Smart Data Foundry: Supporting the Smart Data Challenge Prize

Smart Data Foundry is excited to announce our involvement in the launch of the Smart Data Challenge Prize, a groundbreaking initiative by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). With £600,000 in total funding, this challenge prize aims to accelerate the development of Smart Data-driven innovations that tackle pressing societal challenges and drive significant economic growth.

This initiative, delivered by Challenge Works in partnership with the Open Data Institute (ODI), Smart Data Foundry and NayaOne, is a significant step forward in unlocking the potential of Smart Data to transform how businesses, consumers, and society interact with and drive value from data.

Moving Beyond Discovery: The Next Phase of Innovation

Following the success of the 2023 Smart Data Discovery Challenge, this new phase goes beyond identifying ideas by empowering innovators to prototype their solutions in real-world conditions. Up to ten UK-based teams will receive £50,000 in seed funding and gain access to a bespoke Smart Data Sandbox—a secure environment featuring synthetic datasets across 11 sectors, including banking, energy, retail, and property.

This unique sandbox allows teams to test their concepts with realistic data, providing invaluable insights into how Smart Data can be applied across multiple industries. By fostering cross-sector innovation, the Challenge Prize addresses diverse issues, from supporting SMEs and vulnerable customers to advancing clean energy transitions and improving consumer access to essential services.

Smart Data will help propel a new category of start-ups and scale-ups just as Open Banking did for fintechs, where 82 firms alone have raised over £2bn of private funding. Expanding Smart Data beyond Open Banking provides the opportunity to offer consumers and SMEs greater choice and improved services. The Smart Data Challenge Prize will showcase the innovative solutions that could be possible in a Smart Data economy. The prize is the next step to create the right environment for Smart Data to kickstart economic growth.

Justin Madders MP, Minister for Employment Rights, Competition, and Markets

Empowering Innovators to Deliver Real-World Solutions

The Smart Data Challenge Prize offers participants more than just financial backing. The Sandbox provides the tools necessary for innovators to refine and validate their ideas by using specially commissioned synthetic smart data. Synthetic smart data allows participants to test their ideas on life-like datasets while removing the privacy concerns involved with real data. This approach accelerates the path to market and helps uncover barriers to adopting Smart Data solutions, paving the way for an interoperable ecosystem that works seamlessly across sectors.

Dougie Robb, Interim CEO of Smart Data Foundry, emphasised the importance of the initiative:

Smart Data Foundry is proud to support the Smart Data Challenge Prize, an initiative that underscores the vital role of data in addressing real-world challenges. By empowering innovators with tools like the Smart Data Sandbox with NayaOne, we can drive the development of impactful solutions that support SMEs, protect vulnerable customers, and deliver meaningful benefits to businesses, consumers, and society at large.

Building a Smart Data Economy

The Challenge Prize represents a significant opportunity to explore the potential of Smart Data to reshape industries. It calls on innovators from academia, civil society, and the private sector to create solutions that meet real-world needs while advancing economic and societal goals.

The biggest obstacle facing Smart Data innovators right now is the lack of real-world Smart Data available to them. To experiment, iterate and scale proofs of concept, innovators need access to high-quality, robust and secure data to demonstrate how their ideas will create lasting benefits for people and businesses. The Smart Data Sandbox will enable innovators to develop their ideas into prototype solutions to demonstrate the viability and benefits of Smart Data in different sectors.

Louise Burke, CEO, the Open Data Institute

In May 2025, ten finalists will be selected to receive seed funding and expert mentoring to develop their prototypes. By Autumn 2025, the challenge will conclude with the announcement of the overall winner, who will receive an additional £50,000, while two runners-up will each receive £25,000.

How to Participate

Entries to the Smart Data Challenge Prize must be UK-led and submitted by 14 March 2025 at 23:59. Innovators working across financial services, transport, home buying, energy, and other sectors are encouraged to participate.

Link to the challenge

To learn more, join the webinar on Tuesday, 28 January 2025, from 11:00–12:00 GMT, hosted by DBT, Challenge Works, Smart Data Foundry, NayaOne, and the ODI. The session will provide insights into the aims of the prize and how to apply.

Together, we can leverage the power of Smart Data to address societal challenges, create new opportunities, and shape a better future.