The Value of Data: Towards a Framework to Redistribute It

This note attempts a systematisation of different pieces of literature that underpin the recent policy and academic debate on the value of data. It mainly poses foundational questions around the definition, economic nature and measurement of data value, and discusses the opportunity to redistribute it. It then articulates a framework to compare ways of implementing redistribution, distinguishing between data as capital, data as labour or data as an intellectual property. Each of these raises challenges, revolving around the notions of data property and data rights, that are also briefly discussed. The note concludes by indicating areas for policy considerations and a research agenda to shape the future structure of data governance more at large.