Smart Data Challenge Prize, a new £600,000 data competition, aims to drive innovation in the pension industry by encouraging technologies that benefit savers, businesses, and the economy.
The competition, which was started on January 15 by the Department for Business and Trade in collaboration with the Open Data Institute and Smart Data Foundry and is supported by The Pensions Regulator (TPR), aims to replicate the success of the open banking industry in the UK finance and pensions sectors.
According to TPR, the initiative aligns with its broader goals outlined in its digital, data, and technology strategy, launched in October.
It encourages innovation by utilising open data standards, like application programming interfaces (APIs), to facilitate smooth data transfer and minimise agency-to-agency duplication.
TPR hopes to decrease regulatory constraints on pension schemes, increase market competition, and expedite procedures by promoting open data, all of which would improve outcomes for savers.
The Pensions Regulator director of data services Lisa Allen says: “Just like open banking benefited the UK economy, open pensions data has the potential to boost innovation, increase efficiency, reduce regulatory burden and improve outcomes for savers. I hope the pensions industry will see the Smart Data Challenge as an opportunity to prove how innovative it is.”
