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New £22m official funding for smart data services, supported by our Deputy Dean

Published

Deputy Dean Jonathan Reynolds is part of a key smart data project consortium which has received £22 million of funding.

The money has been pledged for four new data services to be delivered by UK university experts, including Jonathan, who will be a Deputy Director of the new Geographic Data Service (GeoDS). It comes from Smart Data Research (UK), part of the UKRI Infrastructure Fund, and goes to four key academic-led projects, through which businesses and other organisations can make available the online data they collect - offering significant potential for researchers. This smart data will include satellite, geographic, online use and health data and individuals are also going to be invited to donate their own data for the online use project.

Smart data is data generated through everyday interactions with the digital world, including via mobile apps, navigation systems, social media, and shopping. It offers a powerful opportunity to understand society and improve lives. The Geographic Data Service builds on the ten-year experience of the Consumer Data Research Centre, an ESRC-funded project involving colleagues in UCL and the Universities of Liverpool, Oxford and Leeds.  

The GeoDS partners will make available to researchers spatial information and insights on a range of key issues.

Dr Jonathan Reynolds

Associate Professor in Retail Marketing and Deputy Dean of Saïd Business School

Jonathan added: 'Oxford’s role is to provide training and support for researchers and take lead responsibility for the annual Data Partners Forum. Social science researchers, in particular, will be able to address many more important questions of the day, through access to data brokered by the service.

Joe Cuddeford, Director of Smart Data Research UK, said: ‘These new data services are a major step forward in our mission to unlock the power of smart data for society. By providing researchers with safe access to new data, methods and tools we are empowering them to tackle some of the most pressing challenges facing the UK today, from boosting productivity to improving health outcomes.’

The funding will go to:

  • Geographic Data Service (GeoDS): data providing geographic information, which can generate new insights into equitable and sustainable growth – for instance relating to crime or health in specific areas. (GeoDS will be co-led by academics in UCL and the University of Liverpool, with expertise provided by the Universities of Oxford and Edinburgh).
  • Imagery Data Service: Satellite imagery, to provide a much richer understanding of urgent challenges facing the UK.
  • Smart Data Donation Service: gaming and social media donated by individuals, meeting an urgent need for evidence-based policy around online safety and digital wellbeing.
  • Healthy and Sustainable Places Data Service: part of GeoDS, to develop partnerships with data providers and coordinate a national master’s dissertation programme to engage a new generation of smart data researchers

Smart Data Research UK (SDR UK) is a UK Research and Innovation investment in digital infrastructure. Providing safe and secure data access to smart data, safeguarding public trust, and building capability for cutting-edge research and innovation.  SDR UK is part of the UKRI Infrastructure Fund.