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Research and innovation

At Itad, we specialise in evidence, learning, and strategy services tailored for organisations driving social and environmental change through research and innovation.

We work with policy makers, research managers and academics in governments, philanthropies, research councils and universities to help them make smarter and faster decisions, maximise learning, and generate actionable insights from the programmes they support. Our approach is grounded in rigorous, context-sensitive methods that prioritise usefulness and usability— ensuring evidence doesn’t just get collected, but actively informs strategy, investment, and practice.

We understand the unique challenges that come with funding research and innovation in fast moving and complex environments. That’s why we offer flexible, collaborative support across the entire research process and including all innovation stages from early research and proof of concept, through to scaling-up and transformational change. We particularly specialise in co-creating theories of change, designing adaptive learning systems, supporting fund and portfolio management, plus evaluating and synthesizing evidence of impact. Ultimately we act as a critical friend to create space for reflection, help make sense of what’s happening, and provide clarity and direction for the way ahead.

Projects

Evaluation of the Global Challenges Research Fund

We assessed the UK Government’s flagship Global Challenges Research Fund, providing vital insights throughout on its...

Equitable innovation through strategic research collaboration

We are assessing the effectiveness of the Gates Foundation and the UK Government’s Agricultural Research Partnership in...

Building Capacity to Use Research Evidence (BCURE)

The effective use of research and evidence can play a crucial role in making policy more successful. However, while...

Publications

Promoting impact in research and innovation

How can management structures and implementation processes increase innovation and impact for development? Download the...

Building foundations for development impact in large scale research funds

Assessing how the Global Challenges Research Fund created the environment for impact in its early years and achieve...

Research for Development indicators: A review of funder practice

The Newton Fund and the GCRF are managed by BEIS (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) to promote research...

Development of key performance indicators – Final Report

BEIS (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) spends part of the overseas aid budget on research and...

Blogs and news

New evidence highlights pre-conditions for development research impact

New insights from Itad demonstrate how evaluative methods can be used at earlier stages of development research programmes to...

New book highlights value of theories of change for social impact

Insights from Itad feature in a new book on how the Theory of Change framework can help those interested in designing...

Using realist evaluation to support evidence-based policy making

An innovative Itad evaluation generated valuable lessons on what works to build capacity for evidence-informed policy making,...

Keeping it real: using mechanisms in realist evaluation

A new paper in a special issue of New Directions for Evaluation explores the use of mechanisms within the realist evaluation...