Driver Projects: turning ambition into action

The Health Data Research Service is launching two competitive calls this summer, for our first tranche of driver projects: Technical Transformation Projects and Data Driver Projects.  Through these investments we will demonstrate early value from the UK’s investment in health data for research, while accelerating progress towards HDRS’s long-term transformation goals.  

First, we will invest in Technical Transformation Projects to strengthen the shared technical foundations of the UK’s secure data environment network: improving data standardisation, data breadth and quality, Trusted Research Environment (TRE) consistency and security, process automation and AI-enabling infrastructure. Our first call launch week commencing 13 July, with a four-week application window and decisions expected in August.

We will also progress towards early investments in Data Driver Projects to demonstrate the untapped potential of the data, infrastructure and access routes that already exist to deliver research, clinical or public impact, right now. This second call will launch in early August, running on a rolling basis, and will be open to any UK-registered organisation or consortium. We are particularly interested in proposals from partnerships working across organisations, and the four nations of the UK. More information will be confirmed in the coming weeks.

Across both strands, HDRS will be seeking driver project proposals that are ambitious but deliverable – designed to make a real difference in months, not years. 

Together, these two calls reflect a single ambition: to build the shared foundations that make health data research faster, safer and more consistent across the UK and demonstrate what’s possible when health data is safely brought together and used, all while generating the evidence that will shape how HDRS builds its services for the future.

Dr Melanie Ivarsson, Chief Executive of HDRS, said:

“The UK has some of the richest health data in the world. Yet too often, it can’t be used to help the people it was collected from. Patients are missing out on innovations that could improve or save their lives because researchers cannot quickly and easily access the health data they need.

“The Health Data Research Service has been set up to change that. We are creating a single, secure gateway to the UK’s health data, giving approved researchers faster, secure access to the data they need. This is a generational opportunity to make the UK a world leader in health data research, while maintaining the highest standards of data protection and public trust.

“Building the full HDRS will take time. That is why we are investing on two fronts at once. Technical Transformation Projects will strengthen the underlying infrastructure that our whole network depends on. Data Driver Projects will show what is possible right now, when researchers, the NHS, industry and patients work together, with the data and access already available to them.

“In everything we do, patients are our North Star. We will only fund work that has a clear public benefit, that involves patients in its design where relevant, and that is done safely, securely and transparently.

“The investment in HDRS is significant. The expectations are high. And the people we are here to serve, patients, researchers, the NHS, are ready to see results.”

HDRS will publish full details of both calls over the summer, including how to apply and how decisions will be made. If you have a project that might fit either call, or if you simply want to stay in touch as we develop our plans, please sign up for updates below.