Since 2014 the Consumer Data Research Centre based at University College London and the Universities of Liverpool and Oxford (CDRC-ULO) has been a leading international centre for the acquisition, analysis and provisioning of consumer and business data to the UK research community. As of September 2021, we have supported 27,494 users through our public data portals and Trusted Research Environments (TREs), with usage growth of 104% (121% for Controlled/Safeguarded data and 87% for Open data) over the preceding 12 months. We aim to sustain this performance during ESRC's planned transition to the DigitalFootprints Data Service. The CDRC-ULO service delivers against ESRC's national priorities and needs for the social sciences by facilitating unique and cutting-edge research. As of September 2021 CDRC-ULO data have been cited in 203 peer reviewed academic papers. It also sustains an infrastructure that has nationally significant social and economic impact. Indicative examples include: provision of data integral to Transport for London's "Healthy Streets 2021/2" planning that supports £2.1 billion of infrastructure investment to encourage more active, efficient and sustainable travel modes; use of the Ethnicity Estimator tool (ee.cdrc.ac.uk) developed in partnership with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) by Public Health Wales to examine ethnic variations in outcomes for patients hospitalised in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic; emergency provision of current small area ethnicity estimates to the UK Government Joint Biosecurity Centre's (JBC) pandemic response; and participation with ONS/JBC/ADRUK in the "Local Data Spaces" initiative to deliver and evaluate the UK Covid-19 "mass testing" exercise and subsequent opening up of society and the economy (winner of a 2021 ONS Research Excellence award). Such cases demonstrate fulfilment of CDRC-ULOs objective of enabling the user of consumer / business data to develop the quality, quantity and impact of social science research and anticipates the value of the prospective DigitalFootprint data service. CDRC-ULO continues to build on such successes with the mission: (a) to sustain international leadership in the identification, acquisition and preparation of strategic consumer / business data assets; making these findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable (FAIR) for innovative thematic research; (b) to enable best use of strategically important data that are developed using cutting edge research supported as appropriate by Trusted Research Environments (TREs) and digital platforms; (c) to build data skills capacity through training and successful research applications using consumer data, consistent with UKRI and wider UK Innovation / National Data Strategies; and (d) to ensure responsible (lawful, secure, fair and ethical) use of consumer / business data. These infrastructural, service, capacity building and ethical functions underpin our ongoing commitments to innovation and service delivery in the context of the Digital Footprints prototype initiative. CDRC-ULO is funded by the ESRC to deliver a comprehensive and internationally leading data service to external users. To maximise its role as core UK social science infrastructure, CDRC-ULO has pursued increased harmonisation of data acquisition and asset use with other ESRC centres (specifically UBDC and CDRC-Leeds) and has worked with NCRM on training provision. CDRC-ULO continues to innovate in data service provision, development and enhancement, while also supporting the immediate objectives of the DigitalFootprints Prototype.

The UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training in "Application of Artificial Intelligence to the study of Environmental Risks" will develop a new generation of innovation leaders to tackle the challenges faced by societies across the globe living in the face of environmental risk, by developing new methods that exploit the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) approaches to the proper analysis of complex and diverse environmental data. It is made of multiple departments within Cambridge University, alongside the British Antarctic Survey and a wide range of partners in industry and policy. AI offers huge potential to transform our ability to understand, monitor and predict environmental risks, providing direct societal benefit as well as potential commercial opportunities. Delivering the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and COP 21 Paris Agreement present enormous and urgent challenges. Population and economic growth drive increased demands on a planet with finite resources; the planet's biodiversity is suffering increasing pressures. Simultaneously, humanity's vulnerabilities to geohazards are increasing, due to fragilities inherent in urbanisation in the face of risks such as floods, earthquake, and volcanic eruptions. Reliance on sophisticated technical infrastructures is a further exposure. Understanding, monitoring and predicting environmental risks is crucial to addressing these challenges. The CDT will provide the global knowledge leadership needed, by building partnership with leaders in industry, commerce, policy and academia in visionary, creative and cross-disciplinary teaching and research. Vast and growing datasets are now available that document our changing environment and associated risks. The application of AI techniques to these datasets has the potential to revolutionise our ability to build resilience to environmental hazards and manage environmental change. Harnessing the power of AI in this regard will support two of the four Grand Challenges identified in the UK's Industrial Strategy, namely, to put the UK at the forefront of the AI and data revolution and to maximise the advantages for UK industry from the global shift to clean growth. The students in the CDT will be trained in a broad range of aspects of the application of AI to environmental risk in a multi- disciplinary and enthusing research setting, to become world-leaders in the arena. They will undertake media training activities, public engagement, and training in the delivery of policy advice as well as the development of entrepreneurial skills and an understanding of the approach of business to sustainability. Discussion of the broader societal, legal and ethical dimensions will be integral to this training. In this way the CDT will seed a new domain of AI application in the UK that will become a champion for the subject globally.