Laura Fedorciow's presentation from the ORCID and Casrai joint conference, Barcelona, May 2015

1. CONFIDENTIAL © Vertigo Ventures 2015
AN ONTOLOGY AND PLATFORM FOR
COLLECTING IMPACTS:
PRACTICAL IMPACT REPORTING
LAURA FEDORCIOW
VERTIGO VENTURES
LAURA@VERTIGOVENTURES.COM

2. CONFIDENTIAL © Vertigo Ventures 2015
WHY WE’RE HERE
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Impact is here
to stay
What we mean
by ‘impact’
Impact
information
Easy to use
tools
Beyond
processes and
systems

3. CONFIDENTIAL © Vertigo Ventures 2015
OUR HISTORY
2009
•Founded Vertigo Ventures
2010
•Developed a comprehensive impact taxonomy.
2011
•Wrote impact reports, including for the REF, for organisations across sectors, using
the taxonomy
2013
•Universities asked for help with creating ‘institutional memory’ for impact
2014
•Technology partnership established with a leading web development firm
2014
•Launched and rolled out VV-Impact Tracker from July, across UK universities
2015
•VV-Impact Tracker launch event in January
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4. CONFIDENTIAL © Vertigo Ventures 2015
WHAT IS IMPACT
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HIGHER EDUCATION FUNDING
FOR ENGLAND (HEFCE)
IMPACT
For the purposes of the REF, impact is
an effect on, change or benefit to the
society, culture, public policy or
the environment or quality of life,
academia. (REF, 2012).
Publication information e.g. journal, date, DOI
Event programme
Meeting agenda
Meeting minutes
Policy/Act updates
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2
3
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Capturing an impact pathway:

5. CONFIDENTIAL © Vertigo Ventures 2015
CHALLENGE
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Unstructured data File repository only Administrative
burden
Time intensive Retrospective
impact capture only
Neglects behaviour
change requirement
Manage as we go
Strategic lens
Re-purpose
information for
different
audiences
“We do not have data/evidence readily available to demonstrate how
the research has had an impact to funding bodies and other
stakeholders to scale work” UK University Impact Officer

6. CONFIDENTIAL © Vertigo Ventures 2015
Future funding requires impact evidence
Total impact £ value is expanding
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EU,
£17.0
RCUK,
£2.6
REF UK,
£1.9
Charitie
s £0.9
£ in billion
• Impact spending on REF in the
UK was £55,000,000
• Now, EU H2020 and RCUK
funding is conditional to
strong impact
Organisations require impact information in
these terms

7. CONFIDENTIAL © Vertigo Ventures 2015
POWERED BY VV-IMPACT METRICS
AN ESTABLISHED IMPACT TAXONOMY
1. Cited in papers and builds on the Kellogg
Foundation Logic Model
2. User-tested taxonomy across disciplines
– In use as part of an impact capture system
for a UK university
– Been used with UK-wide universities to
evidence REF case studies
3. Replicable, simple process to identify
impact
4. Comprehensive and used across sectors
5. Precise indicators for evidencing impact
6. Actively maintained by Vertigo Ventures
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Impact Type
Stakeholder
Impact Level
Activities
Outcome
Impact
Indicator

8. CONFIDENTIAL © Vertigo Ventures 2015
VV-IMPACT TRACKER V1.0
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Supporting organisations to plan, monitor and report their research
impact

9. CONFIDENTIAL © Vertigo Ventures 2015
IMPACT MOVING FORWARD
Impact
Reporting
Manual
population
PI/researcher
Admin
Auto-
population
Vertigo’s
streams
Culture
Awareness Training
Behaviour
change
Reporting
Creating
opportunities
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If we can reduce the reporting burden, it allows the focus to be on
affecting behaviour change and amplifying impact

10. CONFIDENTIAL © Vertigo Ventures 2015
KEY TAKE AWAYS
1) Impact ‘taxonomies’ are key for clean data but need to be
carefully thought through in systems for adoption
2) Systematically recording impact is key for institutional memory
3) Need to measure impact in real time for the best results
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11. CONFIDENTIAL © Vertigo Ventures 2015
THANK YOU
LAURA FEDORCIOW
E: LAURA@VERTIGOVENTURES.COM
T: +44 (0) 7957 814 344
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