National Data Library Expert Advisory Group

Information about the National Data Library (NDL) Expert Advisory Group including its role and members.

The National Data Library (NDL) Expert Advisory Group was established in September 2025 by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). The NDL Expert Advisory Group supports and challenges the design and delivery of the NDL through meaningful discussions.

The group consists of invited members drawn from industry, academia and civil society with a diverse range of expertise in Data and AI.

The group is co-chaired by Sarah Hodgetts, Director for Geospatial and National Data Library, and Dom Hallas, Executive Director at Startup Coalition. Members are invited to attend the group for a 12-month term, after which membership will be subject to review.

The objectives of the Expert Advisory Group are to:

  • provide strategic insight and scrutiny to shape NDL design and delivery
  • review proposals and advise on user impact and operational feasibility
  • share expertise from past initiatives and emerging innovations
  • advise on principles that support transparency and strengthen public confidence
  • highlight policy and legislative considerations that may affect responsible data sharing

The Expert Advisory Group serves as a stakeholder advisory group, that acts as a forum for sharing views and supporting NDL delivery decisions. It does not hold decision-making authority.

Membership

  • Dom Hallas: Executive Director at the Startup Coalition, an independent advocacy group that serves as the policy voice for the technology-led startups and scale ups in the UK

  • Rachel Coldicutt OBE: British technology expert who works on ethics, regulation, and the social impacts of technology

  • Dr Sharada Nia Davidson: Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of Strathclyde, and an affiliated researcher with the Fraser of Allander Institute and the Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence

  • Professor David Ford OBE: Professor of Informatics at Swansea University and Director of Population Data Science based at Swansea University Medical School

  • Professor Ben Goldacre MBE: Director of the Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science at the University of Oxford

  • Paul Maltby: Director of Public Services at Faculty AI, a UK-based artificial intelligence consultancy that partners with organisations to develop and deploy AI solutions for complex real-world challenges

  • Karen Meechan: Chief Executive Officer of ScotlandIS, the national trade body for Scotland’s digital and ICT sector. She brings substantial expertise in data access challenges in Scotland, strategic data leadership and cross sector digital transformation

  • Elizabeth Scott MBE: Executive Director of Turing Innovation Catalyst Manchester, an organisation working to proactively develop the AI ecosystem in Greater Manchester

  • Cathie Sudlow OBE FRSE: Professor of Neurology and Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, Director of the Usher Institute, Head of the School of Population Health Sciences, Director of UKRI Adolescent Health Study, Author of a government commissioned review of the UK health data landscape, ‘The Sudlow Review’

  • Jamie Vicary: Professor of Computer Science at the University of Cambridge and a Royal Society Research Fellow. His research focuses on the mathematical foundations of emerging computational models, including AI and quantum computing, and he has also been involved with public sector digital transformation for over two decades

  • Stian Westlake: Executive Chair of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the UK’s largest funder of economic, social, behavioural and human data science

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