Investment stories

Investing in the UK’s tech ecosystem for security and prosperity

NSSIF invests in and works closely with businesses whose technologies and products have dual-use potential.

We work alongside Government customers to identify and develop that potential through work programmes which may test, adapt and enhance products.

Hazy: synthetic data generation

The Hazy platform creates synthetic data from scratch based on the statistical characteristics of a real data. Synthetic data doesn’t contain any of the original sensitive information from the raw data but does preserve the original format, structure and statistical properties. Therefore synthetic data can be used as a drop-in replacement for real data where organisations do not wish to expose sensitive information.

How did NSSIF work with Hazy?

NSSIF worked with Hazy – and with the Government customer we identified – to understand the full capabilities of the Hazy product. NSSIF product evaluation experts worked alongside this customer to develop criteria for assessing Hazy’s potential for use in a government context.

What was the outcome?

The product evaluation process gave the customer a clear understanding of the capabilities and value that synthetic data can deliver. This enabled the team to identify new uses for synthetic data – and expand the possible applications of analytics, testing and data science.

Visit Hazy

Element: customisable, secure messaging platform

Element combines the best features of other instant messaging apps with a high degree of security. Its users “own” their messages and data. This protects them from data mining and prevents access by third parties. Element works on all commonly used computers and smartphones, making it easy to bring new team-members into messaging groups.

What did NSSIF do?

NSSIF assessed and approved Element for use as a secure, enhanced messaging solution.  Working closely with the Element team, NSSIF identified how they could potentially be best used by the UK Government to bring diverse teams together.

What was the outcome?

NSSIF demonstrated the potential of Element as a secure corporate messaging system.  Day-to-day use and exploration of Element by the NSSIF product evaluation team gave them the information needed to adapt it for secure use by our team. NSSIF’s testing also led to some exciting new features.

Visit Element

Codility: online skills testing for organisations

Codility provides organisations with the tools they need to test technical skills online. By using Codility, teams can recruit and train remotely, with a platform that supports efforts to increase workforce diversity by reducing unconscious bias.

What did NSSIF do?

NSSIF verified the different ways that existing Codility features can support the recruitment and training issues faced by today’s organisations. NSSIF also worked closely with Codility, occupational psychologists and educational specialists to develop a new test identifying technical aptitude in candidates with limited or no past experience.

What was the outcome?

NSSIF demonstrated the value that Codility can bring to recruitment and training lifecycles across our government partners to harness and cultivate technical skills. The aptitude test is now used by wider Codility customers, enabling organisations to fill roles with suitable candidates that may otherwise have slipped the net.

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