Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science Pioneering the better use of data, evidence and digital tools in healthcare and policy

More than ever before, we now have access to vast amounts of data. We have a responsibility to use, analyse, develop and apply this data in an ethical way to promote change for good — with an emphasis on targeting the right kind of growth and achieving levelling up in society.

The founding of the Bennett Institute will allow for more collaboration and flexibility, to respond quickly to global health emergencies and policy challenges alike. It's particularly exciting to continue our work on data outside of medicine, across the broader policy space.

The experience of the pandemic has demonstrated the centrality of both data and evidence, not only in shaping sound government policies, but also in improving public health outcomes. Ben Goldacre and his team have shown just how important universities have been in contributing to the nation's health and well-being.

The multidisciplinary DataLab team led by Ben Goldacre, have pioneered the use of routine data in novel and impactful ways on clinical care and policy, attracting this most generous donation from Peter Bennett. Their OpenPrescribing platform is used by very large numbers of clinical practitioners and NHS providers to improve prescribing practice. Very rapidly during the pandemic, the team delivered the world’s largest routine clinical dataset OpenSAFELY that helps answer key answers to how we better protect the public from the impacts of COVID-19.