Harnessing UK health data: the big takeaways from TechBio X
Looking back at the TechBio X event at Cambridge Wide Open Week
Dr Emma Lawrence
Head of Data Tech Policy and Public Affairs, BIA
Last Thursday, BIA brought together pioneers from across the TechBio community for our TechBio X event at AstraZeneca’s DISC building in Cambridge. Taking place during Cambridge Wide Open Week, the session tackled a critical question for the sector: how can the UK securely unlock its health data to transform patient care and help companies scale at home?
Spotlighting the vision
The morning kicked off when PrecisionLife’s Steve Gardner and I highlighted the core pillars of BIA’s health data vision 2035 report, which launched in May.
They set the scene by explaining that with healthcare costs rising fast, the UK needs an industrial strategy that treats health data as a national asset. Instead of restricting access with short-term subscription fees that price out small businesses, the focus must shift toward building long-term industrial roots that capture downstream value for the whole country.
The event then transitioned into a panel discussion featuring Claire Bloomfield (Isomorphic Labs), Steve Gardner (PrecisionLife), Georgina Graham (Osborne Clarke) and Tom Lyle (Health Data Research Service - HDRS).
The group shared several practical takeaways on how the UK’s data infrastructure should evolve to better support industry.
TechBio X Emma Lawrence welcome address
BIA’s health data vision 2035 report launch
TechBio X Emma Lawrence welcome address
Ensuring HDRS enables industries to shine
1. Public trust is essential
Building trust doesn’t mean creating slow, bureaucratic barriers that take 12–18 months to navigate. It means practicing "radical transparency", clearly documenting how and why decisions are made. Steve Gardner urged small businesses to embrace patient engagement with both hands, as patients are the best partners for helping companies tell their stories.
2. Learn from open banking
The panel drew a structural parallel to the financial sector. Open banking succeeded in a heavily regulated environment because it used standardised, shared formats to spark tech innovation. Health data can follow the exact same blueprint.
3. Let companies use their own tools
Rather than investing government funding on environments with generic tooling that doesn't meet everyone's needs, they should offer to accredit secure, high-trust environments where companies can safely bring their own advanced technology directly to the data.
4. Embrace the opportunity of biotech
It was highlighted that while up to 85% of the UK life science sector are SMEs, they are a heterogeneous group. A key challenge for HDRS will be to accommodate the varying needs of this user base. But the opportunities of doing so, both for health outcomes and UK plc are enormous.
What’s next?
The overarching message of the day was a clear call to action: don’t wait for the infrastructure to be fully built, help shape it now. Tom Lyle from HDRS announced that they are looking for industry input ahead of an open call-in early July for new driver projects and technical transformation pilots.
Thank you to our speakers and to everyone from the TechBio community who joined us for a fantastic morning of discussion and networking.
Get involved with BIA TechBio
Read the vision to explore our five pillars for the future of UK health data.
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