Smart Data Challenge Prize: A call for energy sector innovators

Organised by the Department for Business & Trade, Challenge Works, the Open Data Institute, and Smart Data Foundry, this initiative offers up to £600,000 in funding and additional support for solutions that harness the potential of Smart Data. Innovators in the energy sector are particularly encouraged to enter and propose solutions that address real-world challenges.

What is the Smart Data Challenge Prize?

The Smart Data Challenge Prize seeks to identify applications of Smart Data that deliver lasting benefits for people and businesses. Entrants will gain access to a Smart Data Sandbox, providing the opportunity to test and develop their ideas into functional prototypes. This sandbox brings together synthetic data across 11 key domains, including energy, banking, insurance, and retail, enabling cross-sector innovation.

Minister for Employment Rights, Competition and Markets, Justin Madders MP, explained the importance of Smart Data:

“Smart Data has the potential to supercharge a wave of innovative start-ups right across the country. As we’ve seen with Open Banking which has raised over £2 billion of private funding, I hope other sectors can take advantage of the competition to provide real change for consumers and boost economic growth right across the nation.”

Driving Cross-Sector Collaboration

Building on the UK’s success in Open Banking, the challenge prize aims to unlock the potential of a Smart Data ecosystem that spans multiple sectors, including finance, energy, and retail. By enabling the creation of solutions, this initiative seeks to address challenges such as the cost of living, the transition to net zero, and improving access to essential services.

Holly Jamieson, Executive Director of Challenge Works, highlighted the prize’s focus on innovation:

“The Smart Data Challenge Prize is an open innovation competition – it is calling on diverse innovators from across industry, academia and civil society to enter their Smart Data solutions that will make people’s lives better and easier.”

Key Details for Participants

• Up to 10 finalists will be selected in May 2025, each receiving seed funding of up to £50,000, expert mentoring, and access to the Smart Data Sandbox.

• An overall winner will be announced in autumn 2025, receiving an additional £50,000, while two runner-up teams will each be awarded £25,000.

• Solutions must demonstrate potential to work across sectors and address key challenges facing consumers and small businesses.

• The entry period closes on 14 March 2025 at 23:59.

The Smart Data Challenge Prize offers a unique opportunity for energy sector innovators to lead the way in creating technologies that benefit society and drive economic growth. For more details and to enter, visit smartdata.challenges.org.