New fund for SMEs interested in using health data

Data created by people when they use public services like schools or the NHS can deliver powerful insights when linked together and provide researchers with a rich source of ideas.  

As part of Scottish Government’s refreshed life sciences strategy, RDS is delivering a pilot programme for SMEs based in Scotland to benefit from a waiver of data preparation and analysis costs of up to £60,000 per project. The money is paid directly to RDS partners, such as eDRIS (electronic Data Research and Innovation Service, which is part of Public Health Scotland) and National Records of Scotland, who will curate, manage and link the datasets the successful SME needs to complete their project. There will be a maximum of three projects.

The Private Sector Accelerator Awards are part of a new plan to help Scotland’s Life Sciences sector become a £25 billion industry by 2035.  

Accredited researchers can use one or more of nine datasets — these are some of the most widely used health datasets for use in research, including hospital admissions, prescribing, emergency attendances and births to create a data-driven product.   

These datasets allow researchers to conduct population-level studies on health-related topics, such as:  

• Cancer prognosis and survival prediction  

• Predicting risk of disease or outcomes based on different factors – this could include AI modelling, for example  

• Exploring impact of socio-economic factors and policy changes, for example, minimum unit price for alcohol  

Professor Roger Halliday, CEO of RDS, said: “Research Data Scotland (RDS) is delighted to be administering this new fund for Scotland-based SMEs to use public sector data for developing innovative data-driven products, which deliver public good. 

“The private sector has an important role to play. RDS was commissioned by Scottish Government to develop an Operational Framework to develop a more effective approach to private sector access to public sector data across Scotland.  

“These awards will enable clear, ethical, efficient and secure routes to access and use data for projects that deliver public benefit.” 

Tom Arthur, Minister for Business and Fair Work said:

"Scotland's life sciences sector is already a major contributor to our economy, and we're determined to help it grow further, with an ambition to reach £25 billion by 2035.

“The Private Sector Accelerator Awards are an important part of that ambition, giving Scottish SMEs the support they need to turn our world-class health data assets into innovative products and services while keeping public benefit at the heart of everything we do. By backing our SMEs to innovate, we're creating jobs, attracting investment and cementing Scotland's reputation as a global leader in life sciences."

SMEs can start investigating and honing their applications by reviewing the full list of terms and conditions.  

The application process will involve an Expression of Interest submitted by the SME, which will be reviewed by panel of experts selected by RDS drawn from academia, government agencies, not-for-profit sector and the funder, Scottish Government. Public members will also be involved in the process. 

Once the projects have been assessed, those that meet the criteria will be invited to submit a full application via the Research Data Access Pathway.   

The Expressions of Interest form will be available from mid-August (w/c 17 August) and submissions will remain open until the end of September.  

Find out more about full details of the call.  

For further inspiration of how data can be used for public benefit, look at our case studies hub .