7 Pandemic PACT Overview

This is a description of the RIG database’s primary data source, Pandemic PACT. We originally used a variety of data sources (summarized under Appendix, Alternate Sources), but replaced them with Pandemic PACT, which is a more comprehensive data source. Should Pandemic PACT become unavailable in the future, the Alternate Sources can be used instead.

8 Introduction

This document provides a review of the Pandemic PACT dataset. Specifically, this document:

Gives a brief description of what the Pandemic PACT dataset is about; and,
Reviews the fields available in the Pandemic PACT dataset and matches it to the fields available in EcoHealth Alliance’s Research Information Gateway database.

9 Pandemic PACT Overview

The Pandemic PACT project is an initiative led by the Pandemic Sciences Institute at the University of Oxford. It aims to monitor and analyse global research efforts in pandemic preparedness, focusing on the development of diagnostics, therapeutics, vaccines, and other countermeasures for infectious diseases.

The project curates and tracks an extensive dataset, which include research projects, funding, and outputs from international studies. The objective is to provide insights into how resources are allocated and to identify gaps in global health security efforts. It emphasises equitable access to the benefits of research and innovation, particularly for vulnerable populations in lower-income regions.

9.1 The dataset

The data and tools developed through the Pandemic PACT project are hosted on platforms like Figshare[^1] and on its website[^2], enabling open access for researchers to analyse trends and contribute to pandemic readiness globally.

The Pandemic PACT dataset is distributed with an open license under the Creative Commons - Attribution - 4.0 International license (CC-BY-4.0).

9.1.1 Curation process

The process of curating the Pandemic PACT dataset is described in their protocol and is summarised in Figure 9.1.

Source: https://www.pandemicpact.org/about/our-data

9.2 Data governance

In the Pandemic PACT’s published protocol, it states its data governance procedures:

For the purposes of the Pandemic PACT project, we have collected data on researchers and their research outputs using names and Open Researcher and Contributor IDs (ORCIDs) (“personal” data). The University of Oxford are the ‘data controller’ for these data, which means we decide how to use it and are responsible for looking after it in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and associated data protection legislation. We share data with anyone who wishes to download and re-use the information under a CC-BY licence. We will only retain data for as long as we need it to meet our purposes, including any relating to legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. Data will be held securely in accordance with the University’s policies and procedures. Further information is available on the University’s Information Security website where information on rights in relation to personal data are explained.

9.2.1 Sources

The Pandemic PACT lists the following funders as their sources of information found in the dataset (see Figure 9.2).