The Financial Reporting Lab which is a part of the accounting regulator Financial Reporting Council (FRC), is inviting individuals and experts from companies and investment organisations to participate in a research project which focuses on the big data and usage of blockchain technology.

To help launch the project 'Digital Future: Data', the Financial Reporting Lab is also inviting interested individuals to take a short survey that will run until July 20, 2016. The results from the survey will be explored further in the project​.

The project has called for participants involved in the development of data technologies and their potential uses. It is particularly interested in participants involved with structured data (such as XBRL), innovation in internal reporting finance systems (including cloud based solutions), distributed ledger technologies (such as blockchain), artificial intelligence (AI) for financial analysis, data analytics and those working on corporate reporting or investor-focused FinTech.

The invited participants will take part in activities like:

• An hour of individual interview that focus on characteristics of digital reporting and view on future use of technology in reporting
   
• A 2 to 3 hours roundtable exploring and investigating important topics of leading edge reporting.

According to the report published by FRC on 8th June, the Digital Future: Data project will investigate: 

• How the technology will provide opportunities for improvements in the access and analysis of corporate reporting data and drive future changes in corporate reporting,
   
• How transformation of reporting formats can be optimized for investors and companies.

The focus of this project will be on future evolution and development of the use of technology to communicate corporate reporting to the investment community. The lab expects to publish the initial outputs of the project before the end of the year.

The Financial Reporting Council is the UK’s independent regulator responsible for promoting high-quality corporate governance and reporting to foster investment. It promotes high standards of corporate governance through the UK Corporate Governance Code.