@ JackFriends — Q: Thanks for you answer Henri the Manly! I have another one for you. Can you elaborate on your explorations of collateralizing DATA in the Streamr Network, e.g. for running a broker node — @hpihkala

I feel more Henri the Nerdy than Henri the Manly, but maybe that’s subjective ;)

The incentive layer for the Network, involving DATA, is something we’ll tackle a bit further in the roadmap. So apart from preliminary ideas, we’re not really diving deep into that just yet. However already in Milestone 1 we originally planned to have a simple use for DATA in the Network layer. It doesn’t mean rewards for running nodes (since nodes can’t be run by outsiders yet), but instead the Network could require DATA ownership from the Network users. I don’t mean payments, just having DATA, kind of as a proof of stake within the ecosystem. I think it’s a pretty lightweight way to start the journey towards involving DATA on the Network level. We need to remember that if introduce too big changes in how the system functions, we always risk dropping some users who can’t keep up with the changes. So also the road to building the incentive mechanisms need to happen step-by-step instead of all-at-once.

Roughly, the path ahead for the Network is:

- First P2P version, enabling operation without any central entity (this is what we’re working on now, and is in advanced stages already)

- Adding end-to-end encryption to enable data confidentiality. This is when others can start running nodes too, but it will still be for charity/interest (like IPFS is today)

- Adding the incentive layer to add rewards for those who run the nodes.

@ drnkac — Q: Hello Henri. What share do you believe can Streamr get in the overall data market in future?

Henri — A: I think no reasonable and accessible data economy in the global scale exists just yet, apart from internet advertising, which of course enabled Google, Facebook, and Twitter to operate.

The only way to build such an economy is to build an open and neutral protocol, which we’re trying to do. In many senses we’re very early with this, and the whole concept of data sharing and monetization is still unfamiliar to many businesses and individuals. But I think the market is slowly starting to emerge, and the mind shift in organizations is starting to happen, and it would be difficult for a centralized party to own the market because it would also mean that they own and control all that data, which would be a nightmare for the people and businesses involved.

So obviously it’s hard to make predictions about a market that doesn’t really even exist yet, but might in a few years. I can’t know about market share, but I do think we’re in a position to become one of the prominent technologies to be used for collectively making the data economy happen.