The Digital Governance Standards Institute (DGSI), in collaboration with the Human Research Standards Organization (HRSO), has published a national standard of Canada identifying the requirements for responsibly and consistently collecting, handling, and overseeing human research data.
In a news release, DGSI said the standard titled “CAN/DGSI 100.10 / HRSO 300.03, Data Governance in Human Research” offers a practical framework seeking to ensure that those engaged in human research activities reliably, verifiably, and ethically use the generated data.
“Human research conducted in alignment with National Standards ensures that the data derived from it are ethically produced and scientifically sound,” said Dr. Janice E. Parente, HRSO president, in the news release.
DGSI noted that the standard covers individuals and organizations in public and private sectors that design, conduct, support, or oversee human research.
DGSI highlighted that the standard’s release reflected how it has been working with HRSO to improve governance practices in complex and shifting research environments.
“The partnership between DGSI and HRSO in developing this standard exemplifies the value of cross-sector collaboration,” said Darryl Kingston, DGSI executive director, in the news release.
“The development of this standard reflects the strength of our collaboration with DGSI and our shared commitment in advancing ethical research practices,” Parente said.
“By bringing together perspectives from digital governance and human research, we’ve developed a resource that helps organizations meet high standards for data integrity and accountability,” Kingston added.
Standard’s elements
In its news release, DGSI said the standard:
- clearly defined data governance roles and responsibilities throughout the research lifecycle
- aligned with current privacy, consent, and data security requirements and other legal and ethical obligations
- identified the data stewardship, transparency, and traceability requirements in research environments
- provided guidelines to promote consistent practices across diverse research settings and methodologies
- emphasized the trustworthiness and reproducibility of data obtained through human research
DGSI, an independent division of the Digital Governance Council, works to develop digital technology governance standards that suit global use and address the risks to Canadians and Canadian organizations implementing innovative digital technologies in the present digital economy.
HRSO is a not-for-profit standards development organization that seeks to develop standards relevant to those conducting, overseeing, and participating in human research. HRSO aims to
ensure the protection of research participants’ rights and welfare and a research environment that improves efficiencies, decreases risks, and produces reliable, verifiable, and credible data.