WISERD

What WISERD does

WISERD (Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data) is a non-profit academic research institution designated by the Welsh Government as a National Research Centre for social and economic research. It is constituted as a formal collaboration between five Welsh universities — Aberystwyth, Swansea, Bangor, Cardiff, and the University of South Wales — with administrative headquarters in Cardiff. The organisation's primary function is to produce evidence-based social science research on Wales and the broader UK, with outputs covering education, labour markets, civic participation, place-based disadvantage, and public policy.

WISERD's core products are research datasets and data infrastructure rather than commercial software. The central platform is the WISERD Data Portal, which aggregates survey metadata, the WISERD Education Multi-Cohort Study (a longitudinal study of young people in Wales established in 2013), Census 2021 Wales data, and the Skills and Employment Survey series dating to 1986. Adjacent products include the Understanding Welsh Places interactive platform (funded by the Carnegie UK Trust), the CaCHE Data Navigator for UK housing evidence, the Literary Atlas of Wales, Public Map Platform, and citizen-science dashboards covering air quality monitoring in Barry and digital learning usage during COVID-19 (Hwb). Underlying technology is described as a research data collection, analysis, and dissemination platform using GIS and digital mapping tools with longitudinal survey methodologies — built on hosting the WISERD Data Portal at dataportal.wiserd.ac.uk.

WISERD makes no commercial revenue. Its funding base is UK and Welsh government research grants: primary funding comes from the UKRI Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), including a £1.6m three-year grant for the 'People, Places, and the Public Sphere' research programme, supplemented by Welsh Government designation as a National Research Centre. Customer segments are not purchasing buyers but primary stakeholders: Welsh Government and policymakers (primary), academic researchers across the five partner universities and beyond (primary), Welsh local authorities (secondary), and third-sector organisations working in Wales (secondary). Distribution is via open-access data portals, academic publications, annual conferences, e-newsletters, social channels, and direct policy engagement.

Name

WISERD

Legal name

Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data

Website

https://wiserd.ac.uk

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

WISERD is a Welsh Government-designated National Research Centre and non-profit collaboration of five Welsh universities that produces social and economic research and data infrastructure for Welsh Government, policymakers, academics, and third-sector organisations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social and Economic Research

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Think Tanks, Policy Research & Public Policy Institutes (BPAGAFAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

EdTech & Digital Learning Policy Research (EDADADAK), Education Policy Research Institutes & Think Tanks (EDADADAA)

Keywords

• Social science research
• Economic research
• Research data portal
• Longitudinal studies
• Policy research

Headquarters

HQ city

Cardiff

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Research Council Funding: Primary funding from UKRI Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) for various research programmes and projects.
2. Welsh Government Designation: Designated as a National Research Centre by the Welsh Government, providing institutional recognition and potential funding.

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

WISERD is a Welsh Government-designated National Research Centre that conducts social and economic research and delivers it through an open-access Data Portal offering datasets such as the WISERD Education Multi-Cohort Study, Census 2021 Wales data, and the Skills and Employment Survey series, alongside interactive platforms like Understanding Welsh Places. It supplies evidence-based research outputs and policy-relevant analysis to the Welsh Government, local authorities, academic researchers, and third-sector organisations in Wales and across the UK.

Product overview

WISERD (Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data) is a National Research Centre designated by the Welsh Government, operating as a collaboration between five Welsh universities. The organization operates primarily through its Data Portal platform, which serves as the central hub for accessing multiple research data products including the WISERD Metadata repository, WISERD Education Multi Cohort Study, Census 2021 Wales data, Understanding Welsh Places interactive platform, Literary Atlas of Wales, and various analytics dashboards covering topics such as air quality monitoring and trade union membership. Additional offerings include event series such as the WISERD Annual Conference and publications like the WISERD Insight annual report. The research portfolio encompasses major programmes such as the UKRI-funded 'People, Places, and the Public Sphere' and the Skills and Employment Survey series. WISERD also provides the CaCHE Data Navigator for housing evidence and the Public Map Platform for community digital mapping.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• WISERD Data Portal Central open-access platform providing access to WISERD's research data infrastructure, including metadata, survey datasets, and interactive dashboards for Welsh social and economic research, intended for researchers, policymakers, and the public.
• Understanding Welsh Places Platform Collaborative interactive platform providing demographic, socio-economic and asset-based data with mapping and analytical capabilities for towns and communities in Wales, for use by local authorities, policymakers and researchers.
• WISERD Education Multi-Cohort Study (WMCS) Longitudinal study of young people in Wales established in 2013, providing annual survey data resources for education and social science researchers.
• Census 2021 Wales Census 2021 data for England and Wales with WISERD commentary on population and households, provided via the Data Portal for researchers and policymakers.
• People, Places, and the Public Sphere Research Programme Three-year research programme funded by UKRI ESRC (£1.6m) exploring societal challenges related to people, places and the public sphere in Wales and the UK.
• Skills and Employment Survey 2024 Survey collecting data on the skills and employment experiences of UK workers aged 20-65, part of a series dating back to 1986, used by researchers and policymakers.
• CaCHE Data Navigator Visualization platform delivering 155 UK housing evidence datasets from the Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (CaCHE) for use by housing researchers and policymakers.
• Public Map Platform (PMP) Community digital mapping platform providing tools and resources for public mappers to create and share local geographic information.

Quantifiable outcome

• £1.6m UKRI ESRC funding secured for three-year 'People, Places, and the Public Sphere' research programme
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Aberystwyth UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of five founding university partners in the WISERD collaboration, contributing researchers and expertise in social sciences.
• Swansea UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of five founding university partners in the WISERD collaboration, contributing researchers and expertise.
• Bangor UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of five founding university partners in the WISERD collaboration, contributing researchers and expertise.
• Cardiff UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead university hosting WISERD headquarters and administrative hub; major contributor of researchers including Jemma Bridgeman.
• University of South WalescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of five founding university partners in the WISERD collaboration.
• Carnegie UK TrustmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFunded the development of the Understanding Welsh Places platform and provided the original concept inspiration from the Understanding Scottish Places project.
• Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES)majorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerProvided additional data analysis and processing for the Understanding Welsh Places platform. Contributed methodology for inter-relationship model.
• Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on Operationalising Labour Rights research examining garment worker grievances in Bangalore, India.
• Cividep-IndiamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational research partner for labour rights research in India's garment industry.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Joseph Rowntree Foundation: UK charitable foundation funding research on poverty, housing and place. Comparable as a non-profit research and policy organisation producing evidence for UK/Welsh government, with similar open-access dissemination and policy engagement model.
• Centre for Cities: UK think tank producing data-driven research on UK cities and economic performance. Highly comparable to WISERD's Understanding Welsh Places platform in producing place-based dashboards and policy evidence for sub-national government audiences.
• Carnegie UK Trust: UK and Ireland charitable foundation that funds and publishes research on wellbeing, devolution, and place-based policy. Already a WISERD partner (via Understanding Welsh Places) and highly comparable as a research-active, policy-engaged charitable organisation producing place-based evidence.
• National Centre for Social Research (NatCen): UK's largest independent social research charity, conducting large-scale longitudinal surveys and policy-relevant social science research. Directly comparable to WISERD in mission (social research for public benefit), survey methodology focus, and government/policy customer base, though operating at UK rather than Welsh scale.
• Wales Governance Centre: Cardiff University research centre studying Welsh devolution, governance and public policy. Direct peer within the same university ecosystem, sharing a Welsh policy-research mandate and overlapping researcher networks.

Broad incumbents

• Nuffield Foundation: Large UK charitable foundation funding independent research in social policy, education and wellbeing. Comparable as a non-profit research funder and producer, but with much broader scope and significantly larger resources than WISERD.
• Resolution Foundation: UK think tank researching living standards, employment and inequality. Comparable as a UK social and economic research organisation producing survey data and policy analysis for government and public audiences.
• Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR): UK's leading progressive think tank producing cross-cutting social and economic policy research. Comparable as a UK-wide non-profit research and policy engagement organisation, though with much broader thematic and political scope than WISERD.
• Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS): Leading UK independent microeconomics and fiscal policy research institute. Highly relevant as a UK academic-policy research centre producing rigorous evidence for government, though focused on fiscal/economic rather than broader social science questions.

Emerging players

• What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth: Evidence synthesis centre on place-based economic growth policy. Comparable as an academic-policy intermediary producing evidence reviews and data tools for local and regional government decision-makers.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/WISERDNews
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/WISERDResearch
• Facebookfacebook.com/WISERDNews
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wiserdnews

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about WISERD