Leeds-based The Data City is a data-as-a-service business offering industrial data on emerging economic sectors. Its platform includes data on companies including financials, investment data, website text and open data sets.

DSIT will use the company’s platform, which uses real-time industry classification (RTIC) methodology, to produce its own RTICs to identify and gather companies in the engineering biology field.

The Data City worked with DSIT analysts to develop the RTICs with feedback from Whitehall’s engineering biology network.

The work is part of the government’s planned investment to develop the UK’s engineering biology ecosystem. 

DSIT initially worked with The Data City in early 2023 to identify groups of businesses with a high potential for growth and sharing characteristics that could be defined as a cluster.

Alex Craven, chief executive, The Data City, said: “It is great to be part of a significant government initiative that will help innovators in this sector navigate the risks they deal with developing, scaling and commercialising their products.

“The UK has the key infrastructure, knowledge and capital to become a pioneer territory for engineering biology research. Having access to detailed data about engineering biology companies can transform investment decisions, helping create defined investment strategies and policies.”