Smart Data Research UK News November 2024

Welcome,

October marked a pivotal month for Smart Data Research UK with our announcement of a ￡22 million investment in four groundbreaking data services that will transform how researchers access and use smart data across the UK. These new services will form the backbone of our national data infrastructure:?

• Imagery Data Service (Imago)?( 英国利物浦大学 & 英国纽卡斯尔大学 ) A pioneering satellite imagery service unlocking new insights into environmental challenges and urban development??

• Smart Data Donation Service?( 英国约克大学 ) Enabling citizens to safely share their digital data for research into online safety and digital wellbeing??

• Geographic Data Service?( 英国伦敦大学学院 & 英国利物浦大学 ) Integrating diverse data sources to tackle geographic disparities and foster equitable growth??

• Healthy and Sustainable Places Data Service ( 英国利兹大学 ) Connecting the dots between health, sustainability, and local economies?

Please explore the short profiles of the services below. And stay tuned - we’ll be making another exciting data services announcement very soon.

The introduction of the?Data Use and Access Bill?to Parliament marks another significant step forward for the UK’s smart data economy. The Bill introduces new powers to establish smart data schemes in sectors like finance, energy, transport, retail and housing – creating opportunities for researchers to unlock public value from consumer data. As a member of the government’s Smart Data Council, Smart Data Research UK will help ensure the research community plays a central role in these schemes, developing innovative ways to harness consumer data for public benefit.

The publication of the?Industrial?Strategy?green paper?sets out a vision for growth that aligns closely with our?research themes. Our data services will help build the evidence base around drivers of productivity and innovation, supporting regional growth plans and addressing inequalities. The paper also recognises data itself as a driver of growth and an enabler of consumer empowerment. I encourage you to review and respond to the data-related consultation questions (page 34) by 24 November.?

In other developments, we’re delighted to have joined the?UK Health Data Research Alliance, HDR UK’s initiative to coordinate standards, tools and technologies across the health data ecosystem.???

Finally,?I’m?pleased to report that?we’ve?completed?our?five public?dialogue?workshops?with?Sciencewise, engaging more than?70 people?across?Belfast, Gateshead, Inverness,?London?and Newport.?We’re?now compiling the findings, which will?shape?Smart Data Research UK’s?trust framework.?

Thanks for being part of our community.

Joe Cuddeford Director, Smart Data Research UK

Meet our new data services

Smart Data Research UK has announced an investment of ￡22 million in new data services, enabling researchers across the UK to access new forms of smart data.?

Imagery Data Service (Imago)?

This data service will unlock the potential of satellite imagery to provide a much richer understanding of urgent challenges facing the UK. It will adopt a highly innovative approach, combining novel computing and AI methods with stakeholder collaboration to develop new data products at scale. These new datasets, along with training and research, will help address pressing issues in fields such as environmental vulnerability, urban development and housing, inequalities, and wellbeing.??

• Led by Professor Daniel Arribas-Bel, University of Liverpool and Professor Rachel Franklin, Newcastle University?

Smart Data Donation Service?

The Smart Data Donation Service (SDDS) will address a significant gap in the understanding of our digital lives by empowering citizens to take control of their own data and share it safely with researchers. SDDS 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. The service meets an urgent need for evidence-based policy around online safety and digital wellbeing. It will enable research into mental health, digital literacy, online community, addiction, discriminatory behaviour, and disinformation.?

• Led by Dr David Zendle and Professor Florian Block, University of York?

Geographic Data Service?

This service 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.?Building on the strong foundation of the?Consumer Data Research Centre, the Geographic Data Service?team includes experts from Sa?d Business School at the University of Oxford and the University of Edinburgh. It will develop partnerships with data providers and coordinate a national master’s dissertation programme to engage a new generation of smart data researchers.?

• Led by Professor Paul Longley, University College London and Professor Alex Singleton, University of Liverpool?

Healthy and Sustainable Places Data Service?

Also building on the success of the Consumer Data Research Centre, the Healthy and Sustainable Places Data Service (HASP) 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. HASP will draw upon data that spans retail, business, transport and infrastructure sectors to provide integrated datasets for the research community.?

• Led by?Professor Nik Lomax, Professor Michelle Morris, Professor Ed Manley and Professor Mark Birkin, University of Leeds?

Research using shopping data

For the latest in our World of Smart Data blog series, we welcome the team from University of Bristol's Digital Footprints Lab. Here, they explain how the growth in the collection of smart data from loyalty cards creates opportunities for researchers to gain new insights into people’s spending habits and lifestyle choices.

Read?more?

News from our data services

• Turing Urban Analytics meet-up Next week, the Urban Big Data Centre and The Alan Turing Institute will host the annual all-hands?Turing Urban Analytics meeting?at the University of Glasgow. The theme this year is Transforming Urban Living with AI and Digital Twins. You can still sign up to join the main workshops online on 12 and 13 November.
• Studying energy use in the home Urban Big Data Centre in collaboration with Understanding Society , the UK Household Longitudinal Study, is launching a?new study?to provide linked data on energy usage and the indoor environment via smart meter readings and indoor integrated sensors.
• Pairing researchers with retailers The?Masters Dissertation Scheme?run by the Consumer Data Research Centre is now open for applications. The programme links Masters students and university supervisors with leading retail companies.
• Mapping sustainable transport In cities worldwide, inadequate transport infrastructure often creates significant challenges, especially for people with no access or limited access to a private car. Researchers from Consumer Data Research Centre have developed a?new way?to address these issues through data-driven insight.?

Data policy insights

Online Safety Bill: call for evidence?

Ofcom, UK independent communications regulator is requesting input from researchers for the report that it must produce under the Online Safety Act. It is seeking evidence on how and to what extent independent researchers currently access information from providers of regulated services;?the challenges that currently constrain information sharing for these purposes; and how greater access to this information might be achieved.?Find out more on?Ofcom's website.

Open Source, Ethics & Innovation in AI???

The?Turing Way Practitioners Hub?is inviting practitioners and companies, including open source innovators and other ecosystem partners for two days of debate, discussion, and networking. The event is taking place 25 – 26 November, in person and online.??

Smart data funding and training opportunities

World Values Survey 2025-27?? ESRC. Closing date: 12 November 2024.? https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/world-values-survey-2025-to-2027/??

UKRI Data Sandpit for Metascience?? UKRI/DSIT. Closing date: 21 November 2024. https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/data-sandpit-for-metascience/??

DARE UK Transformational Programme: core components?? UKRI multiple funders. Closing date: 26 November 2024.? https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/dare-uk-transformational-programme-core-components/

APEX awards? British Academy/Royal Society. Deadline: 27 November 2024.? ?https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/apex-awards/??

Access to high-performance computing facilities?? UKRI multiple funders. Deadline: 28 November 2024.? https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/access-to-high-performance-computing-facilities-autumn-2024/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery??

Mental Health Award: Accelerating scalable digital mental health interventions? Wellcome Trust. Deadline: 5 December 2024.? https://wellcome.org/grant-funding/schemes/digital-mental-health-interventions

Other dates for the diary:

• Population Research UK workshops Researchers involved in longitudinal population studies (LPS), might like to take part in one of Population Research UK 's?stakeholder consultation workshops. Join the team in Bristol on 7 November and London on 13 November.??More info here.
• Data and AI Smart Data Research UK's director, Joe Cuddeford, recently participated in a panel discussion with Open Data Institute on Data-centric AI. The next in this?series of events?on 19 November will see Sir Nigel Shadbolt and Elena Simperl discuss the role of data in training and refining generative AI systems.???
• Private Data for Public Good The Novel Data Linkages for Health and Wellbeing Interest Group?at The Alan Turing Institute is inviting registrations?for?their event: Private Data for Public Good: How Data Sharing Benefits Business and Society on 20 November 2024.?With?guest speakers from Garmin, Ocado Group,?imin, The Smart Data Foundry, NatWest, University of?Leeds?and Kings College London.?Full information here.?

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