We have one big strategic target which is to fund even larger multi-year projects and to engage more with UK research funding councils and see what kind of initiatives exist out there to achieve further synergies and create even more impact that will be felt across the UK.
We put a lot of emphasis on co-creation with industry partners, in our case the global asset management company abrdn. We used a multidisciplinary approach to create impactful activities with clear benefits for the UK economy and society.
“We are planning to deliver a hackathon event for early career researchers that will take place at EFI, and already abrdn are on board.”
We have so many synergies with DDI-related initiatives, a key example being our Centres for Doctoral Training (CDT). We are proud to partner with the newly UKRI-funded AI Centre for Doctoral Training on Responsible and Trustworthy in-the-world National Language Processing, an area that is extremely active in research these days. To bring this young talent and connect it to the centre is absolutely amazing for us.
We aim to create innovative solutions in asset management to foster a new competitive advantage for the UK sector. We also aim to inspire a culture of co-creation via multidisciplinary research with industry application, and of course, to align our efforts to train young talent in cutting edge technology and methodology in AI and data, with application to asset management, in particular. We will contribute in enhancing the understanding of how the investment industry can support and transition to a greener and more sustainable economy.
“We aim to develop new cutting-edge methodologies in AI and data that can benefit the UK tech sector and beyond.”
Centre for Investing Innovation (with abrdn)
Adoption
Sotirios Sabanis, Professor at the School of Mathematics and Director of Knowledge Exchange at the School of Mathematics and the Director for the Centre for Investing Innovation
“This wouldn't happen if it hadn't been for the support of the different centres that we have within Edinburgh and Heriot Watt universities.”
The vision of the DDI initiative was to make Edinburgh the data capital of Europe. It has allowed us to test our diagnostic system with social robots and sensors to understand if it will work in different housing type environments.
There are so many great things happening because of the DDI initiative. It encourages everyone to think, well, how can we utilise that? What can we do with this great investment? How can we leverage that into more research proposals and projects?
“UTIs are difficult to diagnose and that makes it quite complex and tricky to write research grants that could investigate them further.”
UTIs are difficult to diagnose and that makes it quite complex and tricky to write research grants that could really investigate them further. The next issue was making sure the technology would allow us to diagnose such a condition. Thankfully, alignment started to happen around 2018 - 2019. That's when we started formulating this particular project. We applied for the grant in 2021 and got the go ahead in 2022.
I have been interested in this particular area since learning the problems with UTIs faced by NHS consultants. With embarrassment and other issues around urine incontinence, UTIs are an under-researched area.
“The Feather Project uses Sensors and Social Robots to help with the diagnosis of UTIs more quickly and with less need for antibiotics.”
FEATHER Project – using robotics and AI for early detection of UTIs
Adoption
Professor Lynne Baillie,
Professor at the School of Mathematical & Computer Sciences at Heriot-Watt University.
Click here to find out more information about this project and to view others too.
Back to top
We have one big strategic target which is to fund even larger multi-year projects and to engage more with UK research funding councils and see what kind of initiatives exist out there to achieve further synergies and create even more impact that will be felt across the UK.
...
We put a lot of emphasis on co-creation with industry partners, in our case the global asset management company abrdn. We used a multidisciplinary approach to create impactful activities with clear benefits for the UK economy and society.
...
“We are planning to deliver a hackathon event for early career researchers that will take place at EFI, and already abrdn are on board.”
We have so many synergies with DDI-related initiatives, a key example being our Centres for Doctoral Training (CDT). We are proud to partner with the newly UKRI-funded AI Centre for Doctoral Training on Responsible and Trustworthy in-the-world National Language Processing, and an area that is extremely active in research these days. To bring this young talent and connect it to the centre is absolutely amazing for us.
...
We aim to create innovative solutions in asset management to foster a new competitive advantage for the UK sector. We also aim to inspire a culture of co-creation via multidisciplinary research with industry application, and of course, to align our efforts to train young talent in cutting edge technology and methodology in AI and data, with application to asset management, in particular. We will contribute in enhancing the understanding of how the investment industry can support and transition to a greener and more sustainable economy.
“We aim to developing new cutting-edge methodologies in AI and data that can benefit the UK tech sector and beyond.”
Centre for Investing Innovation (with abdrn)
Adoption
Sotirios Sabanis, Professor at the School of Mathematics and Director of Knowledge Exchange at the School of Mathematics and the Director for the Centre for Investing Innovation
“The money from DDI didn’t just help with technology. It helped individuals as well. We used it in part to fund a couple of very talented postdocs whose positions were precarious because of pandemic disruption. It kept them employed, and helped develop their careers.”
We commissioned an independent economics consultancy to come up with estimates of what the financial benefit of our activities are. And their best estimate was that research carried out in the institute in 2019-2020 contributed about £20 billion of added value to the global food chain, 325 million in the UK, 50 million in the Scottish economy. And that’s not one single thing, that’s the sum of multiple small gains. Getting the CRISPR screens to work for livestock and other species will improve animal health and continue to grow that sum.
We have designed libraries for an incredible variety of species - technology that started with the human genome. We’ve done libraries for duck, trout, cat, horse, pig, chicken and cow. We have the start of a zoo of libraries that have been validated and we know work. With this funding we’ve been able to open this up to species where the technology was not applicable before.
“DDI became involved in the pandemic recovery phase because they wanted to support projects that would help efforts after COVID-19.”
If you have a pedigree dog breed that’s susceptible to some form of inherited disease that you don’t understand the genetics of, then you would potentially be able to design a screen that would let you understand what the genetics of that disorder are. The dog breeding programme can then be adapted to deal with the unwanted allele (one of two or more versions of DNA sequence at a genomic location).
I’m a virologist, so I’m interested in infectious disease caused by viruses. My goal with this project, and overall aim of the institute, is to achieve sustainable agriculture, control infectious diseases, and enhance animal health through pioneering animal bioscience. And we aim to achieve those goals through a combination of different approaches, ranging from molecular biology through selective breeding of animals, all the way through to data-intensive approaches for data-driven innovation. I was given an award that aimed to further develop a process called CRISPR Cas9 Genome Wide Screens. It’s technology that won a Nobel Prize, and it gives us the power to make genomedics in just about any species, including livestock and companion animals, with the goal of improving animal health.
“This award allowed me to coordinate a team of people in the Institute to design the libraries for a range of different animal species, which didn't exist before, and to take the first steps towards testing them in key systems of interest.”
Roslin expertise & the UK and Scottish Government response to avian flu
Adoption
Professor Paul Digard,
Chair of Virology at Edinburgh University.
“We work through our data with our partners, helping to identify where children are at risk, so that protective action can be taken and those children can be immediately protected from any harm that they're currently facing.”
DDI has helped us to navigate some of the spaces where work may have been done before and what we as Childlight can do to build on that system rather than replicating. It's that navigation and collaborative spirit that DDI facilitates which helps us at Childlight to stand out from the research and make real change in the world.
“When it comes to Childlight, we will be working through creating accurate, reliable, trusted data that provides the evidence base that governments, policymakers, framers, programmers around the world can use to inform their own plans.”
We have been delighted to have released our annual flagship report - the first compendium of all Childlight's research understanding the nature of child sexual abuse and exploitation. Following this, our global index to be released in March will highlight the nature and prevalence of child abuse. It will be able to draw on different and greater data sets for a better understanding. We can use this to unify and better direct policy, legislation, and programming around the world.
Even before Childlight was launched, the DDI initiative was engaged with the team and working to connect the dots across the data ecosystem not only in terms of partners, but the types of data we could access and how we could get it to those who needed it most.
“I make sure we do the things that we want to do, but also that we're doing the right things in the right way for the impact that we want to see in the world.”
Childlight
Adoption
Zoe Lambourne,
Associate Director of Strategy
at Childlight.
One of the initiatives that is helping us to drive things forward is the Edinburgh Southeast Scotland Regional Intelligence Hub. It allows us to support policymakers with near real time data to help them address the challenges that are faced by the region, and build upon the opportunities that are being offered too. With the Regional Intelligence Hub we can use that data as a core of differing conversations that help to inform our responses. That leads to academic experts in a particular area working alongside the local community, with Government and with our partners within the local authorities to think about how we respond to the challenges and opportunities the region faces.
We shoot for the sun to be data capital of Europe. The closer we get the easier it becomes, because you attract the talent. And things like the recent announcement that the next generation of supercomputer Exascale will be built here again just builds that momentum. The best researchers want to come and they want to use it. Who wouldn’t want to be here to be involved with that?
“The Data-Driven Innovation initiative is a core area of opportunity that brings the Regional Prosperity Framework to life.”
“The Data-Driven Innovation initiative delivers upon its key objective - to establish Edinburgh and the region as the data capital of Europe.”
To date we've been involved in establishing new clusters of emergent technology companies. We've tackled the inequality of opportunity in terms of people's access to the opportunities that are created by this programme. We've been busily establishing a whole range of data tools and assets, whilst at the same time tackling some of society's biggest ills, like the protection of children from online sex abuse.
The programme has been running at full pelt since August 2018 and our focus up until now has been around establishing a network of innovation facilities across the city and extending into Midlothian. And what that capital programme has done is provide facilities where academia, industry, Government, Third Sector, Public Sector can come in, effectively breathe the same air and consider the tricky policy challenges and changes that society faces in the current day.
“Data-Driven Innovation is one of the five programmes within the Edinburgh and East of Scotland City Region Deal, but the most significant one in terms of investment from the UK and Scottish governments.”
Regional Prosperity Framework
Andy Nichol
Adoption
