Data-Driven Innovation celebrates the triumph of Data Education in Schools and Creative Informatics at the 2024 British Data Awards

Data Education in Schools recognised as "Education Initiative of the Year" and Creative Informatics Highly Commended during the 2024 British Data Award

The British Data Awards represent an annual initiative aimed at recognising and honouring the UK's achievements in the field of data. The fourth edition of the British Data Awards received a record-breaking 321 entries, encompassing a wide broad spectrum of participants, including FTSE 100 companies, leading technology firms, innovative startups, government departments, essential non-profit organisations, and various other entities.

The Data Education in Schools (DES) team has won the top prize for "Education Initiative of the Year". DES is part of the Data Skills Gateway, a key strand of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal and its inclusive growth ambition.

Since 2018, DES has reached around 40,000 participants, from school-aged children participating in online learner events to returners to the workforce who are learning to code. The DES team has boosted data literacy in more than 850 schools, creating learners fluent in using data to answer big societal questions and teachers who feel confident in teaching data skills.

There were ten finalists in the Education Initiative of the Year category and 321 entries overall. Jo Spiller, Director of Operations and Partnerships, and Jasmeen Kanwal, Project Officer, attended the awards ceremony in London on 8th May (pictured).

Jo Spiller said: “I’m delighted that the Data Education in Schools programme has won this national award in recognition of our work. It is a testament to the hard work, energy, commitment and creativity of the whole team.”

Creative Informatics, which aims to bring together the city’s world-class creative industries and tech sector, was Highly Commended during the ceremony.

Winners were announced in 24 categories, and nine entries received a Highly Commended award. Categories available this year include sector-specific awards such as ‘Technology Company of the Year’ and ‘AI Company of the Year’ as well as overall awards including ‘Innovation of the Year’ and ‘Data Transformation of the Year’, which received the most entries.

Jason Johnson, Co-Founder of Predatech and British Data Awards judge said: “I’d like to extend my congratulations to all our 2024 Winners and Highly Commended organisations. With 42% more entries received this year compared to 2023, being named a Winner and Highly Commended is a huge achievement. All are flying the flag for the UK’s data ecosystem and should be very proud to be recognised for their data success stories on a national stage.”

This year, the ceremony took place at the iconic Grand Hall of the Grand Connaught Rooms in London and was hosted by the comedian Lucy Porter.