The Data DeFi Protocol: A Deep Sea Dive Into Ocean Protocol
As we move further into the 21st century, we become more reliant on a new resource: data. This resource is used to inform decisions and advance our understanding of both the natural and man-made world. Data is used to upgrade our systems, develop drugs, and engineer machinery - among countless other applications.
The sheer amount of data that now exists is staggering, and even more staggering is the exponential growth of the rate at which it is generated.
Similar to many other resources, the value of data is unlocked when it is refined and put to use. The issue faced by many industries is that much of this precious data cannot be accessed in the first place to draw insight from it. According to the International Data Corporation, a mere 0.5% of the world’s data is actually used and analyzed, with the remainder sitting dormant in silos.
Data lies dormant due to the fact that no real incentives exist for owners to share this resource - aside from a healthy dose of game theory - and in fact, they may be discouraged from doing so for fear of giving away their IP, aiding the competition, or privacy and security concerns.
Although modern legal and accounting standards have not yet recognized it as such, data is an asset - and an extremely valuable one at that. Information can be leveraged to serve the aforementioned functions and contribute to the value of any organization where it is relevant.
The tokenization of data allows for it to be treated as a tangible, liquid asset. Protocols such as Ocean Protocol are making the financialization of data a possibility.
