14/01/2015

Debate on the Economics of Data, at TELECOM PARIS workshop on 12 January 2015

Here is a summary of the lively Debate on the Economics of Data hosted by Telecom Paris university on 12 January:



Industrial data?
Currently industrial data are part of closed systems, and the suppliers and users of such systems are very protective about sharing with third parties.
However, some intents are being made.

Luxury data?
Some data can be seen as Giffen good, where high price is expected and desired as part of the value proposition (luxury car, etc). Some "gem" data exist.
High value financial information is part of this category.
Beyond any open economy, State Security data has a somewhat comparable exclusive status.

Key sectors?
Business intelligence is a very active market for big data solutions already.
Health Care and Care for the ageing population is an other area, where big data solutions could:
-support the people in care
-support the carers
especially in the Ambient Assisted Living framework.

Data management?
This is a key question. In particular ensuring that data owners keep control of multiple, possibly cascaded use.

13/01/2015

Big data economics, 
Workshop at Telecom Paris Tech, 
12-1-2015, 
Paris, France



Event
100+ registered attendees
Introduction by Patrick Duvaut, director of research at Telecom Paris-Tech
Presentation by Renaud Di Francesco
Speech by Pierre-Jean Benghozi
Participation of Yves Poilane, director of Telecom Paris-Tech




Presentation summary

The scope of big data, is broader than business intelligence, and extending towards:
-real world to digital, analytics AND decision, feedback to real world
-real time

A change in needed technology portfolio is happening, beyond NoSQL and search technologies, with other technologiues determining success:
-signal processing
-maximum likelihood decision methods
-optimal control
-real time system engineering

The digital economy relies on three pillars, two of which have identified pricing schemes and economic mechanisms:
-software
-network
however, the third one, data, does not always have recognised value, and economic mechanisms.
For instance, what is the price of an electrocardiogramme as usable data? What is the price of my geographic position?

Nevertheless in some sectors and categories, data can have pricing schemes and economic mechanisms:
-content (e.g. movie) industry
-news
-loyalty schemes
-etc...

Starting from these chartered territories of big data, one can start considering adapted economic schemes for new data categories, which are not yet priced and covered by economic schemes.

The software licensing scheme offers a starting framework for data contracts, which cover rights on data.
The enforcement of rights is helped by Digital Right Management systems granting authorised access to the data.
The target for a data economy to work efficiently is the development of data market places, where data collectors, data owners, data users, and data processors, meet as data offer has to meet data demand.
The raw material or commodity market places established for physical goods give a reference framework from which data market places can be derived.
Moreover, in some categories, digital data market places are already in operation. For instance Getty Images buys and sells pictures, which are a special case of data.