The Barb Data Hub marks a major shift in the underlying infrastructure for storing, processing and distributing Barb data. The calculations required to create Barb’s daily viewing files now take place centrally in the hub.

The move will result in codifying a substantial amount of Barb’s calculation methodology in a way that is standardised and reusable, according to Barb.

The Barb Panel Plus prototypes, which extend Barb’s use of big data sets for integration with panel data, are also in the Data Hub.

In January, a new analytics system, Barb Ads Hub, will sit in the Data Hub, while the third phase of Barb’s API, set to launch next year, will also sit alongside and pull data from the hub.

Barb clients can also continue to access viewing data using existing methods.

Media advisers MediaSense set up and developed the Barb Data Hub and will operate it. AI data cloud company Snowflake is the cloud data platform.

Caroline Baxter, chief operating officer at Barb, said: “The Barb Data Hub sits at the core of our new data-distribution strategy, which seeks to offer our clients greater choice, ease of use and flexibility in how they access our trusted viewing data.

“The Data Hub will continue to evolve as we integrate our other initiatives into it, making it a comprehensive Barb data warehouse.”