DDI Initiative case studies

Skills in computer programming are required more and more on degree courses, but often the course lecturers are not trained specifically to deliver. That’s why the winter school was designed. In recognition of the fact that many lecturers are self-taught programmers, Kasia Banas and her team at the Usher Institute designed a one day conference to bring together a variety of subject experts to shar...

Quantum computing is a complex area that’s developing rapidly. In order for industry needs and academic research to keep pace with one another, strategic partnerships have to form where each learns to speak the other’s language. NatWest and the Edinburgh Futures Institute have established just such a partnership, with very successful outcomes. This just one example that funding from the DDI can ha...

Work experience for students can take many forms, and Edinburgh Futures Institute is pushing the boundaries by running a project to embed it into final year study. The Student Challenge projects pair students with businesses with a goal of tackling real life problems. The companies get access to high-level research and the students gets hands on experience. One such project involved Discover airli...

Health care data plays a pivotal role in transformative discoveries and enhancing patient outcomes. However, the journey to harness the full potential of health data is not without its challenges, such as those posed by clinical free-text records (including hospital discharge summaries and GP notes). These records hold valuable health-related information that sometimes cannot be found in coded - a...

We all know we should be saving for our future, but it’s hard to visualise ourselves in 20 or 30 years, especially when our costs today are so high. Financial services company Aegon has been interested in the human behaviours behind financial decisions for years, but has recently taken a novel approach. A Knowledge Transfer Partnership or KTP between Aegon and the University of Edinburgh, brokered...

The use of artificial intelligence, or AI, is the subject of much discussion. As we rely more and more on automating tasks and making data-driven decisions, AI becomes a big part of the solution. But it only works when its models are trained using high quality data. One partnership between industry and academia is testing the limits of AI models. Tech company Advai has been using the supercomputin...

Project Lead Gemma Cassells and Lead author Matjaz Vidmar discuss the Lothians report and the potential for data driven innovation in East, West and Mid-Lothian. The Data Driven Innovation initiative is supporting hundreds of collaborations and organisations across Edinburgh and the south-east of Scotland. For more information follow their page on LinkedIn, find @datacapitaled on X (formerly Twitt...

DDI Ambassador Briana Pegado speaks to journalist Kim McAllister to explain why the arts and creative industries need to embrace data. The Data Driven Innovation initiative is supporting hundreds of collaborations and organisations across Edinburgh and the south-east of Scotland. For more information follow their page on LinkedIn, find @datacapitaled on X (formerly Twitter) or go to the website dd...

Featuring Sanjay Rakshit and Nick Baker  Massive online open courses (MOOCS) are for people wanting to learn about how data can impact their career prospects. Two people who have completed such courses tell us how they changed their lives. The Data Driven Innovation initiative is supporting hundreds of collaborations and organisations across Edinburgh and the south-east of Scotland. For more infor...

Edinburgh has long been a centre of excellence for informatics,  but how did this inspire the £660m data driven innovation initiative, the largest grant ever awarded to a UK university?  One of its architects tells us the story. The Data Driven Innovation initiative is supporting hundreds of collaborations and organisations across Edinburgh and the south-east of Scotland. For more information foll...

When the coronavirus pandemic hit in early 2020, there was an urgent need for health data. The International Severe Acute Respiratory and emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC)  gathered data from hundreds of thousands of patients across  the UK, helping to inform government on a weekly basis. The Data Driven Innovation initiative is supporting hundreds of collaborations and organisations across E...

A design-thinking, social change programme at the University of Edinburgh brings together all disciplines and degree levels  with organisations facing huge economic, social and environmental programmes which they would like the students to brainstorm. One such project asked them to consider how to make tenement flats more energy efficient. The Data Driven Innovation initiative is supporting hundre...

Featuring Chris Speed  The Edinburgh Futures Institute is due to start its phased  opening in 2023 after an extensive renovation of the old Edinburgh Infirmary. Chris Speed, the hub’s director, talks about the plans  for the building and the work which will take place within it. The Data Driven Innovation initiative is supporting hundreds of collaborations and organisations across Edinburgh and th...

Featuring Gary Watmough, Alan Duncan and Guyo Roba  The Jameel Observatory combines the local knowledge and concerns of communities facing the threat of hunger with innovations in data science and humanitarian action. The food insecurity of tomorrow can be tackled today by early actions that increase the resilience and adaptive capacities of people living in harsh climates like the African dryland...

Featuring Laura Bernal, Katy Guthrie and Danny Helson  The University of Edinburgh has three programmes which  support entrepreneurship at various levels. Here the programme leads explains the role each plays and how they work together  to support the talent in the city. The Data Driven Innovation initiative is supporting hundreds of collaborations and organisations across Edinburgh and the south-...

Featuring Richard Kuo and Nicola Broughton  Wobble Genomics was founded by a Californian who was attracted to the environment at the university which cloned Dolly the Sheep. It specialises in maximising the RNA and DNA sequencing efficiency to allow the detection of biomarkers. Here he tells us about the growth of his company. The Data Driven Innovation initiative is supporting hundreds of collabo...