Application Management ICT Solution, Implementation and Support

The HRB is a State Agency under auspices of the Department of Health, the remit of the agency is to support and fund health and social care research and provide evidence to inform policy and practice. The HRB host both the National Office and Secretariat, providing operational and strategic support to both units The National Office for Research Ethics Committees (’National Office’), an office which is hosted by the Health Relations Board (HRB) requires an IT solution to support application management. It is further anticipated that any future system will also support the work of the Secretariat to the Health Research Consent Declaration Committee (HRCDC), a sister unit to the National Office. To continue to manage process the volume of applications effectively and within regulatory requirements, an application management system is critically needed The application management solution needs to be usable, feasible, and scalable to accommodate a growing number of applicants, and the solution needs to be interoperable with key systems, including SharePoint, Microsoft Outlook, and a future possibility with the EU CTIS portal. The key principles required from suitable solution are: • Interoperability – interoperable with other systems, most notably with SharePoint, the NREC Website, Microsoft Outlook, and EU CTIS. • Scalability – to current and future volume, requirement, and remit • Functionality – for full process and for all relevant stakeholders • Security – secure to GDPR standards with suitable accessibility for each user type • Consolidation – processes, including messaging, data management, and status reporting need to be supported in one solution. • Retain the ‘Human Touch’ of the current NREC National Office and HRCDC Secretariat ethos. The National Office as a new organisation, and separately the Secretariat, has provided applicants with a positive experience of having one organisation to contact and a clear human presence in the process. • Adaptability – to ensure that any system is future proofed for the potential integration of additional external systems. In the below list the integration points for solution requirements are listed, please note that the the Contracting Authority requires an Application Programmable Interface (API) to interface with CTIS to interact in real time with the underlying data, metadata and functionality in the Solution: • Microsoft SharePoint • Microsoft Outlook • National Office Website • HRCDC Website • EU CTIS Portal • Ability to connect to other third-party applications, if a future requirement arises