Investment

Smart Data Foundry (SDF) has been awarded £3 million funding to operate a new financial data service.

The service is said to enable more researchers to study the financial health of millions of households across the UK by providing secure access to financial behaviours, economic resilience, and regional economic activity.

The funding has come from Smart Data Research UK, which is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

The new service will operate from SDF’s base at Edinburgh Futures Institute and is part of a network of five other data services across the country.

Together, it is said that they will provide safe and efficient ways for researchers to access and use the smart data generated through everyday interactions with the digital world, including via mobile apps, navigation systems, social media and shopping.

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The new financial data service will be led by Dougie Robb and Professor Chris Dibben from the University of Edinburgh and SDF say it will provide unprecedented insights into the economic health of the UK. 

“We look forward to joining five of the most forward-thinking data service organisations in the UK in this groundbreaking network. It will foster data sharing partnerships between academia, public institutions and private enterprise leading to public good outcomes which will improve the lives of people across the UK,” said Robb.

“We have forged fruitful data partnerships with NatWest Group, Virgin Money, SAGE, and Equifax,  and built a team of transdisciplinary experts with expertise across finance, banking, digital technology, product, data science, and information governance.”

Professor Dibben added: “Understanding the financial situation of households across the UK is vitally important for social and economic research. However this key aspect of economic life is often poorly measured in our research datasets or even absent.

“This investment by Smart Data Research UK in a Financial Data Service will allow us to change this situation, enabling more public benefit social and economic policy research. I am really excited to be working with Smart Data Foundry and SDR UK to deliver this significant new resource over the next three years.”

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