TheFutureValueofDataAnInitialViewtobeChallengedJanuary2018 Theworld’sleadingopenforesightprogram

ContextThisisaninitialpointofviewonthetopicofthefuturevalueofdata.Itisaperspectivetobeshared,challenged,builtuponandenhanced viaaseriesglobaldiscussionsthataretakingplacethroughoutthefirsthalfof2018.

DataPoliticsDatapoliticswillentermainstreampoliticaldiscourseandpublic

conversationasmorepeoplecometounderstandthecollectionanduseoftheirpersonaldata,andtheimpactsofbigdataontheirownlives.

PolarizedDataDebateDatadebateoftenrevolvesaroundpolarizedargumentsthatmaybecomeincreasinglyextreme,withmanyprotagonistsadopting‘allornothing’

positionswithregardtoissuessuchasprivacy,securityandeconomicfreedom.

SharedDataLanguageDataisdifficulttodefineanditsrolesinsocietyaremultifarious.

Asharedlanguagearounddataandit’suseislikelytoemerge,butitisnotyetclearwhichvoiceswillbeseenascredibleandauthoritative.

CoherentDataValueDatahasgreatvalue buttowhom?Whichtypesofdata?Inwhichcontexts?Stakeholderswillneedtobeveryclearaboutthevalueofspecifictypesofdatatothem,totheirusersandtosocietyasawhole,orrisklosingtrust.

TalkingatCross-purposes‘Data’isanumbrellaformanydifferentthings.Differentstakeholdersmayhaveverydifferentperspectiveson(andunderstandingsof)datathatarebeingmasked,makingthequestforcommongroundincreasinglydifficult.

DataistheNew…Datacanfulfildifferentrolesintheeconomy,insocietyandforindividuals.Simplisticviews(dataisthenewoil)helpusunderstandsomeroles,butalsomisleadandblindus.Datamaybesomethingcompletelynewaltogether.

DataLiabilityCountertotheprevailingideaofdatabeingalwaysanasset,storingsomekindsofdatacouldcometobeseenasaliabilityasiterodesusertrust,andthecostsofsecuringitoutweighthecostsassociatedwithlosingit.

FromEducationtoConfidenceWeshouldworktoeducatepeopleabouttheissuesthatreallymatter,inwaysthathelpthemlearnwhatismostimportant.Thisinvolveschanginghowweapproachissuessuchasinforming,education,transparencyandchoice.

FromPartialtoFullvalueValueexchangesinexistingdatarelationshipsshouldbereviewed:

Weneedtoexplorenewwaysofusingdatatoaddpersonalandsocialvalue,suchasinnovativeservicemodelsthatworkonbehalfoftheindividual.

FromRestrictive toEnablingPolicymakersandregulatorsoftenworkinisolatedparallelstreams(stimulatinggrowthononehand,minimising riskontheother).Amorejoinedupapproach

thatunitestheminmutuallyreinforcingwaysispossibleandnecessary.

FromGoodIntentionstoGoodOutcomesWeneedtolookbeyondassumptionsfocusedaroundthefictionalideaofa‘reasonable’decision-makertodesignprocesses,mechanismsand servicesthatworkwiththegrainofactualhumanbehaviour.

FromCompliancetoSustainableCustomerRelationshipsOrganisations shouldlookbeyondshort-termprofitopportunitiesor

compliancetobuildlong-termtrust-basedrelationshipswiththepeoplewhousetheirservicesandcreateabroaderecosystembasedontrustandvalue.

ValueofDataThereisundoubtedlyahugeeconomicincentivetogenerateandcollectdatafromwhateversourcesitbecomesavailable.Asmoredatafrommorethingsbecomesavailable,wecanexpecttoseeadata“landgrab”byorganisations.

DataMarketplacesDataisacurrency,ithasavalueandaprice,andsorequiresamarketplace.

Ecosystemsfortradingdataareemergingandsoonbothpersonalandmachinedatawillberepresentedinnewdatamarketplaces.

EthicalMachinesAutomationspreadsbeyondtradingandmanagingsystemicrisk.Asweapproachtechnologysingularity,autonomousrobotsand

smarteralgorithmsmakeethicaljudgmentsthatimpactlifeordeath.

DataEthicsandTrustAstrustincreasinglydrivessuccess,organisationswillseektomakedataethicsafocus.Inordertoengageandgainbuy-infromgovernmentsandconsumers

alike,trustindatausagewillbecomeacoreplatformfordifferentiation.

PersonallyCuratedData‘Personallycurated’sourcesofdatawillhavehighervaluesimplyduetothefactthattheywillrepresenttheactualwishesanddesiresofanindividual,

ratherthanthepresumedwishesanddesiresbasedonderiveddata.

MastersofOurDataIn2025therewillbeaseamlessborderbetweendigitalandrealwherethedigitaltruthbecomestherealtruth.Weshouldincreaseawareness

ofourdigitalshadowbecoming‘mastersofourdata’.

RisingCyberSecurityGreaterinterconnectivityandtheInternetofThingscreatesnew

vulnerabilitiesforgovernmentsandcorporations- astheunscrupulousandthecriminalincreasinglyseektoexploitweaknessanddestroysystems.

BroaderCyberTerrorismCyberattacksmovefromthevirtualworldtothephysical- attackingplanes,utilitiesandindustrialsystems.Someseeacorrespondingslowdownintheadoptionofsensorsandwideruseofprivateencryptiontechnologies.

TheRiseofMachinesThegrowth intheintelligenceandcapabilitiesofmachinespresentsbothathreatandanopportunity: GreaterAIandautomationfreeuptime,butalso

threatenjobs- bothlowskilledandmanagerial/administrativeroles.

SharingSecretsInexchangeforbetterserviceoranimprovedqualityoflife,weincreasinglyrecognise exactlywhatpersonalinformation

wearepreparedtoshareandwhotoshareitwith.

Linkability ofOpenDataNodatawillbetrulyanonymous:Currentopendatapracticeassumesthat

technologywillbenotbeabletorelinkittoitssource.Thisisnotthecaseandso,by2025,wewillseedifferentlevelsofde-identification.

Globalvs.LocalTechnologyisbyitsverynatureglobalanddatadoesnotrespectnational

boundaries.Nationstatestrytosettherulesbuttensionsinglobalinteroperabilitydriveustodesignforglobalstandards,butwithlocaliseduse.

DataandDemocracyManyquestionwhetherprivacywillenablethedemocraticprocess:

Istheredemocracywithoutprivacy?Citizendataisincreasinglypubliclyusedandsharedbygovernmentsasaninstrumentofsocialchange.

LivinginGlassHousesIfwegetitright,wewillbemorecomfortabletometaphorically‘liveinaglasshouse’,allowingourpersonalinformationtobewidelyaccessibleinreturnfortheunderstandingthatthisenablesaricher,more‘attuned’lifeasaresult.

InformedConsentGivencomplexdataflows,informedconsentisincreasinglychallenging–

soanalternativeisneeded:Anaccountabilitygovernancemodelincorporatingethicsandrespectfuldatauseisacompellingsubstituteorcomplement.

IndiaSettingGlobalStandardsIndiaisdemonstratinganinnovativeapproachtomanychallengesandhasprovendesignsolutionsforlow-incomepopulations.Thesesolutionswillbeappliedtohigherincomeeconomieswithevengreaterefficiencybenefits.

ThePrivacyIllusionThereisarisinggeneralbeliefintherighttodataprivacyandtheright

todatasecurity.Bothareillusions:Securityisimpossiblewithoutincreasedmonitoring - andsotrueprivacyisalsoimpossible.

MachineLearningDrivingAccuracyItwillbecomecommonforpeopletochatwith‘AI’advisersthroughapps.Asmorepeopleusetheseservices,moredataiscollected,machinelearning

improvessignificantlyandthereforethemoreaccurateadvicecanbe.

DataOwnershipThedatawecreateaboutourselvesshouldbeownedbyeachofus,notbythelargecompaniesthatharvestit.Usersshouldowntheirowndataandbefreetomergeitwithothersetsasandwhenitcouldprovidethemusefulinsight.

IndividualCustodiansAsmoreinformationisavailabletotheindividual,manypeopleareabletomakemoreinformeddecisionsabouttheirlivesbecause

theycanbecomecustodiansoftheirownhealthandfinancialrecords.

Blockchain forTrustDistrustbetweenpartiesinmanysectorsdrivestheadoptionofblock-chainwhichoffersauniversalsetoftoolsforcryptographicassuranceofdataintegrity,standardizedauditingandformalizedcontractsfordataaccess.

ConservativeRegulatorsAslegislatorstendtoberiskaverse,thereisaregulatorydesireforcertainty

withacontinuousconcernaboutunintendedconsequencesofchange.Regulatorsmaythereforeslowadoptionofnewtechnologiesandapproaches.

APublicGoodBroaderuseofdatarequiresnotonlyfosteringdatasystemreliabilityandinteroperabilitybutalsoaddressingindividualdataownershipandtheextenttowhichdatashouldconstituteapublicgood.

PublicBenefitvs.PersonalRiskInlinkingandsharingmoredatawewillincreasinglyweighpublicbenefitsagainstpersonalrisk.Thepotentialharmfromunauthorizedreleaseofconfidentialdatawillbeaconundrumformanyinthesomekeysectors.

DecentralizedSecureDataWeneedtodecentralizekeypersonaldatabecausethemoreit’samassed,

themorelikelyit’sgoingtobehacked. Centralizedownershipofmedicalrecords,forexample,isincreasinglyseenasasecurityrisk.

TooMuchInformationAsmoredataisavailable,someseektorestrictthetotalinformationbeingsharedwithconsumers.Fearofdataoverloadexceedingtheindividuals’

capacitytoseethingsinperspectiveleadsplatformstofilterwhatisshared.

UlteriorMotivesSomeorganisationsusepersonaldatatoscreencustomers

andemployees: Employersrecruitonlythehealthiestandinsurancecompaniesincreasinglyrefusecovertothosewithunacceptablerisks.

DataSovereigntySensitivityovertheownershipofpersonalinformationwillconstrain

thesharingofdataacrosssomenationalboundaries.Inparticular,growingresistancetoaUS-basedconcentrationofpopulationdatabuilds.

GlobalPrivacyStandardsGlobalstandardswilleventuallybecreatedforeachcountrytosignuptoanduseasabasisgoingahead:Howevergarneringagreementwillbe

difficultaseachregion hasadifferentapproachtopatientdata.

HumansintheNetworkThenextgenerationofimplanteddevicesandadditionalsensorswithinthebodyincreasinglymakehumanspartofthenetwork.Safetyconcernsaroundhackingandprivacyissuesontrackingchallengesomesystems.

QuestionsAsweshareandbuildonthisviewwewouldliketoknowwhatyouagreewith,whatyoudon’t,whatismissingand,mostimportantly,whatwill

besomeofthekeyimpactsandimplications– bothgloballyandregionally.

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