• Smart Data enables individuals and small businesses to access and share their data securely with authorised third parties, enabling innovative services.
• We are looking to identify leaders in the development of Smart Data. The Smart Data Discovery Challenge is calling on innovative thinkers from across industry and society to recommend new solutions that could make a difference for individuals and small businesses.
• It is encouraging cross-sector ideas covering financial services, energy, retail, transport and home buying to address challenges like the cost of living, the transition to net zero and supporting vulnerable individuals.
• It will back the most exciting contributions with mentorship and guidance – the best will be rewarded with cash prizes.

The Department for Business and Trade, Challenge Works, the Open Data Institute (ODI) and Smart Data Foundry are calling on individuals, innovators, entrepreneurs, academia and civil society to share ideas for ambitious and feasible solutions that could harness Smart Data across different sectors of the economy to benefit individuals and small businesses in the future.

The Smart Data Discovery Challenge will identify the leaders of the Smart Data space. The open call wants people and partnerships to share their blue sky-thinking for cross-sector smart data ideas that could benefit individuals, small businesses and wider society.

Smart Data enables individual consumers and small businesses to access and share their data simply and securely with authorised third parties, enabling those third parties to provide them with innovative services. Open Banking is an example of smart data in action, underpinning the UK’s fintech success story.

Kevin Hollinrake, Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business said:

Smart data has the potential to help create solutions to real life issues that consumers face on a daily basis as well as supporting small firms across the country and helping to grow the economy. 

Smart data is already helping consumers via Open Banking and I am excited to see what other game changing technology this challenge launching today will produce from our nations’ innovators and entrepreneurs, particularly in the energy, SME finance and home buying sectors.

The Smart Data Discovery Challenge is particularly keen to encourage ideas that cut across sectors, including: 

• Financial services;
• Energy; 
• Retail;
• Transport; and
• Home buying.

The challenge will also consider other potential data that might be unlocked from other sectors – such as telecoms.

It will foster individual innovators and partnerships to develop their initial ideas into feasible concepts with potential to move into development. The most exciting contributions will be supported with mentorship and guidance and the best will be rewarded with cash prizes.

Teams that take part now will help inform government thinking about Smart Data in the UK and help shape a potential Smart Data Prize in 2024.

Chris Gorst, Challenges Director, Challenge Works – a Nesta enterprise, said:

A Smart Data economy could unlock transformative innovations just as open banking did for fintech. It is a new frontier and would represent a massive change to how individuals and small businesses take control of their data. We want innovative thinkers from across industry and society to recommend new smart data solutions that could make a difference for consumers and SMEs, to identify where obstacles need dismantling and where risks need mitigating.

Louise Burke, CEO, the ODI said:

Innovators that take part in the Smart Data Discovery Challenge will join a community of cutting-edge and creative thinkers to help us to shape the direction of a potential Smart Data Prize in 2024. We want creative people from across industry, academia and civil society to join the conversation about opening up services using Smart Data to make people’s lives better, and enrich our national data infrastructure.

How to get involved

The Smart Data Discovery Challenge’s open call for ideas runs from 26 October to 8 December 2023. Individuals and organisations can propose cross sector solutions that illustrate the potential benefits of Smart Data for consumers, small businesses and wider society. Challenge Works and the ODI will be running webinars to provide guidance and support submissions.

A longlist of ideas will be selected based on published assessment criteria. The most promising ideas will be supported to refine the solutions, including offering expert mentorship. The Smart Data Discovery Challenge will host a hybrid event in March 2024 to bring together the emerging Smart Data community at which the most innovative cross-sector use case ideas will be pitched. After assessment, the best will be rewarded with cash prizes.

Find out more about smart data and how to take part in or support the Smart Data Discovery Challenge at smartdata.challenges.org