Smart Data Challenge Prize Design Research

Tender description

The Consumer and Competition Policy Directorate (CCP), part of the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), is looking to commission research to inform the design and scope of a possible Smart Data challenge prize. Smart Data is the secure sharing of customer data, upon the customer's request, with authorised third-party providers (TPPs) able to help consumers manage their data or money with innovative services such as automatic switching or account management. These innovations will save time, money, and effort for customers who can more easily find and choose better-suited deals and manage their money. It is BEIS' ambition to grow and accelerate the delivery of new Smart Data schemes and increase cross-sector interoperability. To encourage innovation and investment in the development of Smart Data schemes, we need a range of detailed use cases (i.e., ideas for services using Smart Data, and information on what's needed to make them happen) that we can draw on to illustrate the potential value of Smart Data, and better understand the challenges that would need to be overcome to facilitate cross-sector data sharing. To incentivise the creation of more use cases, BEIS is exploring the option of launching a Smart Data challenge prize. This would be a competition offering incentives to whoever can most effectively develop new solutions for how Smart Data could be used across sectors, to help consumers and businesses to benefit from their data. Given the relatively nascent nature of Smart Data outside of Open Banking, before deciding whether to proceed with launching the challenge prize itself, we would like to carry out a scoping exercise to understand the feasibility of a challenge prize. We intend to commission research to improve government understanding of viable design and delivery options for a possible Smart Data challenge prize. This will help ensure that we can make an informed decision on whether a challenge prize would meet our aims and objectives and offer value for money. If BEIS decides to proceed with launching a challenge prize, the outputs from this research will be used to directly inform its design. We envisage that the design research will consist of a mixed method approach, combining an expert literature review and desk-based research and analysis with primary qualitative research (interviews and focus groups with key stakeholder groups, such as those with previous experience of running challenges, sector regulators, potential innovators and end users of Smart Data products and services).