The new Smart Data Challenge Prize, which rewards cross-sector technologies that benefit consumers and SMEs, has been launched by the Department for Business and Trade, Challenge Works, the Open Data Institute, and Smart Data Foundry.
The prize will identify the Smart Data use cases that make use of multiple datasets from sectors across the economy – such as financial services, energy, retail, transport and homebuying – to solve real problems faced by people and businesses, such as the cost of living, the transition to clean power, and creating a level playing field for SMEs.
Winning teams will be awarded a share of up to £600,000 to accelerate their apps or technologies, and will have exclusive access to a new Smart Data Sandbox in which to test and develop their technologies.
The Smart Data Sandbox combines synthetic data on people and businesses across 11 broad data domains, including financial services, insurance, investing, property, energy, and retail, each encompassing multiple datasets.
Among those being encouraged to enter are individuals, innovators, entrepreneurs, academia and civil society. The closing date for entries, which must be UK-led, is 14 March 2025.
In May 2025, 10 finalists will be supported with seed funding of up to £50,000, expert mentoring and access to a bespoke Smart Data Sandbox to test and develop their ideas into working prototypes.
Then, in Autumn 2025, an overall winner with the “most promising” Smart Data solution will be awarded £50,000, with two runner-up prizes of £25,000 also available.
Minister for Employment Rights, Competition and Markets, Justin Madders MP, said: “Smart Data has the potential to supercharge a wave of innovative start-ups right across the country.
“As we’ve seen with Open Banking which has raised over £2 billion of private funding, I hope other sectors can take advantage of the competition to provide real change for consumers and boost economic growth right across the nation.”
The prize will enable the UK government to gain insight into a range of use cases across a variety of sectors, to give a clearer idea of the potential barriers to development, and exactly what data would need to be unlocked to bring the most innovative ideas in the Smart Data space to life in the long term.
Holly Jamieson, executive director at Challenge Works, said: “The Smart Data Challenge Prize is an open innovation competition – it is calling on diverse innovators from across industry, academia and civil society to enter their Smart Data solutions that will make people’s lives better and easier.
“Challenge prizes have a proven track-record of creating opportunities for innovative entrants, start-ups and entrepreneurs because they support the best ideas no matter their origin.”
According to Louise Burke, chief executive officer of the Open Data Institute, the biggest obstacle Smart Data innovators are facing is the lack of real-world Smart Data available to them.
“To experiment, iterate and scale proofs of concept, innovators need access to high-quality, robust and secure data to demonstrate how their ideas will create lasting benefits for people and businesses,” she added.
“The Smart Data Sandbox will bring together data on people and businesses across 11 broad data domains. It will enable innovators to develop their ideas into prototype solutions to demonstrate the viability and benefits of Smart Data in different sectors.”
Smartlayer.ai, Rodeo, Mealia and Smarter Contracts were revealed as the winners, with each of the teams awarded a share of £20,000 for their ideas on how to use Smart Data to make a difference for consumers, small businesses and society.
