Hello, everyone; thank you for checking into this post!
Today, I wish to discuss data as an asset. More particularly, data assets.
What is a data asset?
A data asset is any entity that is compromised of data or a system, application, document, or webpage used by a company to generate revenue (to make money). (CSRC, 2015)
How is it essential?
Data assets are considered some of the most crucial and valuable assets. Since we are in the era of technology, companies spend billions of dollars a year to manage such data to benefit them (line their pockets with more money).
Relevance
Anyone today knows that data or information, in this case, has much power. Knowing information can help you predict things that may be beneficial or help others avoid pitfalls that may incur losses to them. Knowledge is a form of power. In the TED talk I have linked below, Mr. Chris Anderson informs the audience about data trends in this ever-growing technology age. The TED talk came out in 2004, some 20 years ago, but it can still be considered relevant today.
In this speech, Mr. Anderson discusses critical price and displacement. For example, when a product falls below what would be considered the critical price, consumers and producers will see a trend of success with this product. As such, when this product (technology) starts becoming more successful, it can displace other products (technology) that came before it.
Another example would be streaming services (Netflix) replacing DVDs, putting Red Box and Block Buster out of business. Or Amazon replacing stores that people used to go shop at. For a more relevant example, Sears, Big Lots, Bed Bath and Beyond, etc. These places you could see frequently at malls or standalone stores closed within a few years due to big corporations like Amazon.
Mr. Anderson refers to this as the Longtail, which is, by definition, a business strategy that allows companies to make and find significant changes that produce a profit. They make a profit by selling small quantities of hard-to-find items to many customers (for example, the Apple brand). (Anderson, 2004)
This is extremely important to understand as we live in a day and age when big businesses or corporations literally control the economy. Their decisions affect us through what could be considered trickle-down economics.
Big Tech
Let's shift gears now and talk about how data is an asset. The article "Data as an Asset? The Measurement, governance, and Valuation of Digital Personal Data." (Birch, Cochrane, Ward, 2022) talks about how digital personal data is now what could be described as the "Resource of the future." (Birch, Cochrane, Ward, 2022) That would be very fitting. This is evident in the movement called "Big Tech." As Big Tech became a key figure within our society's social and economic boundaries, data brought forth a question: how much is our data even worth? Like other big corporations, Big Tech (Big Tech corporations can refer to those who have monopoliesover certain goods: Amazon) infiltrated politics through its economic influence. This highlighted how these Big Tech companies were using consumer information to monopolize digital ecosystems and gain the upper hand over other competitors while raising their personal revenue. For example, as mentioned in the article, "Google violating antitrust laws, and similarly with Canada against Amazon (amazon violated antitrust laws there)."(Birch, Cochrane, Ward, 2022)
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So, my question this week to you all is, do you think there is a way to limit these companies from using our personal data to make money? If so, what event in the past would you change to have this type of outcome? Would you change the law? If not, explain your reasoning.
Have a great week!
Sources:
CSRC Content Editor. (n.d.). data asset - Glossary | CSRC. https://csrc.nist.gov/glossary/term/data_asset#:~:text=1.,access%20data%20from%20an%20application.
Anderson, C. (n.d.). Technology's long tail [Video]. TED Talks. https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_anderson_technology_s_long_tail/transcript?language=en&subtitle=en
OneLogin. (n.d.-b). https://canvas.fscj.edu/courses/89513/files/12243911/download?download_frd=1
Birch, K., Cochrane, D., & Ward, C. (2021). Data as asset? The measurement, governance, and valuation of digital personal data by Big Tech. Big Data & Society, 8(1), 205395172110173. https://doi.org/10.1177/20539517211017308
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