceutical companies in a secure and trusted Living Lab environment where they can test new pricing and reimbursement ideas without being blocked by existing rules.

The Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre (DHI) is awarding an academic grant of up to £30K to support important foundational and emerging elements of this innovative initiative.

Background

An increasing number of innovative high-upfront cost and acute/chronic medicines are being approved with an evidence base which is initially emergent. In these circumstances, health systems adopt a cautious approach to pricing to ensure value-for-money and manage risk, but manufacturers are under pressure to optimise pricing to maximise their return on investment. There is also a pressing need for Scotland to increase its attractiveness to pharma companies to carry out clinical trials work in Scotland to deliver benefits to patients and the health system. Solving the ICT and Information Governance (IG) landscape challenges around real world data collection, data management, aggregation and sharing systems and processes needs to be reviewed, updated and streamlined to become a key enabler of improved patient care and system transformation. This call is designed to move this work forward with a focus on developing an enabling ‘Innovative Medicines IG Framework for Scotland’.

This work builds on a previous funded programme of work that sought to map the current IG landscape in Scotland. This included identifying the legal framework that currently governs Scotland’s data landscape and explored potential ways to evolve IG into more of an enabling role while maintaining full and assured compliance with applicable legislation and health data policy. All resources from that programme will be made available as background resources to the successful candidate.

Specification

DHI is seeking an academic partner to:

1. Translate the high-level IG mapping into a detailed IG architecture: develop a comprehensive, working IG architecture that includes:

a. detailed data flow mapping

b. role and responsibility definitions

c. alignment with Scottish and UK IG frameworks

2. Consult with stakeholders: engage key NHS and Scottish Government partners to:

a. validate assumptions within the draft IG Model framework

b. assess gaps, risks, and potential mitigations

c. refine and agree the final IG architecture

This collaborative validation step is essential to ensure the model is practical, trusted, and implementable across organisations.

3. Deliver a testing phase using scenario-based IG testing: prepare and test IG artefacts required for Real World Evidence (RWE) activity tested via user journey and data pathway scenarios, including:

a. Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs)

b. Data Sharing Agreements (DSAs)

This phase will confirm whether the proposed architecture can operate safely, effectively, and at scale.

4. Produce a finalised IG framework and implementation roadmap: the final deliverable will be a detailed IG framework accompanied by a clear improvement roadmap outlining implementation stages, dependencies, and sequencing for AIM4ALL.

We expect interested academic institutions to provide a brief response document (maximum 10 pages) clearly setting out their approach to this piece of work and detail of associated costs. Please note, applicants may provide additional information in appendices, but only the application will be scored, with the exception of one-page CVs of the team, which can be attached and will be included in the scoring.

Eligibility to apply

The following eligibility criteria apply to this grant award:

• The applicant organisation must be a Scottish Higher Education Institution (HEI).

• Funds cannot be redistributed by the awarded party, except without express permission by DHI.

• Bids must be costed in line with the Higher Education Institution’s bidding policies. DHI expects the HEI research office to be involved in communication.

• DHI expects bids to be costed at 80% Full Economic Costing.

Approach

HEIs are requested to identify their proposed methodologies as part of their submission. The approach to this piece of work has not been defined in advance - although it is expected to incorporate mixed methods. It is envisaged that the approach will be refined in discussion between the successful academic institution and the Project Steering Group. The proposal should also describe what approaches might be taken to ensure the final report may be useful and will be appropriately disseminated both to the funder as well as relevant stakeholders themselves.

Skills required

The HEI will offer, either directly, or through engagement with third parties:

• Extensive knowledge and experience in the management of health data for the purposes of academic research; and

• Extensive knowledge of the data and information governance landscape across Scotland including interplay between with health, industry and academia

• Data protection and legal compliance expertise

• Advanced information governance architecture knowledge

• Stakeholder engagement and facilitation skills

  
  
  
  

Milestones, Deliverables and Timescales

We anticipate the commission milestones will follow the timescales set out in Table 1:

Tender Process:	Date
Issue call for bids	31st March 2026
Deadline for submissions	9th June 2026
Contract awarded	17th June 2026
Kick off meeting	w/c 22nd June 2026
Project milestones with deliverables:	Date
Completion of IG architecture	1st September 2026
Completion of IG framework and implementation roadmap	3rd November 2026
Final reporting	4th December 2026

Table 1 : Project Timetable

Please note that the main AIM4ALL Living Lab programme (which has been used as an exemplar of a health initiative whose success has a dependency on streamlined IG) is not explicitly time-aligned to the proposed IG project (as described in this call for proposals). When submitting a proposal, applicants should take this into account in terms of overall approach to design and specifically around testing.

Governance

A Project Steering Group with representation from DHI, Research Data Scotland , Scottish Government and other relevant organisations/experts will oversee delivery of this project. It will sign-off project deliverables and provide advice/support the addressing of key issues.

Management arrangements

The grant award process will be managed by DHI as the lead commissioning body.

DHI Lead Contact:

Jennifer Thomas, Skills & Project Manager: Jennifer.thomas@dhi-scotland.com.

Copyright

DHI will retain copyright of any outputs, partial or final, created as a result of the deliverables indicated in section 5, including reports, evidence collection instruments created for this purpose, presentations, etc.

Conflicts of interest

There will be a requirement to state no conflict of interest exists or declare any actual or potential conflicts of interest.

Budget

The total budget available for this project is up to £30K, including any relevant VAT. Phasing of payment is detailed in Table 2 below.

Milestone Completion Payment

Milestone	Completion	Payment
Completion of IG architecture	1st September 2026	50%
Completion of IG framework and implementation roadmap	3rd November 2026	25%
Final reporting	4th December 2026	25%

Table 2 : Project Milestones  

Response

You are invited to respond to this document with the following information, with max 10 pages of text:

• Your proposals for delivering on the requirements, scope, methods and deliverables described above. You should detail:
  

o your understanding of the main issues to be addressed

o how you intend to deliver on the requirements; and

o the methodology you propose to use.

• The expertise and experience of the team undertaking the work, referencing the skills detailed in the ‘Skills required’ section of this document. This should include one-page CV[s] and statement of availability of the individual/s who will undertake the work. CVs can be attached into the application and will be taken into account in the assessment of applications.

• Brief summaries of similar work undertaken, including contact information (name and telephone number or email address) for at least one reference.

• Proposals should also detail all risks and constraints identified for this project, including an assessment of impacts and proposed mitigation actions.

• A realistic timetable of activities, including contingency management, to meet the timescales outlined in the ‘Milestones, Deliverables and Timescales’ section of this document.

• A breakdown of costs, including any expenses.

• An outline of anticipated ethical issues, including data protection and research governance.

  
  

Response proposals are to be submitted to research@dhi-scotland.com by 5pm, Tuesday 9th June 2026. To assist with the completion of your response, you may contact Jennifer.thomas@dhi-scotland.com for further information. Additional information can be given in appendixes, but only the application will be assessed, unless otherwise mentioned.

Evaluation

Proposals will be evaluated against each other in an objective manner by a team consisting of representatives from DHI and the Steering Group. The Evaluation Panel will score each Bidder’s response using the criteria shown in the table below. The Bidder(s) selected will be chosen based on the best value for money. This means suitable quality, delivery, level of risk and response to customer needs at best price.

Criteria	Description	Weighting
Understanding the purpose of the work, context and background and proposes a methodology that meets all the requirements of the tender specification	The proposal clearly demonstrates understanding of the context of this project, including the strategic and policy drivers. Proposal demonstrates that all the requirements of the specification have been addressed and understood and that the proposed methodology is appropriate and capable of successfully delivering all the required outcomes.	25%
Relevant skills and expertise of team to be appointed to deliver the project	Proposal demonstrates availability of the required combination of expertise and experience among team members to be appointed to the project.	20%
Experience and reputation in undertaking similar work	Proposal demonstrates evidence of previous work undertaken in the past 3 years relevant to this project including the names(s) of clients who can be approached for comments.	20%
Support of DHI Net-Zero emission targets	All work supported and funded by DHI should be fully committed to supporting the Scottish Government’s target of Net-Zero emissions by 2040. The proposal should indicate how the team will minimise environmental impacts.	5%
Risk Management and Quality Assurance	The proposal provides evidence that the main risks involved with the project have been identified and adequately addressed. Details of the bidder’s risk management and quality assurance methodology are also outlined.	5%
Timetable	The proposal provides a detailed timetable of events to ensure that deadlines can be met and explicitly identifies any contingency.	10%
Price	The proposal is competitively priced and represents good value in the context of the goods/services to be delivered over the life of the contract. Costs are clearly demonstrated and justified. Best value bids will demonstrate an appropriate combination of cost and quality.	15%

In the event of a number of proposals being received, short listed HEI’s may be invited to provide a presentation to the Evaluation Panel or interview to demonstrate their understanding of the project. The following scoring convention will be used to assess each of the responses to the above quality questions:

Score	Descriptor
4	Excellent response - is excellent overall and will include a balance of completely relevant elements of the Contract as specified (but not limited to the specifications). The response is comprehensive, unambiguous and demonstrates a thorough understanding of the requirement and provides details of how the requirement will be met in full
3	Good response - is relevant and will include a balance of elements of the Contract as specified (but not limited to the specifications)  The response is sufficiently detailed to demonstrate a good understanding and provides details on how the requirements will be fulfilled
2	Acceptable response - will include some elements of the Contract as specified (but not limited to the specifications)  The response addresses a broad understanding of the requirement but lacks details on how the requirement will be fulfilled
1	Poor response - is partially relevant and will include few elements of the Contract as specified (but not limited to the specifications)  The response addresses some elements of the requirement but contains insufficient/limited detail or explanation to demonstrate how the requirement will be fulfilled
0	Unacceptable - Nil or inadequate response  Fails to demonstrate an ability to meet the requirement

The Evaluation Panel reserves the right to recommend that if the score for any one criterion is “0”, that the Contractor not be recommended. That is, they reserve the right to veto a Contractor if it does not meet at all any one of the criteria.