The IOTA Data Marketplace – Towards a Data-Driven Economy where data is "free", but should not be free

The IOTA Foundation has announced an Open Innovation project called the Data Marketplace. More than 20 major global tech corporations including Samsung, Cisco, Orange, Fujitsu, Schneider Electric, Deutsche Telekom and major mobility players including Bosch, Daimler, Volkswagen, Movimento Group (Delphi) and others are part of the distributed Data Marketplace project. Cities such as Trondheim and leading universities including Munich’s TUM, the University of Oslo and Universidad Nacional de Colombia are participating.

So, what is this all about? The concept of the distributed Data Marketplace is powerful. Already today, billions of devices and networked sensors generate enormous amounts of data. With the expected growth around the “Internet of Everything” the number of connected devices and the data generated will increase exponentially. IOTA as the backbone of IoT helps solve a massive problem by improving security through trusted connectivity and data integrity. By providing identities of people and things, asset and monetary transfers based feeless micro-transactions IOTA opens up the door to a Machine-to-Machine Economy enabled by IoT and autonomous robotic systems.

Why is the concept of a distributed Data Marketplace so exciting? Data is the new fuel. Data is the basis for machine learning and artificial intelligence. But unless you are one of the big Internet services players that have access to the massive amounts of data users tend to share willingly in exchange for “free” services, you might face the problem of data access. A lot of data exists, but remains siloed and not easily accessible. Valid privacy concerns means data is unused and wasted.

The IOTA Data Marketplace is far more than what we think of when we envision a “marketplace” of data. The IOTA tangle provides the shared, distributed infrastructure that establishes trust amongst participants and an immutable record of transactions. IOTA enables the sharing of data without giving up on privacy or control over data. At the same time, users of the data can rest assured that the data comes from a trusted source (including proof of existence). The integrity of the data can be ensured through the immutable distributed ledger and by preventing man in the middle attacks.

The distributed Data Marketplace is only one step towards a larger vision. The vision of a future where all of humanity can benefit from the value of data. Where we have control over what happens with our data, and where our privacy is protected. By creating a robust distributed infrastructure where data can be shared securely we can set data "free" and unleash its value. At the same time it creates a unique infrastructure to monetize data through fee-less micro-transactions without central intermediaries.

As David Sonstebo, co-founder of the IOTA Foundation put it very well his blog post: “Data wants to be "free", but it should not be free".