Reimagining common data models for next generation professional services
Friday, 13 November 2020
Oxford Brookes Business School is partnering on a pioneering Collaborative R&D project led by Engine B that is looking to transform the future of the professional services market.
Starting with audit, the consortium led by Engine B are leading
the development of an open marketplace based on accessible and standardised
data.
Engine B are developing a data access platform which will
provide the equivalent open access to corporate data on a scale equivalent to
open banking. The standardisation of client data access is a complex but narrow
technological solution that will unlock competition through the next generation
of digital professional services with manifest economic impact.
The dawn of digital services is imminent, although few firms are
currently able to invest the time and resources required to offer next
generation services. The project team involving University of Birmingham,
Imperial College London, and Microsoft are working on the development and
adoption of a standardised set of knowledge graphs.
The team from Oxford Brookes Business School are examining how
the data access platform will impact and transform the business models of
professional services firms. Building on previous research funded by Innovate
UK, Dr Cristian Gherhes and Professor Tim Vorley are examining the ways in
which the Engine B platform impacts and enhances the capabilities of
professional services firms and has the potential to accelerate the development
and adoption of new digital services.
The project consortium is supported by 9 audit firms including
KPMG, BDO, RSM, Grant Thornton, Moore Kingston Smith, and legal firms including
Osborne Clarke. Over the next 12 months the project team led by Engine B will
put the foundations in place by:
- Making data accessible across the UK
business landscape to drive innovation, growth and productivity
- Enabling UK business to retain and
regain control over their data
- Opening up competition in the audit marketplace
and accelerating the use of AI to improve quality
- Facilitating the UK to become the
global legal tech services hub, broadening the international use of the law of
England & Wales
Shamus Rae, CEO and founder of Engine B, said “the approach
of Engine B is to develop and scale an innovative open data model that will
mobilise an ecosystem of start-ups and be a catalyst to the diffusion of
technology in professional services firms.”
Cristian Gherhes, Research Fellow at Oxford Brookes Business
School, highlighted “This Innovate UK funded project enables us to apply our
research to industry, building on our work exploring AI readiness among
professional services firms, and highlights the value of academic-industry
collaborations.”
For more information contact Cristian Gherhes: cgherhes@brookes.ac.uk