Gordon Baggott has been appointed as Edinburgh-based Smart Data Foundry’s new chief data scientist.
He will be responsible for the development of the data science strategy for the University of Edinburgh subsidiary, driving forward research that promotes financial wellbeing, economic resilience and policy change.
Baggott has more than 20 years’ experience across healthcare, banking and insurance, employing data science, machine learning and generative AI approaches to derive insight from all kinds of data. He has helped pioneer the use of machine learning and AI in major high street banks in areas such as risk operations, insider fraud and cyber security.
He is also the co-founder and commissioning editor for the Business AI Alliance, a cross-party parliamentary group which is helping small and medium organisations to safely harness the power of AI and drive growth in the UK.
Dougie Robb, CEO of Smart Data Foundry said: “Gordon’s skills and ambitions fit perfectly with our mission to unlock financial data for the good of all and to drive real societal change. His technical expertise coupled with his commercial acumen will play a key role as we develop our range of data services into new areas.
“This a pivotal time for the business as we get ready to expand our Economic Wellbeing Explorer from Scotland to the whole of Great Britain and continue our work as the Financial Data Service (FINDS), one of the six research data services which form Smart Data Research UK.”
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Launched in April, the Economic Wellbeing Explorer uses near real time data from over 5 million bank accounts to track economic resilience and wellbeing at national, regional and local levels and between age groups and income ranges.
Baggott added: “I’m thrilled to be joining Smart Data Foundry as Chief Data Scientist. It’s a great opportunity to bring my experience of analytics, machine learning and AI to help the team unlock the huge potential that financial data holds.
“With much of the focus of modern data technology being applied to the accumulation of wealth for the few, it’s critical to use our capability to better support positive societal change and work towards a more equitable UK.”
Smart Data Foundry has established a growing reputation through its work delivering pioneering projects that drive social impact, such as the groundbreaking project with Joseph Rowntree Foundation to tackle income volatility – a growing challenge for many households- and the Cost of Living dashboard for East Renfrewshire Council, which supported the council to adapt its services to tackle hidden poverty.
It also collaborates with Sage UK and cebr, using Sage UK small business productivity data to produce vital insights on how small businesses in the UK are faring in the current economic climate.