A Data Sharing Infrastructure for future generations

Data Sharing Infrastructure – the future

Introducing the Cross-Sector UK Data Sharing Infrastructure report

Today’s PhD students talk enthusiastically about the need for data sharing infrastructure to allow them to get on and do the work they want to do. They want to understand where EV chargers are needed and what impact they will have on the supply of electricity into our homes. They want to identify what we need to do now and after the point we reach net zero to ensure we are living sustainably. And to do this, to reduce the amount of uncertainty that surrounds us, they need access to data.

The way these students talk about data sharing infrastructure suggests that if the current generation “in charge” doesn’t get it done then they will and will look back and say, “Why did you waste all that time? What were you waiting for?”

It is our duty to accelerate the development of data sharing infrastructure now and for the benefit of future generations. The Cross-Sector UK Data Sharing Infrastructure report, based on expert knowledge in the Digital Twin Hub Data Sharing Working Group, sets out the high level components of data sharing infrastructure and illustrates a framework for identifying and assessing progress in building data sharing infrastructure. It calls for greater connected coordination across the governance, legal, data interoperability, trust and security components of data sharing infrastructure. We need this to accelerate the development of data sharing infrastructure across sectors so that we can do the right thing for today’s students and tomorrow’s decision makers.

Use the framework and the diagrams set out in this short report to describe your progress in building data sharing infrastructure. Fill in this form Data Sharing Landscape Review to capture your data sharing infrastructure initiative and ensure it becomes part of the bigger picture of cross sector data sharing infrastructure.

Sarah Hayes, Independent Consultant and Connected Places Catapult Ambassador 

Download the report

See also our July 2024 blog on a Data Sharing Infrastructure