Fuel poverty is a concept that many more families seem likely to discover during the course of 2022. Soaring oil and gas prices combined with the collapse of many consumer energy firms will leave more consumers than ever struggling with high utilities bills.
For many low income families, this will not be a new experience as they already face what the Bristol Poverty Institute, part of Bristol University, calls the “poverty premium”. This describes the way in which people in poverty pay more than others for essential products and services, making it harder for them to manage their finances effectively.
Data sharing and open data have long been considered part of the solution to this Catch-22 situation, including initiatives such as 2018’s open banking initiative. Yet relatively few schemes have really come to life and uptake by consumers has been stubbornly limited.
To tackle this, a cross-industry forum called Datum Future ran a customer journey sandbox involving founders Experian, Meta, Publicis Group and BNP Paribas. The goal was to gain insight from consumers about a prototype solution to help those in poverty find better deals on energy and utilities. As Adam Bargroff, privacy and public policy manager at Meta and TTC Labs, noted, it was an “an opportunity to listen and learn, and through co-creation to improve people’s experiences around personal data.”
Rimma Perelmuter, executive director at Datum Future, said: “The Sandbox findings show significant opportunities to shape a vibrant, people-first data economy that is ethical and inclusive, with advantages for people, business and society. Harnessing the power of data through stakeholder and cross-sector collaboration is already helping to tackle some of the world’s most challenging issues such as decarbonisation, mental well-being and the creation of smart cities.
“Datum Future calls on forward-thinking companies to join the responsible data-driven innovation movement to help create new business models that are sustainable, commercially valuable and designed with the customer and social impact in mind. The leaders who act will benefit from the trust and understanding fuelled by new paradigms of customer relationships.”
Key issues that emerged from the project related to consumer confidence in data sharing and privacy issues, as well as the upside benefits likely to emerge. The full details of the sandbox and its findings have been published in a report.
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