Data is becoming one of society’s most valuable resources. And yet, our existing approaches fail to unleash its massive intrinsic value. Why is this the case?
The issue is that our data — who we are, and what is relevant about us — is defined and collected by corporations and governments. Consumers were alarmed to find their phones were being tracked by the government, for example. These organizations, whether private or governmental, seem interested primarily in using your personal identity and your data streams to enhance their power. If you are an average user, this means you are missing out on significant ways to define the data about and from you and leverage it for your own value.
Richard Whitt is a public policy attorney, technology strategist and business advisor. He spent over 11 years with Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), most recently as a corporate director for strategic initiatives. Richard is currently a fellow in residence with the Mozilla Foundation, a fellow in non-residence with the Georgetown Institute for Technology Law and Policy, head of digital stewardship on behalf of Oasis Protocol Foundation, and a member of the advisory board to FortifID.