FAIR Equivalency, Regulatory Framework and Adoption Potential of FAIR Guidelines in Health in Kenya

Abstract

This study explored the regulatory framework in Kenya that may facilitate the implementation of the FAIR Guidelines in health research, as well as the possibility of adopting the FAIR Guidelines at the national level. Fourteen key documents pivotal to the emerging digital health sector in Kenya were identified and analysed using a comprehensive coding and labelling approach based on a binary system for whether or not they mention the FAIR Guidelines or terms and vocabulary related to the FAIR Guidelines. The analysis revealed gaps in data stewardship that could be filled by the implementation of the FAIR Guidelines and, although the documents analysed do not explicitly mention the FAIR Guidelines, FAIR Equivalent terminology and practices are mentioned in varying detail. However, our analysis shows that there are still no provisions for the introduction and implementation of the FAIR Guidelines in health research in Kenya. Therefore, we recommend that the leadership be provided with a comprehensive introduction to the FAIR Guidelines, success stories about the FAIRification of data and research infrastructure in other parts of the world, and a demonstration of the steps needed for the FAIRification of health data in Kenya.

FAIR Equivalency with Regulatory Framework for Digital Health in Ethiopia

“…All of these sub-principles were mentioned in National Health Data converging idea about the need for the inclusion of the equivalent of FAIR Guidelines. This finding is consistent with research on FAIR Equivalency carried out in other African countries (Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Nigeria) and Indonesia [3,[15][16][17][18][19].…”

FAIR Guidelines and Data Regulatory Framework for Digital Health in Nigeria

“…The findings reveal that the regulatory framework does not place any restrictions on the implementation of the FAIR Guidelines in Nigeria and, in principle, most regulations appear to support FAIR Guidelines by application or implication, as highlighted above. These findings reflect the conclusions drawn by researchers who implemented the study on the FAIR Equivalency of the regulatory frameworks in Uganda [15], Kenya [19], Ethiopia [20], Zimbabwe [21] and Indonesia [22] and the comparative analyses presented in [8].…”

Federated FAIR principles: Ownership, localisation and regulatory compliance (OLR)

“…The governance has local and global dimensions and identifies how local governance frameworks interplay with global frameworks. VODAN-Africa data production and use includes data processing agreements which relate to GDPR in terms of the principles, processes, and standards that a given local implementation follows, and the adherence of these with policy directions in the jurisdictions at hand [3,5,12,13]. In addition to the advantages of data being curated with FAIR-OLR guidelines, the tooling also needs to follow these guidelines.…”