Laura Boeschoten advocates for a framework agreement: sustainable software development
It may not be what you would expect from an assistant professor in Methodology and Statistics, but after a busy year, Laura Boeschoten has gained extensive knowledge of procurement regulations and software development processes. This expertise is closely linked to the Digital Data Donation platform she is overseeing. As a bonus, her efforts have resulted in a framework agreement that other researchers can also benefit from.
Laura Boeschoten approached software development differently from the norm. “When researchers commission software, they usually have to use the contracts that the university has with IT professionals, often paying developers by the hour. However, this approach can be challenging. First, you usually have a limited budget, which comes from a grant, and it's difficult to determine in advance what exactly you can achieve with that budget. How do you prevent ending up with 80% of a product that isn’t fully functional? That's a real challenge. Secondly, it becomes problematic if another researcher wants to use the software you had developed, say two years later. In the meantime, updates are needed and security issues arise. How do you maintain the software once your grant has ended? Who covers the maintenance costs? It's a shame to let the programme go to waste.”
This model keeps your open-source software alive!
Open Source
Laura aimed to avoid such issues in her data donation research. “That’s why I chose to collaborate with Eyra, a small company that developed the open-source platform Next. All their software solutions add modules to the platform, which can then be reused for new projects. Once a software solution is developed, they offer it to others as a paid service, known as Software as a Service (SaaS). This model keeps your open-source software alive!” Another advantage of this collaboration, Laura explains, is that you agree on the essentials you need – your ‘minimal viable product’. “If there’s money left at the end of the development process, you can commission additional features, but you won’t find yourself in a situation where the funds run out while the software still doesn’t work.” As the software is open-source, researchers who are skilled in this area can continue to develop existing programmes themselves.
Procurement process
Since hiring software developers typically goes through ITS’s Contract Management department, researchers can rely on agreements made at the university level with three suppliers. “But I wanted something different, so I had to go through the procurement process, which was quite a faff. Along the way, I connected with other researchers who also wanted to develop software in this sustainable way. So, I thought it would be better to establish a framework agreement in one go.” Rocky van Genderen, the Procurement and Tendering Coordinator, assisted Laura throughout this process, which kept her busy for a year.
Framework agreement
Now, there is a framework agreement in place. “All FSBS researchers who wish to can now work in this way. When applying for grants that require a budget for software, it’s wise to highlight this sustainability aspect.”
Through data donation, people share the traces they leave on digital platforms for research purposes.
Data donation
Laura can now continue with her project, which she has been working on for years with various grants: a Digital Data Donation platform. Through data donation, people share the traces they leave on digital platforms for research purposes. And this brings us back to Methodology and Statistics: Laura’s research focuses on the methodological challenges researchers face when conducting data donation studies.
Data from TikTok-using students
How about Laura's students? Do they benefit from all this? “In the Introduction to Digital Trace Data course, data donation is a key topic,” Laura explains. “We also use the software we developed to help students understand what data social media platforms collect from them. It's a bit of a detour, but it’s important for raising their awareness.”