All partners of the ASTRA project met online on the 5th of August 2021 for the fourth time. The main points of discussions were the update of the internal Research Protocol by University of Florence, which acts as guidelines for the four Universities from Laos and Thailand in order to conduct both desk and field research. This internal document, outlines instructions and recommendations for conducting in depth research in order to map the existing context regarding the funding and operation of Higher Education institutions in both countries, as well as identify the skills that are needed for the academic and administrative staff inside the institutions in order to operate cutting edge Research and Development hubs, able to acquire funding in the fields of ICT and social sciences.