Smart Data Foundry receives funding to operate new Financial Data Service

Smart Data Foundry (SDF) has been awarded £3 million in funding from Smart Data Research UK to operate a new ‘Financial Data Service’ that will put the UK “at the forefront” of Smart Data research and innovation.

The Financial Data Service will enable more researchers to study the financial health of millions of households across the UK, by providing secure access to financial behaviours, economic resilience, and regional economic activity, according to a statement.

The new service will operate from SDF’s base at the Edinburgh Futures Institute, and will form part of a network of five other data services across the country.

Co-led by Dougie Robb, interim chief executive officer of SDF, and Professor Chris Dibben from the University of Edinburgh, the service will provide insights into the economic health of the UK through secure access to de-identified banking and finance data from millions of households and businesses.

Robb said: “We look forward to joining five of the most forward-thinking data service organisations in the UK in this groundbreaking network.

“It will foster data-sharing partnerships between academia, public institutions and private enterprise, leading to public good outcomes which will improve the lives of people across the UK.”

He added: “In partnership with the University of Edinburgh, we’ve made great progress in holding and making available for public benefit research financial data resources.

“We have forged fruitful data partnerships with NatWest Group, Virgin Money, SAGE, and Equifax, and built a team of transdisciplinary experts with expertise across finance, banking, digital technology, product, data science, and information governance.”

The data generated by the Finanical Data Service will enable researchers to tackle “urgent” policy challenges, including the cost-of-living crisis, financial inclusion, the changing nature of employment, and productivity in different economic sectors and geographic places.

Professor Dibben said that understanding the financial situation of households across the UK is “vitally important” for social and economic research.

“However, this key aspect of economic life is often poorly measured in our research datasets or even absent. This investment by Smart Data Research UK in a Financial Data Service will allow us to change this situation, enabling more public benefit social and economic policy research,” he added.

“I am really excited to be working with Smart Data Foundry and SDR UK to deliver this significant new resource over the next three years.”

Smart Data Research UK, which provided the funding, is part of UK Research and Innovation.

Meanwhile, Smart Energy Data Service, part of the Energy Systems Catapult, was also awarded funding in this latest tranche.

The four other previously announced data services that complete the Smart Data Research UK programme are Imagery Data Service (Imago), Smart Data Donation Service, Geographic Data Service, and Healthy and Sustainable Places Data Service.

“With the new Data (Use and Access) Bill currently going through Parliament, we are at the beginning of a new age for data,” said Magdalena Getler, head of academic engagement at Smart Data Foundry.

“If successful, the new legislation will empower safe data use, access, and sharing for the good of society, like tackling challenges such as the impacts of poverty and economic inactivity.”

Last week saw the launch of a new Smart Data Challenge Prize, which rewards cross-sector technologies that benefit consumers and SMEs, by the Department for Business and Trade, Challenge Works, the Open Data Institute, and Smart Data Foundry.

Winning teams will have exclusive access to a new Smart Data Sandbox in which to test and develop their technologies.

Further reading: UK government department explores energy Smart Data scheme rollout