The Department for Business and Trade, Challenge Works, and the Open Data Institute just launched the Smart Data Challenge, offering a substantial prize pot of £600,000.
They’re looking for groundbreaking apps and technologies, inviting participants from the data and innovation sector. They’re particularly interested in solutions that can transform financial services, energy, retail, transport, and home buying. Justin Madders, minister for employment rights, highlighted the potential of smart data to drive innovation in startups across the country, referencing the success of open banking that attracted over £2 billion in private funding. He aims to see other sectors leverage this competition to create meaningful changes for consumers and fuel economic growth.
The government sees a parallel between open banking—where financial data seamlessly flows between banks and third parties through APIs—and the smart data initiative. They hope to improve services for consumers and small businesses in the same way.
However, data technologists face significant challenges, like the shortage of real-world smart data. To address this, winning teams will gain exclusive access to a special “smart data sandbox” designed for the challenge, allowing them to test and develop their ideas into working prototypes. This sandbox features synthetic data—artificially generated, not derived from real-world activities—spanning 11 data domains, including banking, insurance, energy, and retail. The aim is to reward technologies that utilize multiple datasets and demonstrate lasting benefits for consumers and businesses.
Holly Jamieson, executive director of Challenge Works, emphasized that this open innovation competition invites diverse contributors from industry, academia, and civil society to present their smart data solutions. She pointed out that challenge prizes have historically opened doors for startups and innovators, supporting their best ideas regardless of their origins.
Louise Burke, CEO of the Open Data Institute, echoed this sentiment. She noted that the main challenge for smart data innovators is the lack of accessible, real-world smart data. To truly innovate, creators need high-quality, secure data to refine their concepts. The smart data sandbox aims to provide just that, pulling together information across multiple sectors to help innovators build and showcase prototype solutions.
This Smart Data Challenge Prize follows a smaller initiative called the Smart Data Discovery Challenge, which kicked off in October 2023 under the Conservative government. Winners of that challenge included Rodeo, an app designed for gig workers to manage their fluctuating pay, and Mealia, which integrates supermarket data for cost savings and healthier eating options.
This new challenge aims to tackle pressing issues like the cost of living, the shift to clean energy, service accessibility, promoting competition for SMEs, and supporting vulnerable customers. In May 2025, twenty finalists will receive seed funding of up to £50,000, along with mentoring and sandbox access. By autumn 2025, there will be an overall winner earning £50,000, plus two runner-up prizes of £25,000.
The government aims to develop a clearer understanding of proven use cases across different sectors, shedding light on the barriers to progress. To enter, participants must be UK-led, with a deadline set for 14 March 2025.