UK to invest £22m in smart data services

Smart Data Research UK, which is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), said the new services would include the UK’s first national smart data donation service, which covers a satellite imagery service and services that provide new insights into the economy, environment and health and wellbeing.

Smart data is data generated through everyday interactions with the digital world, including via mobile apps, navigation systems, social media and shopping.

The smart data donation service, led by Dr David Zendle and Professor Florian Block at the University of York, will seek to empower citizens to take control of their own data and share it safely with researchers.

The service will recruit a cohort of data donors, initially focusing on 90,000 donations from video game users and expanding to wider online data including social media.

Smart Data Research UK said the project would meet an urgent need for evidence-based policy around online safety and digital wellbeing, enabling research into mental health, digital literacy, online community, addiction, discriminatory behaviour and disinformation.

Another project, led by Professor Daniel Arribas-Bel at the University of Liverpool and Professor Rachel Franklin at Newcastle University, will unlock the potential of satellite imagery to provide a much richer understanding of urgent challenges facing the UK.

The project will combine novel computing and artificial intelligence methods with stakeholder collaboration to develop new data products at scale to help address pressing issues in fields such as environmental vulnerability, urban development and housing inequalities.

A Geographic Data Service, led by Professor Paul Longley at University College London and Professor Alex Singleton at the University of Liverpool, will integrate a wide range of data sources to generate new insights into equitable and sustainable growth, bringing focus to geographic disparities, barriers to opportunity and the circumstances of vulnerable populations.

The GeoDS team includes researchers from Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford and the University of Edinburgh, and will develop partnerships with data providers and coordinate a national master’s dissertation programme to engage a new generation of smart data researchers.

The final project, is a Healthy and Sustainable Places Data Service, which is led by Professor Nik Lomax, Professor Michelle Morris, Professor Ed Manley and Professor Mark Birkin at the University of Leeds.

The service will help address persistent and pressing challenges that cut across health and sustainability, and discover new ways to understand local economies, health, lifestyles and transportation patterns.

This will include drawing upon data that spans retail, business, transport and infrastructure sectors to provide integrated datasets for the research community.

Stian Westlake, executive chair at ESRC, said: “This investment in a new network of smart data services helps put the UK at the forefront of data-driven innovation.

“Data infrastructure is as critical to our shared prosperity as transport, water or power networks. When we invest in data infrastructure we are investing in economic growth, improved public services, and a more sustainable future.”

Joe Cuddeford, director at Smart Data Research UK, added: “These new data services are a major step forward in our mission to unlock the power of smart data for society.

“By providing researchers with safe access to new data, methods and tools we are empowering them to tackle some of the most pressing challenges facing the UK today, from boosting productivity to improving health outcomes.”