Why the UK must get serious about data

It’s time our national data assets were treated as critical national infrastructure, just like datacentres

Our world increasingly relies on access to data across geographic, organisational, economic and cultural borders. The potential benefits are immense.

According to a European Commission study, cited in a recent UK government consultation, data-specialised businesses are a growing part of the economy, increasing their share of GDP from 6.5% to 7.4% between 2021 and 2023 alone. Analysis suggests that the use of data could support annual productivity growth in the UK by an estimated range of 0.23% to 1.26%, depending on how effectively it is adopted across the economy. Yet, while the government has officially recognised datacentres as critical national infrastructure, like water facilities, energy services and healthcare, it has not yet recognised data itself in the same way.

This conceptual gap may explain why we still lack a coherent strategy that covers the core components of national data infrastructure, including collection, access, use, sharing, governance, stewardship, ethics and more. Recognising data as a valuable national asset deserving of sustained investment, equal to transport networks and energy grids, could incentivise private sector investment and ensure public sector returns, significantly benefiting UK taxpayers.

The Open Data Institute’s (ODI) response to the Department for Business and Trade’s consultation on Invest 2035 (the industrial strategy green paper) called for a National Data Infrastructure Roadmap. However,the recent digital government review highlighted that data still remains fragmented and underused across government systems, limiting its potential for AI, machine learning and analytics. In contrast, countries like Estonia have made significant strides in digital and data infrastructure, investing heavily to drive advancements in AI. The UK risks losing ground unless it commits to meaningful action.

Data without borders

The National Data Library (NDL) has the potential to set the national standards needed for high-value, AI-ready datasets. At the ODI, we are seeing significant interest across government delivery departments in adopting common data standards. We’d urge those working on the National Data Library to take a lead in developing standards for government data sets, adopting protocols like Croissant that can ensure government data curated by the NDL is AI-ready.

Enterprise Knowledge Graphs and contextual data standards might sound technical, but they're essential tools for making data useful across different sectors. These tools structure and connect data, ensuring data interoperability through standard definitions and formats. Think of it as ensuring that all our data ‘speaks’ the same language, making it easier for people and AI systems to understand and use it responsibly. Adopting robust standards, like these, is essential for creating a strong data infrastructure that fosters innovation while maintaining public trust. This, in turn, will ensure that UK data can flow responsibly across borders, potentially contributing up to 2.5% of global GDP.

To achieve this, national standards for high-value, AI-ready datasets must be aligned with internationally recognised frameworks, such as those approved by W3C. This involves close engagement with international standards bodies and studying successful approaches from countries such as Australia, India and Singapore. The International Data Spaces Association (IDSA) and its RADAR dashboard of use cases provide proven models for tracking and evaluating data-sharing initiatives, ensuring the NDL aligns with global best practices, an essential step in positioning the UK as a serious player in AI innovation.

Government data is not AI-ready

The AI Opportunities Action Plan, authored by Matt Clifford, rightly emphasises the role of the NDL as a means to unlock government data for AI innovation. However, there are concerns about the current condition of government data. Recent research from the ODI suggests that most of the datasets on data.gov.uk aren’t AI-ready. This forces models like ChatGPT and Gemini to rely on less authoritative sources when responding to queries about government information, meaning they’re at risk of generating misleading or inaccurate outputs. Without treating data as critical infrastructure - solid, reliable and well-maintained - the UK’s ambitions for AI leadership will falter, potentially missing out on the IMF’s projected £47 billion annual economic boost from AI. Improving public sector data quality and accessibility must be a central focus of the UK’s technology agenda.

Fragile trust

There is undoubtedly huge potential in the UK’s data. Projects such as INSIGHT, supported by the ODI, showcase how AI-powered data analysis can revolutionise healthcare. Crossing the borders between private and public sectors, it used datasets from 2.3 million patients at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Trust to provide a new way of identifying Parkinson’s disease in patients much earlier. The government must strike a delicate balance - unlocking data’s potential for public good while ensuring its secure and ethical use, particularly within the healthcare system. However, people are nervous about the risks of sharing sensitive personal records, such as health information and protected characteristics.

The risk is clear: if people don’t trust how their data is used, they may opt out, undermining the effectiveness of our data infrastructure. Strengthening data infrastructure must go hand in hand with building public trust.

The future is citizen-centric

While Trusted Research Environments (TREs) enable approved researchers to access anonymised health data without any personal information leaving the environment, people also want greater personal control of their data.

Data access for individuals should be as straightforward as it is for businesses. Privacy-enhancing technologies, such as Solid, can help individuals control their data. Solid gives people the power to decide who to share their data with and under what conditions, while providing organisations with secure, user-approved access to the information they need for innovation and decision-making.

The future is data

The UK is ripe with opportunity and has the potential to become a world leader in data and AI, but there is work to be done.

While the country talks a good game on technology, it has yet to commit to the strategic planning and investment required to turn rhetoric into reality. If we are serious about realising data’s potential, we must recognise it as an essential pillar of national infrastructure, essential for economic growth and global competitiveness. This requires urgent investment in making public sector data AI-ready and equipping people with the tools and understanding to manage their data confidently. The government must act decisively, aligning with international standards and ensuring all government datasets are fit for the digital age.

Anything less and the UK risks being left behind in the global AI race. Data is our next great strategic asset; it’s time we treated it as such.

Louise Burke is CEO of the Open Data Institute