This is part two of in a series of articles on smart (or open) data trends. Part one focuses on the implications of the EU Data Act. 

The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (DUAA) is now in force. It grants the Secretary of State binding power to compel businesses in any sector (subject to certain exclusions) to share customer data with authorised third parties. 

The UK Government’s Smart Data 2035 Strategy (Smart Data Strategy), published in March earlier this year, commits to more than 20 active data-sharing schemes across the economy by 2035, with transport, energy and agrifood among the sectors already under active consideration. 

For manufacturers, industrial operators and automotive businesses, this is a significant structural shift in how operational and customer data should be controlled and managed. Accordingly, when developing or updating your commercial data strategy and data governance programmes, it is essential to consider the implications of the wider and growing trend of increasingly open data (or ‘smart data’) frameworks, all of which are designed to promote innovation and to unlock the value of data that may otherwise sit dormant or underutilised in siloed data warehouses.

What is smart data?

Smart data is the secure, authorised or permitted sharing of customer or business data with authorised third parties. The government's reference model is Open Banking (which was introduced by the implementation of PSD2): this is where your bank shares your transaction data with, for example, a budgeting app because you asked it to. The bank does not hand over the credit risk models it built from that data, just the underlying records it holds about you. Similarly, you are now able to authorise banks to share your account information with a central third-party aggregator app which will then provide you with spending trends and insights, as well as financial planning recommendations. 

Government support to develop further open or smart data schemes, as part of its Smart Data Strategy, is critical for data-rich sectors like manufacturing, industrial and automotive. Smart data obligations apply to raw (or primary, direct) data (Primary Data) that a business holds about a customer - for example, their usage, transactions or interactions. The smart data obligations do not extend to the commercial intelligence, derived insights or analytical outputs a business builds from Primary Data.

A connected vehicle manufacturer, for example, might be required to share speed, fuel and usage records with an authorised third party chosen by the vehicle operator. It would not be required to surrender the proprietary predictive maintenance algorithms built from those records. This principle runs through the UK smart data framework and mirrors the EU Data Act (discussed in part one of this series), which has applied since 12 September 2025. 

The power to compel and why it matters

Part 1 of DUAA gives the Secretary of State power to introduce binding legal requirements for data-sharing schemes in any sector of the economy (subject to certain exclusions). This power is broad and deliberately flexible. It can support anything from a full Open Banking-style scheme to a targeted programme like the government's Fuel Finder initiative on road fuel pricing transparency.

Participation is not voluntary. Once a sector is designated and a scheme is implemented, businesses within scope will be required to share data, upon request, and cannot opt out (subject to certain exclusions and limitations e.g. designed to protect and preserve confidential information such as trade secrets or, for instance, derived data that is generated beyond Primary Data). The government has committed to advance consultation and says it will respond to industry-led progress, but the power to compel is real. For businesses that have long treated operational and customer data as a proprietary asset, this changes the legal baseline.

Sectors to watch

The government's stated ambition covers the whole economy. In just four sectors – transport, energy, retail and financial services – smart data schemes are estimated to generate £71.2 billion in net social value between 2028 and 2043. 

The sectors most immediately relevant to manufacturers, automotive and industrial operators are:

Transport and logistics 

Transport contributed £82 billion to UK Gross Value Added in 2022. The Department for Business and Trade and the Department for Transport are already running a joint research project on smart data use cases, with an initial focus on freight logistics and greener transport choices. If you operate a fleet, manage logistics networks or supply vehicles or telematics systems, this is the area to track most closely. 

Energy

An energy smart data scheme is estimated to deliver £9.5 billion in net social value by 2043. For energy-intensive manufacturers and industrial operators, real-time access to energy usage data through smart data could reduce operating costs, strengthen sustainability reporting and support compliance with increasingly demanding environmental obligations.

Agrifood

The agrifood and seafood sectors contribute approximately £120 billion annually to the UK economy. The government is commissioning research in 2026 into smart data for environmental data sharing, starting with greenhouse gas emissions. For agricultural machinery manufacturers and precision farming technology suppliers, this creates both obligations and commercial opportunity.

Retail

A smart data scheme in online groceries alone is estimated to deliver £7.2 billion in net present value by 2043. For businesses supplying into retail supply chains, smart data could fundamentally reshape how product, pricing and logistics data flows between parties.

Our view

While smart data has been on the table for some time, it would be a mistake to assume that it is solely a theoretical regulation. 

The EU Data Act is already in force and has extra-territorial effect (and already affects certain non-UK businesses, including, for example businesses in the UK, US and Middle East. The implementing regulations are imminent and may arrive with little warning. 

It is prudent to start to prepare and update your current commercial data strategy and data governance programmes to identify how to protect your data from disclosure and how to benefit from access to data to innovate. Banking and energy may be first in line, but the Secretary of State's powers under the DUAA are not sector specific. The ambition covers the whole economy.

When data that was previously proprietary and closed becomes open, smart and shareable on request, business models founded on exclusivity and first-mover advantage may be materially affected by the proposed Smart Data Strategy rules and obligations. Businesses that engage early with these developments will be far better placed to adapt and maintain commercial advantage (whether by refining data governance programmes or acquiring new data sets that were previously unavailable to innovate in product design and service offerings). 

Five steps to take now

1. Map your data: Identify what raw or direct customer data your business holds and distinguish it clearly from derived insights and analytical outputs. That distinction will determine what you may ultimately be required to share.
2. Monitor sector developments: Keep track of which sectors are designated for smart data schemes and engage with consultations when they open. The government has confirmed it will respond to industry-led progress. Early engagement produces better outcomes.
3. Review your contracts: Check whether existing customer contracts, data licences and supply agreements remain fit for purpose if data sharing becomes mandatory. Clauses restricting data portability or access may need updating.
4. Protect your commercial intelligence: Smart data obligations do not extend to derived insights or analytical outputs. Ensure your data architecture, contractual arrangements and access controls reflect that boundary clearly before sharing obligations arrive. Similarly, conduct a smart data-specific IP audit to identify data which will fall outside the scope of smart data schemes and develop policies to efficiently manage and filter requests and disclosures.
5. Align your UK and EU compliance: If your business places connected products on the EU market or supplies or interacts with EU customers, the EU Data Act (discussed in part one) is already in force (since 12 September 2025). The two regimes share the same underlying principle in granting access to previously unavailable data sets. Compliance planning should address both together. 

For further information on smart data obligations under the DUAA 2025 or the EU Data Act, please contact Philip James, Richard Edwards-Earl or Kathryn Balogun.