Big Data is the New Cash, and Remember, Cash Is King

Cash is king, the saying goes, and it won’t give up its throne easily. But in a technologically advancing society with increasing dependence on data, cash may have a new challenger–big data.

Big data is important to individuals and businesses alike. For individuals, it’s comforting (or unnerving depending on the point of view) to know who has access to personal information. For businesses, big data drives revenues. It allows companies to compare products and services, expand marketing efforts, and target specific audiences.

Big data can help businesses hone their customer service skills by determining which customer service methods prove most effective for gaining and keeping business.

The profusion of data into every aspect of life will keep growing, so it’s appropriate to ask, “Who controls it?” From the looks of it, major corporations like Amazon and Microsoft appear to be in the lead.

Thus there seems to be an increasing centralization of big data, met with presumably increasing prices for transferring said data. As large corporations like Facebook or Google continue to gather data, they have the opportunity to control who has access to it.

Blockchain startups are offering viable alternatives to make big data not seem so big. These platforms offer a decentralized way for end users, whether humans or machines, to buy and sell data, all based upon personal choice.

How Blockchain Technology is Changing the Big Data Landscape

Everyone and everything produces data. Machines store cycle counts, battery power, and voltage readings. Humans, though not programmable entities, can store data through stories, memories, and even body language, as well as measurable data from wearable devices. Humans form reactions, opinions, and beliefs based upon the data gathering that takes place every day.

With the rise of the internet, this data has largely been stored online. Social media profiles and Google searches are filled with people’s personal history. There’s no escaping it.

Blockchain technology has led to the creation of platforms that put data producing agents in the driver’s seat. By starting a network of data transactions, blockchain companies have found a way for humans and machines alike to buy and sell data on a decentralized exchange.

One company, Streamr, has already rolled out its blockchain platform. On Streamr, the data that a user produces stays with it. The user has complete autonomy and can choose to sell his, her, or its data.

Take for instance the self driving car. In order to work properly, a self driving car needs a wide variety of measures–internal ones like speed, turning radius, and weight, as well as external ones like road quality, weather conditions, and traffic updates.

With Streamr’s system in place, an electric car can sell its internal metrics to manufacturers–say battery producers or tire distributors–and use the proceeds to buy information on weather forecasts or traffic jams. This data will help manufacturers create better protect and will ensure that the self-driving car stays the course.

Stream’s platform and others like it have raw data processing engines that are built for real-time data management. These machines can read from and write to blockchains–connecting the world of big data to the wide variety of blockchain platforms and startups.

In terms of human applications, blockchain technology allows big data to connect with everyday processes like turning on lights, calling elevators, and sending email alerts. By synthesizing, analyzing, and processing the large volumes of data out there, blockchain technology can revolutionize the way machines and humans communicate.

As a tangible example, think of a clothes manufacturer who specializes in athletic gear. What if, using blockchain technology, data could be sold by athletes to clothes manufacturers concerning their heart rate, temperature, and sweat volumes. These “smart clothes” would enable clothing manufacturers to tailor-make outfits that fit certain environments with specific applications. Athletes, because they control the data, get to choose what information they disclose, and what price they want to sell it at. In this scenario, both parties benefit.

The free market principles upon which these platforms rest create an ongoing network effect. The more data available for use, the more likely it becomes for data producers and data consumers to interact. In Streamr’s case, its web portal facilitates the discovery of data and provides a means by which it can be managed through data streams. These data streams can then be subscribed to, providing an ongoing intake of information.

Perhaps the greatest benefit of these platforms is their peer-to-peer nature. By offering decentralized networks and marketplaces, blockchain technology removes the middleman and creates a direct connection between data producer and data consumer. Large corporations like Google, Facebook, and Amazon no longer hold the power–individuals do, and at their own discretion.