Do You Want to Monetize Your Data? We Introduce You to the Basic Mantra of the Data Economy
Basic principles of the data economy
Tackling a large-scale data job can be tricky. We review some key principles to consider for the entire process:
1. You don't have to invent the wheel. There is much progress and large investments made in the data economy. Researching previous work and promoting reuse and cooperation will help you reduce the financial and time effort on your project.
2. The benefit may not be obvious or exist in the short term.The benefit of the data economy comes from the market insights it offers, and which will make it possible to create new business opportunities, optimise current resources and services, and make quick and effective decisions. In other words, it almost always manifests in the long term and probably indirectly for the current business.
3. Data is horizontal and a non-rival resource that increases business capillarity. The data economy is based on the horizontality of data, which multiplies its influence and relevance. A piece of information may be of interest to several companies in the same sector, but also to those of related branches and others that may engage in lines of business with no apparent initial relationship. For example, flight reservation data at origin is important for destination hotels, but also for its entire tertiary industry, for security forces and for local administration. The exchange of information is the basis for multiplying business lines. And for this exchange to take place, the agents involved must share challenges, objectives and incentives.
4. Management involvement is required. The data economy focuses on long-term planning, and the management team is responsible for decision-making and the strategic direction. This team will set the course even when the short-term benefit is not evident. They play a key role in enabling the necessary investment and facilitating business collaborations and partnerships.
5. Interoperability as the basis. It is about speaking the same language and it is applied to data processing, management, storage and exchange. Technology is the vital tool, and speaking the same technological language enables communication and data transfer between sources. This single language can be limited to the use of commonly used file types (csv is perhaps the most popular). However, for the effective exchange of large amounts of information, this language could include the use of connectors from different software through APIs, the development of a common connector that works as a hub or, even better, the creation of a data space in which information is exchanged through direct access of all members. In addition, technology must always be a guarantee of the reliability of data and the participants, information anonymization and information access and exchange security.
6. Experimentation is part of the game and use cases are a fantastic dashboard. You have to use the data you have, and the best way to get value from information is to experiment. Use cases are the implementation of practical examples based on business ideas, to detect needs, problems and solutions based on experience. Learning from these use cases leads to the creation of flagship projects that serve as a model for business development. The government is actively involves in the release of use cases in the data industry, for example with the actions carried out by the Data Office and Segittur for the creation of the tourism data space in Spain.
7. Learn about public funding programmesfor the development of the data economy through public-private partnerships. Particularly the European funds from the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. On the one hand, component 12 promotes the creation of large, high-value sector data spaces by developing use cases, demos and pilots. On the other hand, component 14 includes the digitalisation and intelligence programme for destinations and the tourism sector.