NIHR partners with Google to improve UK biomedical research

NIHR used Google Workspace to coordinate urgent public health studies during the pandemic

The UK's National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) has created a digital hub that it has used to transform its processes, coordinate urgent public health studies, and improve the ecosystem around biomedical research in the country.

NIHR created the hub in partnership with Google Cloud, whose Google Workspace software suite is enabling NIHR to coordinate employees and partners across multiple organisations and locations. Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) is a collection of cloud computing, collaboration and productivity tools, and other software products for enterprises.

"We wanted a solution that would empower us to operate as a single corporate entity over multiple locations, multiple platforms, and multiple scenarios," says Justin Riordan-Jones, Head of Systems and Information, Department of Health and Social Care. "For us, the answer is Google Workspace."

The NIHR decided to build a new digital hub in 2014, aiming to centralise its key processes and to simplify communication and collaboration among employees.

To achieve its goal, the NIHR teamed up with PA Consulting, which helped it to test various office productivity platforms, before finally settling on Google Workspace.

According to Riordan-Jones, Gmail enabled the NIHR to "transform" its communication, providing corporate email addresses to employees for the first time. Similarly, Google Meet enabled employees to hold meetings without having to travel to multiple locations - helping NIHR to save several million pounds on travel. Employees are also using Google Sheets, Google Slides and Google Docs to collaborate on documents, and to share those documents using Google Drive.

Riordan-Jones added that NIHR employees were able to use the new digital hub in the middle of the pandemic, to coordinate urgent public health studies. He said, "The hub we have built is the fundamental backbone to our operations."

Google Meet usage went up by 379 per cent within two months of quarantine, while Google Drive usage increased by 198 per cent.

"We went from being an organisation that works in a variety of offices and locations to working from home overnight," said Riordan-Jones.

"Because of Google Workspace and the hub that we had built with it, that transition was seamless and so far there has been no seriously detrimental effect on our performance."