Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits for the UK's research community of a Government-backed national research cloud which would enable academics to analyse, share and retain large and complex data sets.

We recognise that there are significant opportunities for the UK’s research community through sharing and accessing large datasets.

The National Data Strategy (NDS), published in September 2020, set out our vision to harness the power of responsible data use to boost productivity, create new businesses and jobs, improve public services, support a fairer society, and drive scientific discovery, positioning the UK as the forerunner of the next wave of innovation. As part of Mission One of the NDS - unlocking the value of data across the economy - DCMS is thinking about how we can support the development of infrastructure that promotes the availability of data for research and development purposes. We will engage key experts, academics and other stakeholders to develop our thinking.