The UK Government, through the Department for Business and Trade, has published its long-term Smart Data Strategy Smart Data 2035”. This sets out a roadmap to expand regulated data-sharing schemes across the economy, building on the success of Open Banking. This briefing summarises what the strategy is, what is changing, and what it means for local authorities.

The UK Government, through Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and UK Research and Innovation, has launched a new Advanced Connectivity Technologies (ACT) R&D programme.

In our previous article, we explored how local authorities must move from fragmented data to integrated, contextual intelligence to unlock AI and improve service delivery. More recently, our observations at Mobile World Congress reinforced that this data foundation is now evolving into operational platforms such as digital twins and real-time city systems.