DataBroker DAO is a blockchain-based platform that provides an open, distributed and decentralised marketplace for the buying, selling and sharing of Internet of Things sensor data.

Internet of things in that context refers to an infrastructure that allows for the sharing of data across interconnected devices on a network even without human intervention. The marketplace provided by DataBroker DAO was the first of its kind in the information technology sector.

The platform was developed by Matthew van Niekerk and Roderik van der Veer who currently serve as CEO and CTO respectively and backed by an 11 man team of advisors, business and fintech analysts. The goal of DataBroker DAO is to monetize IoT sensor data while effectively making previously unavailable information available to data consumers.

How does DataBroker DAO work?

It is pertinent to note that sensor data is locked up in organisational data silos and walled gardens hence it isn’t directly accessible to people who may be in need of that information. DataBroker DAO connects to networks and uses a defined protocol to transmit information from these networks. Currently, DataBroker is connected to a network with 9 billion sensors with about $600 billion worth of sensor data just stored up, untapped and under-utilized.

The platform worked hard towards integrating the alliance of several big time sellers and buyers of IoT sensor data in the information technology market. As a result, the platform is currently in partnership with a few of such companies. These companies include; Yuktix, Senthus, Desidedatum, Iquadrar, Skylark and Technolog.

Benefits of DataBroker DAO

Here are some of the benefits a decentralized market place as provided by DataBroker DAO has to offer;

Sensors do not come cheap and a lot of money goes into maintaining one as well. By providing a platform where sensor owners can sell their IoT sensor data, DataBroker provides them with an revenue stream and a means to recover the money invested in the sensors.

Companies, manufacturers and entrepreneurs can create new business models or improve on the existing ones to optimize the user experience by using the information provided by IoT secure data.

Other sectors of the society like the agricultural sector, educational sector, medical sector can analyse information from the sensor data to improve their products or services as the case may be.

ICO of DTX (Data eXchange) Token

The DTX token is the native coin of the DataBroker DAO platform. It is an ERC20 token based on the Ethereum blockchain and is intended to serve as the only recognized and accepted means of exchange to buy and sell sensor data within the platform. For the token sale, 225 million DTX tokens were issued by the company- to correspond with the projected number of sensors the company is set to have in the year 2024. The token distribution structure for the coin is as follows

0.5% – Bounty campaign

5% – Team incentives

6.5% – Bonus for early investors

10% – Platform funds

30% – lock up

48% – token sale

In the ICO, the only accepted means of payment is Ethereum. The pre-sale is scheduled to start on the 19th of March 2018 at 16:00:00 CET. Here, the tokens will be issued at the rate of 6000 DTX per Ethereum with a 50% token bonus. However, there will be no sale for values less than 10 ETH.

The crowdsale starts on the 26th of March 2018 at 4pm CET and will end on the 23rd of April 2018. Tokens will be sold at 4000 DTX per Ethereum with a 10% bonus for investors on the first day. On the 30th of April, a week after the conclusion of the token sale, the tokens will be issued to token holders and it will be made available for trade on exchanges.

Conclusion

By implementing the blockchain technology, DataBroker DAO provides a credible and trustworthy marketplace for data consumers and buyers to transact with each other. A fully functioning beta version of the platform is available for users looking to try out the platform. In summary, according to their whitepaper;

In a sense, DataBroker DAO can be likened to a “secondary market” for IoT sensor data and has been referred to as an “eBay” or “Amazon” for IoT sensor data.

For more information about DataBroker DAO, visit their website here. For a more detailed and in depth review of the platform and all related components, here it the published whitepaper.