Thank you to @sdruk.bsky.social for a brilliant and thoughtful interview about our new study linking children's healthcare and with data from their homes. Thanks for your support @joecuddeford.bsky.social and team!

Cold homes and children’s health: How smart data could protect our most vulnerable - @joecuddeford.bsky.social meets @livvyswann.bsky.social to discuss the Homes, Heat and Healthy Kids Study, funded by @wellcometrust.bsky.social and hosted by @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social. Read more: bit.ly/3HdF8ng

📷 This time last week…we’re still feeling energised from our visit to Leeds for the @digital-footprints.bsky.social. An opportunity to meet smart data researchers from across the UK. If you’d like to know more about the work of Smart Data Research UK, please join our mailing list: bit.ly/43ugIgQ.

Thanks to everyone at @digital-footprints.bsky.social and the Healthy and Sustainable Places Data Service @uniofleeds.bsky.social for making the SDR UK team so welcome. A fantastic event - here’s to 2026! #DigitalFootprints25

Marking the publication of our Public Dialogue 2025 report with an expert panel and the voices of the public #DigitalFootprints2025

I had a sneak peek at some data which is being published by Meta today, showing that Britain is less divided by class than you might expect: www.economist.com/britain/2025...

🌍 Hot on the heels of this week's Paris AI Summit, don’t miss this blog from our director @joecuddeford.bsky.social on AI and the importance of creating secure, ethical ways to access private sector data for research that benefits society. www.sdruk.ukri.org/2025/02/04/p...

In this post I explore why improving access to private sector data for research is important for our AI future, but it’s hard to get right.

In a new blog, @joecuddeford.bsky.social discusses the significance of private sector data within the Government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan. Our six new national data services will focus on making this data safely available for research. Read all 👇 bit.ly/4hrLlsV

Hey data nerds, Defra has just launched a 'Land Use Consultation' which says government wants to: - make more [geospatial] data accessible for the public benefit - free up more Land Registry data - explore options to increase transparency of land & property data. consult.defra.gov.uk/land-use-fra...

Our latest blog is out! Hear from @sammibmcg.bsky.social about her recent trip to the University of the West of England Bristol for the ESRC regional showcase. The event was a chance to share the news on Smart Data Research UK's six new data services. Read all here👇 bit.ly/4aDOgMu

Fantastic insights from Amy Orben on BBC Radio 4, exploring how smartphones and social media are rewiring childhood. We’re proud to have Amy on the @sdruk.bsky.social programme board, where she’s helping us tackle the challenge of unlocking essential data that companies currently don’t provide.

🖊️ Just landed! A blog from one of Smart Data Research UK's new data services. Professor Nik Lomax, director of Healthy and Sustainable Places (HASP) @universityofleeds.bsky.social, describes how 'place' has been key to laying the foundations of the team's work. bit.ly/4hdE9QI

🍂 🚂 Leaves on the line? Network Rail now using smart data to keep your autumn journeys on track! www.networkrail.co.uk/stories/tack...

This highlights the challenges researchers face when studying online harms. Studies like this are important, but can't provide generalisable, quantitative evidence of the scale of the problem or the audiences at risk. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Lord Bethell is right to champion researcher access to platform data. Crucial to understand how algorithms and AI affect society - key for @chionwurah.bsky.social's new inquiry. Our new Smart Data Donation Service will enable research access via Article 20 of GDPR. But broader reform is needed.

Come and work with us! Smart Data Research UK are looking for a super organised Personal Assistant to keep @joecuddeford.bsky.social and me on the straight and narrow. Applications by 8th December. www.careersportal.co.uk/UKRI-careers...

Remarkable, though UK users still relatively niche at 500k. The threshold for Ofcom to class a platform as a “large regulated service” is 7m (10% of UK population). If we continue to see weekly doubling, we’ll be at 7m in 4 weeks… (what’s the R rate for Bluesky transmission?!)

The UK government has ambitious plans for a National Data Library, and a lot of the important technical choices remain to be made. Together with Wellcome, ESRC is running a Technical White Paper challenge to invite proposals for how to make it work best - more below! wellcome.org/what-we-do/o...

The Geospatial Commission published today the report (there's a blog post too) of the project we've been collaborating on for several months. To add a bit of a personal view, I wrote a summary and some thoughts here also: darribas.org/anotes/artic...