DDI Newsletter December 2024
Data-Driven Innovation Initiative
Part of the Edinburgh & SE Scotland City Region Deal, delivered by the University of Edinburgh & Heriot-Watt University
Bayes Centre and Leidos Announce Partnership
The Bayes Centre has announced a new strategic collaboration with Leidos, a global leader in science and technology solutions, focused on advancing AI and data science applications. The partnership will leverage the Bayes Centre’s expertise as an innovation hub to drive research addressing critical challenges across environmental, civil, national security and healthcare.
Fintech and Financial Services at Futures Institute
Sector expertise in Edinburgh’s newest innovation hub is supporting sustained and sustainable innovation through collaboration with Fintech and Financial Services organisations. Supporting people and organisations to be adaptive, innovative and futures-focused is a key goal of the financial services and fintech team at Edinburgh Futures Institute, one of six innovation hubs in Scotland’s capital city.
Academics and sector experts are harnessing Data-driven innovation to tackle complex challenges – such as the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and its ethical use, poverty and the transition towards net zero – and create sustainable, ethical solutions for business and society. Tobi Schneider, Sector Engagement Manager and Co-director for External Engagement and Partnerships at Edinburgh Centre for Financial Innovations, said:
"Scotland’s fintech and financial services sector may be small compared with global powerhouses such as London, New York or Singapore but its reach and impact are disproportionately large. The ability to attract global interest and investment, to drive innovation and to collaborate is a shining example of how smaller markets can punch significantly above their weight."
Childlight push for action at global summit
Childlight has urged governments to act to protect children from a global pandemic of sexual exploitation and abuse as ministers from around the world gathered at a major summit in November. The Edinburgh University-based team were at the first Global Ministerial Conference on ending violence against children, in Bogotá.
Futures Institute boost for Scotland’s creativetech showcase
CreativeTech Scotland Gathering (CTSG) brings together Scotland’s creativetech sector to meet academics across the spectrum of the creative and cultural industries.
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Now entering its fourth year, the event is bigger than ever and benefiting from support by sector experts at Edinburgh Futures Institute, the City Region’s largest innovation hub.
CTSG was created as an opportunity for communities across the creative and cultural sectors and academia to share how they use creativetech and digital tools.
DataLoch enhancements
A crucial part of DataLoch’s service focusses on making health and care data research-ready as well as directly supporting NHS services. Significantly improved prescriptions data allow a more complete understanding of the patient journey, while new non-medical data enable projects to explore other influences on health and wellbeing. DataLoch is also actively encouraging researchers to get in touch if they cannot find the hospital data they are looking for in DataLoch’s catalogue.
In addition to the new data opportunities, you can learn about the DataLoch Cancer service, DataLoch’s support for frontline homelessness services, and a recently launched training module for those preparing to work with health data within their projects.
To find out more or discuss possible project proposals, contact the DataLoch team
AI for good: new AI Accelerator cohort announced
Wearable tech to reduce the risk of drug overdose, AI for affordable financial guidance and a device that captures birdsong to evaluate natural capital are just three of the new AI Accelerator cohort companies announced today.
Thirteen global, data-driven companies, chosen for their capacity to harness AI for good in the areas of health, climate and social impact, will benefit from a comprehensive package of support from the University of Edinburgh and its entrepreneurial ecosystem. In its sixth year, previous programme cohorts have generated ￡71 million in financing so far.
Amongst the new AI Accelerator class is Edinburgh company NOMWH Health, whose wearable device, LifeSavr, monitors the vital signs of drug users to detect opioid overdoses, alerting them, their contacts and the emergency services to prevent avoidable deaths.
London-based Engage Smarter has a platform of conversational AI Agents trained to give risk-managed financial guidance to an estimated 26 million UK consumers who either can’t afford or don’t want their own financial advisor, which leads to financial exclusion.
And Chirrup.ai captures and analyses bird song to evaluate the natural capital of land managed by farmers, forestry businesses and local governments, to demonstrate best practice, support funding applications and enhance sustainable supply chains.