A new platform based on ‘synthetic data’ will accelerate innovation for financial organisations who find it difficult to access real-life data.
Smart Data Foundry has developed the ‘aizle’ platform to help financial organisations, fintechs, regulators and innovators across the UK develop new products and services.
The organisation, set up by the University of Edinburgh, has already deployed synthetic data for an early-stage fintech and a ‘tech sprint’ challenge based on reducing financial fraud with the Financial Conduct Authority.
aizle – the Scottish word for ‘spark’ – produces synthetic data sets which contain the important and meaningful features of real-world data.
Critically, aizle does this without requiring any real-world input data to generate its synthetic data sets, removing privacy and other data risks.
Based on this approach, the engine can provide data where no real data is available or can provide alternative data when available data is inadequate or has bias, enabling innovation in areas previously thought too difficult or expensive to explore.
Synthetic data can be used to build a rapid prototype, train an AI model, or run scenarios on the strategic impact of a new initiative.
The three principles underpinning aizle are privacy, fidelity and utility – ensuring the data output is safe and without risk; is accurate and relevant; and is easy to use, process and share.
Smart Data Foundry has been showcasing the product’s capabilities as sponsor of Innovate Finance Global Summit, held in London yesterday and today.
Bryn Coulthard, chief product and technology officer at Smart Data Foundry, said: “We exist to unlock the positive power of financial data to improve people’s lives – and believe the creation of data using our aizle synthetic data engine will drive innovation and help solve issues facing financial services and the wider society.
“We know that data access, permissions, and security are the biggest factors holding innovators back. With interest in the capabilities and application of synthetic data on the rise, through the development of aizle, we are providing a real solution to the challenges innovators face, which will benefit many consumers and businesses.
“We’re excited to connect with financial organisations, fintechs, regulators and innovators across the UK to highlight the benefits of creating sophisticated, integrated synthetic data sets to accelerate innovation.”