Scattered across the world are large centers housing nothing but machinery; groups of networked computer servers working around the clock storing, processing, and distributing large amounts of data. Many are ordinary buildings, some are large warehouse, and a few are industrially sized complexes that exceed multiple football fields in size. Whether big or small, each is critical to realizing DACONOMY’s vision of the world’s first universal decentralized data ecosystem.

What is the Data Economy?

In their HorizonWatch Brief, IBM describes the data economy as the ability of enterprises to leverage big data and analytics as a corporate asset to make strategic business decisions, improve operational efficiencies, and drive revenue growth as well as create new and innovative business models. At its core, the data economy encompasses the impact that data has, and will continue to have on the entire world; this includes the creation, collection, organization, and implementation of data points by the billions.

A New Age of Assets

Many of us find it hard to conceptualize data as an asset. Although intangible, data is mined, refined, valued, and exchanged. Today data is treated as a commodity; In the past, companies have described assets as something which holds value, for example, inventory, equipment, intellectual property, etc. In the new data economy, data is held with the same level of esteem. Companies are focusing on data collecting, reporting, and analyzing. Some even believe that data will become a key indicator for determining a company’s success in the new digital age.

As a result, companies have emphasized data; this includes the creation of infrastructure which enables the gathering and dissemination of data. Methods such as database structuring, database warehousing, and API’s are becoming more and more popular amongst companies. Furthermore, companies are finding new ways to build comprehensive data inventories by gathering data through internal and external methods.

The Future of the Data Economy

Data is poised to become the world’s most valuable resource; it is considered the key to growth, success, and a competitive advantage for all businesses. Big data, business analytics, and data sets have become the fuel for corporate growth by allowing companies to manage resources and monitor expenditures efficiently.

According to IDC, worldwide revenues for big data and business analytics are likely to grow from $150.8 billion (2017) to $210 billion by 2020; that’s a compound annual growth rate of 11.9%. Another independent study by PWC shows that up to $9 trillion will be invested in the Internet-of-Things (IoT) market until 2020, and estimates that up to 30 billion IoT devices will be connected; this exponential growth in data and IoT raw data will result in massive amounts of usable information which is impossible to curate manually.

Data is tied into the very fabric of our lives. Every interaction that occurs and every decision that we choose to make has the potential to be collected, analyzed, and acted on. Moreover, every device and technology is being built with data production capabilities. The rapid development of IoT devices and growing access to internet marketplaces are among some of the biggest drivers of data growth. But with this expansion comes serious challenges. For businesses, the most significant problem moving forward is the ability to gather, utilize, and monetize data. By no means will the process be easy, but we’ve made it our mission here at DACONOMY to lead the way.