Monthly theme - September 2026 - Financial Sector
September's theme in The Data Lab Community is Financial Sector!
This month we're exploring how innovation, data and technology are reshaping economies, organisations and financial services.
We'll cover community wealth building and community-led economic development, large-scale AI-driven business transformation, and we'll take a look at real-world case studies of projects taking place in finance today.
Throughout the month we'll highlight how data, digital tools and collaboration can drive better outcomes, as we discuss emerging technologies, organisational change, innovation in finance, and the opportunities to create greater value for communities, businesses, and customers alike.
Events 🎟️
As part of our activities throughout the month, we're running a whole host of events and webinars related to the theme. Make sure to register for the ones you'd like to attend via the links below!
- Community Wealth Building: Turning Data into Local Economic Impact - 16 September 2026 13:00 - 13:50 BST [Online]
Community Wealth Building is an approach to economic development that seeks to transform local and regional economic systems to enable local communities and people to own, have a greater stake in, access and benefit from the wealth our economy generates.
In this session, Áine Uí Ghiollagáin and Robert Gassmann from DeepMiner will look at the background and rationale of Community Wealth building and share how they are collaborating with users to create insight, planning and reporting tools in support of local, regional and community-led development.
- AI-led Business Transformation: Reimagining the Retail Complaints Function - 22 September 2026 12:30 - 13:30 BST [Online]
This webinar examines the transformation of a large retail complaints operation through the deployment of multiple AI-powered tools and processes. From customer communication and case summarisation to insight generation, decision support and workflow optimisation, the session will showcase how AI can drive meaningful improvements in productivity, consistency and customer experience.
- Innovation in Financial Services – Five Slides Only - 24 September 2026 17:30 - 19:30 BST [Edinburgh, UK + Online]
Join us for an evening of fast-paced talks showcasing how data and AI are being used to tackle real challenges across the financial sector.
Each of our speakers will have just five slides and up to ten minutes to tell us how they are innovating in finance. Speakers will take you through the problem they are trying to solve, the solution they have developed, and the technical architecture or process behind it. We’ll also hear about lessons learned along the way, and what’s coming over the horizon!
Upcoming themes 📆
Here's a reminder of what we have coming up for the rest of 2026!
- September - Financial Sector 🏦
- October - Health and Life Sciences 🦠
- November - Data Visualisation 📈
If you are interested in contributing to any of our monthly themes, let us know by completing this short form, and we'll get back to you with more info!
We'll help promote events that align with our themes to our 8000+ members, offering an excellent opportunity to reach new audiences and amplify your activities. If you would like some more info on how you can get involved, whether that is by organising an event or sharing other relevant content, get in touch at [email protected], and we'd be happy to chat!