DDI Annual Review 2024-25: Working together to maximise impact

PROFESSOR KIM GRAHAM, SENIOR RESPONSIBLE OFFICER, DDI PROGRAMME, AND PROVOST, THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH

We closed 2025 on a high with the exciting news that the Data-Driven Innovation (DDI) programme had been named Collaborative Initiative of the Year at the Institute of Economic Development Awards.

This accolade is well-deserved recognition of the economic power of the partnerships the DDI programme has developed over the years between universities, colleges, industry partners, third sector organisations and the public.

It affirms that place-based investment delivers economic growth, creates highly-skilled jobs, and boosts productivity – benefiting people and organisations across our region and beyond. Read the DDI Annual Review

The past year marked the conclusion of our investment phase and completion of the final two DDI Hubs. In April, Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI) was officially opened by the University of Edinburgh Chancellor, HRH The Princess Royal, alongside Jenny Gilruth MSP, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, the Lord Provost of the City of Edinburgh and other city representatives.

Investment from the Edinburgh & South East City Region Deal, alongside funding from the University of Edinburgh, ensured that the city’s historic Royal Infirmary building was beautifully restored and reimagined as a vibrant interdisciplinary hub solving complex global challenges in the arts, humanities, data science, artificial intelligence and technology.

Open not only to the University’s staff and students, EFI houses external organisations and provides a thriving social and working space for the public, the way the City Region delivers innovation and civic impact, with positive benefit to communities.

In June, we celebrated the opening of the Usher Building at Edinburgh’s BioQuarter health innovation district. The event was attended by Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization; Ian Murray MP, then Secretary of State for Scotland; and Maree Todd MSP, Minister for Drugs & Alcohol Policy and Sport.

The Usher Institute brings together academic, clinical, commercial, public and third-sector partners with the shared ambition to improve population and public health in Edinburgh, South East Scotland and beyond. This is achieved by applying data-driven approaches, in partnership with a range of organisations, from the NHS to the World Health Organization.

All our DDI Hubs continue to deliver significant economic benefit, with many examples noted throughout this report. By bringing together strengths across the University of Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt University and our other City Region Deal partners, we are driving inward investment into Scotland, including support to grow emerging companies.

The UK Government’s announcement of £40 million to fund a national network of robotics adoption hubs, modelled on DDI’s the National Robotarium, based at Heriot-Watt University, is welcome endorsement of our approach and will be transformative in building the robotics sector in Scotland and beyond.

In June, our data innovation expertise was showcased at London Tech Week. This coincided with the UK Government’s announcement of up to £750 million investment in the UK’s next supercomputer, to be hosted at the University of Edinburgh’s Advanced Computing Facility. This will dramatically increase compute capacity for services delivered by the Edinburgh International Data Facility, the technical backbone of DDI, accelerating our ambition for Edinburgh to be the Data Capital of Europe.

We remain focused on delivering local impact. One example is the DataLoch partnership with NHS Lothian and Cyrenians, which uses secure data integration to identify patients at risk of homelessness and connect them with tailored support before discharge.

This approach has led to a 68% reduction in hospital readmissions and demonstrates how the Edinburgh and South East City Region’s focus on data can transform lives while easing pressure on health services. This report highlights many more exciting case studies from across our DDI Hubs, illustrating the diversity, breadth and impact of our work – from improving children’s health to building the future space workforce. We hope you enjoy reading these examples and seeing how our regional collaboration is making a difference.

Our achievements against targets remain impressive:

Talent: The programme has now exceeded its course target by 15%, meaning that the full end-of-programme Talent target has been achieved. In the 2024/25 academic year, we saw more than 37,000 completions – an 18% increase from 2023/24.

Research: In the 2024/25 academic year, we delivered £188 million in research activity – a 17% increase compared with 2023/24. We have delivered £778 million worth of activity in total, which represents 79% of our total research target.

Adoption: In 2024/25, we generated £20 million in income alone, representing 21% of our total activity to date. We have exceeded our end-of-programme target by 79%.

Entrepreneurship: In the 2024/25 academic year, we supported 90 early-stage data-centric companies, surpassing our unique company end-of-programme target by 53%. We have exceeded our follow-on funding target by nearly 1,000%, with DDI companies receiving £225 million funding in 2024/25 alone.

Delivery of these outcomes requires commitment, imagination and ambition. I am grateful to our DDI staff and students for their hard work and thank our industry, third sector and civic partners, as well as the Scottish and UK Governments, for helping make the Edinburgh & South East City Region DDI programme so successful.

The City Region Deal is evidence that local innovation funding – focused on growing regional sectors through the application of emerging future technologies – delivers to modern industrial strategies, boosting economic productivity, entrepreneurship and jobs

We have ambitious plans to go further and look forward to working with you in 2026, delivering even more impact. Please get in touch to learn more or discuss how your organisation might partner with our universities or further education colleges.

Read the DDI Annual Review