Established in 2014, the centre — which is a part of the University of Edinburgh — helps companies, organisations, and individuals to grow operations, develop new projects, and ensure they have the data skills needed to move forward in a world that’s becoming more and more AI- and data-led.

The Data Lab’s advisory boards each has its own scope: the Governance Advisory Board’s responsibilities, for instance, include setting the centre’s strategic, compliance, and finance direction.

The Innovation Advisory Board, meanwhile, consists of data leaders providing direction for the centre’s innovation-oriented activities and approach to project investment.

Lastly, the Education Advisory Board’s members identify and understand local industry needs — including skills and education requirements — and provide direction in scaling The Data Lab’s education portfolio.

The new members to appointed to the Governance Advisory Board are:

1. Abel Aboh, Data Management Lead at the Bank of England
2. Anne Widdop, Founding Director at The VR Hive
3. Kirsty Brown, Managing Director at SMBC Bank International
4. Martyn Wallace, Chief Digital Officer at the Digital Office for Scottish Local Government
5. Simon Hewitt, Principal & CEO at Dundee and Angus College and Chair of the Education Advisory Board
6. Stephen O’Neill, Head of Digital Economy and Data Driven Business at Scottish Government

Those appointed to the Innovation Advisory Board are:

1. Adam Sroka, Director at Hybercube Consulting
2. Christos Tachtatzis, Reader at the University of Strathclyde
3. Duncan Buchanan, Head of Health Data Transformation at Research Data Scotland
4. Dr. Jasmina Lazic, Head of Research and Development at Bigtincan
5. Marcus Harrison, Director of Health and Social Care Data Driven Innovation at the University of Edinburgh
6. Orla Kelly, Knowledge Exchange & Innovation Collaboration Manager at the University of the West of Scotland
7. Paul Van Loon, Applied Science Manager at Amazon
8. Saber Khayatzadeh, CEO and Founder of ilosta
9. Simon Smith, Consultant at Connected Places Catapult

And the new members appointed to the Education Advisory Board are:

1. Alison Muckersie, Programme Director at Data-driven Innovation Skills Gateway
2. Damian Grech, Director of Engineering – Data Platform at FanDuel
3. Gosia Paterson, Head of Data and Digital Transformation at Sainsbury’s Bank
4. Nicholas Bobb, Program Manager, Barclays
5. Per Hammer, Senior Director, Education at GitHub
6. Simon Hewitt, currently serving on the Education Advisory Board, moves to the Chair role.

These 20 new board members have already assumed their terms, which will last up to three years.

On the announcement of the new appointees, Les Bayne, Chair of The Data Lab, said: “The Data Lab is ideally placed to ensure Scotland maximises the economic and social opportunities from the current global inflection point in data science and AI.

“The experience our new board members will bring to The Data Lab will be immeasurable. The 20 new non-executive advisors will bring a wealth of relevant and exceptional experience.

“It is particularly exciting to see so many broad and varied backgrounds within our new members. I would also like to thank those members of our boards that have completed their term for their support and guidance including Shona Cowan from NHS NSS, Grant Smith, Dave Shaw, and Dr Helen Brown.”

Brian Hills, CEO of The Data Lab, also commented, saying: “We were overwhelmed by the volume and quality of applications for our boards; a true testament to the reputation of The Data Lab and Scottish data and AI innovation.

“The newly appointed board members bring an exceptional range of skills and perspectives across industry, academia and the public sector as we continue in our vision to create the world’s most impactful data and AI community.”

DIGIT last reported on The Data Lab in May when it was announced it had partnered with an organisation south of the Scottish border for the very first time.

The partnership is with The Data Shed — the Leeds-based data engineering consultancy focused on delivering data transformation projects that reduce business risk and on understanding the potential of data.

The partnership seeks to boost the profile of The Data Lab in England, while also raising awareness of what Scotland can offer in terms of data skills and business opportunities.