Digital & Data Academy to be established as part of FDP contract

As part of the Federated Data Platform (FDP) contract it has been revealed that a Digital & Data Academy is to be created by the parties involved.

In a mostly redacted contract published on 22 December 2023, it is confirmed that the parties have agreed to collaborate in order to create a ‘Digital & Data Academy’, which will be a “centre of excellence promoted by the Authority, the Supplier and Digital Suppliers”.

The parties will establish a joint committee – the ‘Academy Working Group’ – to help deliver the academy, and will discuss and agree the terms of reference, meeting cadence and attendance of the Academy Working Group, which may include representatives of digital suppliers.

NHS England awarded the £330 million FDP contract to US data analytics giant Palantir in November after months of speculation. It sparked very mixed reactions.

The data platform will be owned and controlled by the NHS to unlock the power of NHS data to understand patterns, solve problems, plan services for local populations and ultimately transform the health and care of the people they serve.