BACKGROUNDERS

SAAR as a concept of operations. We developed strategic and applied research as a concept of operations (and as an operating concept) to better serve our clients. We based this on our own experience, as well as on UK, UAE and global developments in R&D and artificial intelligence.

  • Strategic and applied research - SAAR - covers two distinct but overlapping subsets of research offerings: research as a service (RaaS) and R&D.

    We operationalise this using a reliable and predictable cycle of activities: we plan, we collect evidence, we process and analyse it, and we disseminate results. 

    As the first stage in this cycle, planning is key. It entails a detailed first stage diagnostic of client information requirements and priorities. A second stage matrix builds on this, and sets out details of collection, processing and production requirements.

    We follow the same general steps regardless of the scale or scope of an assignment. The approach is also modular, allowing us to take a flexible, adaptable approach - performing one, some or all of these steps, as best suits your needs.

  • Research as a service was originally adopted in the IT and finance sectors to deal exclusively or heavily with technology elements of research processes. We've adapted it to the commercial application of research skills, including through the use of specialised technologies.

  • Research and experimental development - "R & D" - is exploratory research done with a view to innovating or advancing the state of the art in products, processes and ways of thinking.

  • R&D consists of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) as well as non-STEM fields in the arts, humanities and social sciences (AHSS) or alternately in the social sciences, humanities and the arts for people and the economy (SHAPE).

  • We provide RaaS and R&D grounded in anthropology, geography, history, law, linguistics, political science and psychology.

  • Our approach is built around R&D criteria set out by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the British Academy, RAND Europe, and others. This web page includes additional background and reference materials from these and other sources.

R&D in the United Arab Emirates. The UAE is a world leader in digital transformation and research on artificial intelligence.

R&D in a global context. The Frascati Manual is an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) publication. Its guidelines on the conduct of R&D are authoritative, influential and foundational.

  • "R&D comprise creative and systematic work undertaken in order to increase the stock of knowledge – including knowledge of humankind, culture and society – and to devise new applications of available knowledge."

  • "For an activity to be an R&D activity, it must jointly satisfy five core criteria. The activity must be: novel, creative, uncertain, systematic, transferable and/or reproducible."

  • "A breakdown by type of R&D is recommended for use in all four of the sectors used in this manual... business enterprise, higher education, government, and private nonprofit. There are three types of R&D: basic research, applied research, experimental development."

  • "Basic research is experimental or theoretical work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge of the underlying foundations of phenomena and observable facts, without any particular application or use in view."

  • "Applied research is original investigation undertaken in order to acquire new knowledge. It is, however, directed primarily towards a specific, practical aim or objective."

  • "Experimental development is systematic work, drawing on knowledge gained from research and practical experience and producing additional knowledge, which is directed to producing new products or processes or to improving existing products or processes."

Additional Resources

RAND Europe on non-STEM R&D grounded in the social sciences, humanities and the arts for people and the economy (SHAPE).

“Collaboration is key to SHAPE R&D.”
“R&D spend in the UK is growing, and business R&D makes up a significant proportion of expenditure.”
“Some other countries use a more inclusive definition of R&D than the UK, often without mentioning SHAPE subjects specifically.”
“Very few countries produce breakdowns of SHAPE and non-SHAPE R&D, which makes international comparisons difficult.”
“Business R&D is concentrated in a small number of key sectors, most of which employ large numbers of ‘non-science’ graduates: this has been used as a measure to estimate SHAPE subject graduates based on the available data.”
“Business R&D activity can be defined in many different ways, but for UK stakeholders STEM activities are front-of mind when defining R&D.”
“A person-centric approach to R&D, that recognises and measures human capital within the UK’s R&D ecosystem, may be a way of recognising the importance of SHAPE R&D.”