The Technician Commitment

The Technician Commitment, a sector-wide initiative led by the Science Council and supported by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation’s Technicians Make It Happen campaign, looks to address key challenges facing technical staff.

Find out more about the Technician Commitment

Read HDR UK’s Technician Commitment Action Plan

Technologists in health data research

Technologists are an indispensable community in the field of health data research. Their unique skill set combines deep understanding of software development with domain specific health data research knowledge to bridge the gap between complex data analysis and impactful discoveries, impowering researchers to unlock the full potential of health data.

Technologists contribute to innovation in health data science, improving patient outcomes, and ultimately shaping the future of healthcare. They champion best practice in reproducibility, reliability and scalability of research workflows while understanding the unique challenges of trustworthy health data analysis, such as data privacy, security, and ethics.

Health Data Research UK is a proud signatory of the Technician Commitment. Read our 24-month action plan to find out what initiatives we are planning to support technologists in our central team and wider community.

The commitment includes four key areas:

• Visibility Ensure that all technicians within the organisation are identifiable and that the contribution of technicians is visible within and beyond the institution
• Recognition Support technicians to gain recognition through professional registration and external awards schemes
• Career development Enable career progression opportunities for technicians through the provision of clear, documented career pathways
• Sustainability Ensure the future sustainability of technical skills across the organisation and that technical expertise is fully utilised.

You may also be interested in the following course providers:

• The Carpentries

The Carpentries is a fiscally sponsored project of Community Initiatives, a registered non-profit organisation based in California, USA. They are a global community teaching foundational computational and data science skills to researchers in academia, industry and government.

• TeSS

TeSS is a platform that was developed to provide a one-stop shop for trainers and trainees to discover online information and content, including training materials, events and interactive tutorials.

• Software Sustainability Institute’s Training Hub

The SSI has developed and co-developed an array of training resources aimed at various levels of expertise. Some of their collaborators include The Carpentries, The Turing Way, their Fellows, and CDTs and DTPs in the UK.

• ELIXIR Training Platform

The ELIXIR Training Platform aims to develop a training community that spans all ELIXIR member states. It aims to strengthen national training programmes, grow bioinformatics training capacity and competence across Europe, and empower researchers to use ELIXIR’s services and tools.

The Technician Commitment Working Group

The purpose of the Technician Commitment Working Group is to bring together the HDR UK central team with key members of the HDR UK community with an interest in technical skills and career pathways, to feed into HDR UK’s Technician Commitment Activity and maximise opportunities for collaboration and synergies.

The Technician Commitment Working Group is made up of representatives from HDR UK and representatives from HDR UK’s partners with expertise and interest in technical roles in health data science. Members include:

• Clara Fennessy (HDR UK)
• Grazziela Figueredo (Nottingham University)
• Carole Goble (ELIXIR-UK)
• Peter Harrison (HDR UK)
• Simon Hettrick (Software Sustainability Institute)
• Ruth Milne (HDR UK)
• Chris Milner (HDR UK)
• Aleksandra Nenadic (Software Sustainability Institute)
• Philip Quinlan (Nottingham University)
• Branwen Snelling (HDR UK)
• Simon Thompson (Swansea University)
• Rosie Wakeham (HDR UK)