The Data Lab Community’s Data Visualisation Competition returns, challenging you to explore Scotland’s health through data.
Data viz enthusiasts are invited to take part in The Data Lab Community competition for 2026/2027. This year, your challenge is to explore Scotland’s health through data, uncovering insights that could change how we understand the factors shaping our health and wellbeing.
Whether you are a seasoned data viz pro or just getting started, this competition is for you. Entering will allow you to develop your data visualisation skills, demonstrate your abilities and raise your profile within a truly global data and AI community.
Last year, we were impressed by both the quantity and quality of work, receiving almost 100 submissions from around the world, including entries from the USA, Kenya, Italy, India, Tanzania, Indonesia, England, and, of course, Scotland.
“Last year’s response amazed us, with almost 100 entries from across the world, each sharing unique and creative stories. This year, we’re asking our community members to turn data into insights that could genuinely uncover untold stories about health in Scotland. You don’t need the most advanced tools, just curiosity and a meaningful story to tell through data.”
Steven Thomson, Community and Events Manager, The Data Lab
Explore last year’s winners to find out what judges are looking for:
Behind every statistic is a bigger story
Using datasets provided by Public Health Scotland, your task is to uncover an interesting insight and turn it into a compelling visual story.
Your visualisation should help people understand an issue, challenge an assumption, highlight an inequality, or identify an opportunity to improve health and wellbeing.
This year’s three dataset groups, drawn from the Scottish Health and Social Care Open Data platform, cover:
- A&E attendances – patterns in emergency department and minor injury unit activity
- Unintentional injuries – hospital admissions and deaths resulting from unintentional injuries
- Community prescribing – how prescribing activity, volumes and costs vary over time and place
You must use at least one of the competition datasets. You’re welcome to combine them with other publicly available data to reveal a story that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Shortlisting process
Your work will be seen by an expert panel, including Chris Westlake, crowned Global Champion of IronViz 2024 (the world’s largest data visualisation competition), data visualisation consultant Cara Thompson, Senior Data Visualisation Specialist at the Office for National Statistics Nicola Rennie, alongside senior figures from The Data Lab and Public Health Scotland.
Entries will be judged on three main criteria:
- clarity and communication,
- creativity and design, and
- data analysis, understanding and accuracy
Shortlisted entries will be showcased at DataFest 2027 in Edinburgh, with prizes awarded to the top three projects. First place wins £300 in retail vouchers plus a ticket to DataFest 2027, with the runners-up each receiving a DataFest ticket too. The competition is open to everyone – from students and beginners to experienced data professionals. You can enter as an individual or a team.
Take part in the competition
The datasets will be available from the 4th of November. The competition opens on the 25th of November, and you will have until the 15th of January 2027 to submit your data visualisation.
Visit the website for more information or register your interest to get started: