Published 13 January 2025
The UK public sector holds a wealth of data across different public bodies, government departments and institutions.
The last few years have seen good examples of progress, but there remain major barriers to using this data effectively, including difficulties in accessing and navigating complex data infrastructures. With the right safeguards in place, improving access to health data could have huge potential for research and science.
There is political will to deliver a National Data Library (NDL) to address these issues. It is it in everyone’s interests that this data be made accessible to researchers, and appropriate organisations, working for the public good. It will be vital that the data is held and managed securely, with due consideration to maintaining the social contract with the public about how this data is used.
The Technical White Paper Challenge invited experts to submit technical visions, architectures and design ideas that could be adopted by a future NDL, for the benefit of the research community and the UK population.
Emrys Health’s submission, in collaboration with the Francis Crick Institute and Snowflake can be read here