Unlocking smart data: design research into a possible challenge prize
Research to inform the design and scope of a potential smart data challenge prize.
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Smart data is the secure sharing of customer data with Authorised Third Parties (ATPs), upon the customer’s request. These third parties then use this data to provide innovative services for the consumer or business user, such as enabling faster credit checks, more informed financial advice, or better account management.
It is the Department for Business and Trade’s ambition to launch a smart data challenge prize, subject to an appropriate delivery model and partner being identified. This would be a competition that offers incentives to whoever can most effectively develop new solutions for how smart data could be used across sectors.
Nesta Challenge Works and DeepSeer were commissioned by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) to undertake research to inform the design and scope of this potential smart data challenge prize.
The research looked to improve government understanding of the following questions:
- what lessons can be learned on successful models for challenge prize design and delivery from existing literature and previous challenge prizes?
- what specific design and delivery model may be best able and most likely to achieve the DBT’s objectives for the challenge prize?
- to what extent is this model likely to deliver value for money?
The research comprised the following activities:
- a literature review of academic and grey literature on challenge prizes to determine challenge prize best practices and any implications for a smart data challenge prize
- landscape mapping of smart data stakeholders to understand the perspectives of main figures within the UK smart data landscape
- 28 in-depth interviews of smart data stakeholders, including trade associations, academic institutions, regulators, businesses and policy think tanks, to understand potential desired use cases, including opportunities and hurdles for bringing cross-sector smart data use cases to market
- 3 focus groups with 22 smart data stakeholders, including trade associations, businesses and policy think tanks, to generate ideas around the structure, incentives and other considerations of a potential challenge prize
- three possible challenge models were developed and analysed against a set of evaluation criteria to determine their potential performance against DBT’s stated objectives for this research and design analysis
- a recommended challenge model was designed in detail
- 5 challenge model feedback sessions with select smart data stakeholders to test selected challenge prize model design features and adjust the recommended model based on feedback
The research identified a challenge prize model that DeepSeer and Nesta Challenge Works concluded is likely to meet DBT’s requirements for accelerating Smart Data use cases and generating lessons that support policy advancement.
It is the DBT’s ambition to launch a smart data challenge prize in 2023 to 2024, subject to an appropriate delivery model and partner being identified.
We are looking to procure services to deliver the challenge prize, and an invitation to tender was launched for this on 6 July 2023.