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The next innovation wave: A B2B data-sharing economy

Instead of letting it sit idle, what if organisations could find new value in data through a new kind of sharing economy, asks Adam Howatson, CMO, OpenText.


Johannesburg, 28 Mar 2017
Adam Howatson, CMO, OpenText.
Adam Howatson, CMO, OpenText.

Introduction

Think back to what the digital economy looked like before Uber and Airbnb. Now, consider what it looks like today. While these companies haven't been around long, their "sharing economy" business model has revolutionised how we think about physical assets, respectively cars and living spaces, says Adam Howatson, CMO, OpenText.

The idea of putting unused physical assets to work, earning money from them by 'renting' them out when they would otherwise sit idle, might seem like a no-brainer now. But it wasn't obvious before Uber and Airbnb. So it makes sense to ask if there are other types of unused assets we could put to work.

I believe such an opportunity is staring every enterprise in the face: data assets.

Every organisation today is swimming in a sea of data: customer information, product specs, shipping and logistics records, information about suppliers and partners, data of all kinds that spans decades of business activity and is probably sitting unused on disks, tapes, servers, laptops, tablets and phones.

Instead of letting it sit idle, what if organisations could find new value in data through a new kind of sharing economy? What if we built a sharing economy for digital assets?

The data-sharing economy

What does a sharing economy for digital assets look like? It's a system where a business could share its data, especially unused and underused data, with partners, manufacturers, suppliers and other third parties with a stake in its supply chains and business processes.

Where are the benefits in such a system? Imagine a retailer sharing more information with others on its supply network: with everyone able to view orders, shipments, historical data, product stocks and deliveries in real time on a global basis, it could be easier to identify which partners are especially good at what they do, or which processes need improvement to ensure on-time fulfilment everywhere. The sensitivity and power of this data will require companies to obtain necessary customer permissions and be responsible for sharing data while remaining complaint. Those that are able to successfully navigate this area will gain insights that could help optimise everyone's performance, enabling win-win improvements across the supply chain.

Early adoption in the public sector: open government

To see this concept in action, look at the public-sector trend of open government. Government agencies with huge volumes of user and service data have discovered that sharing such information with the public has many benefits. In addition to promoting transparency, open-government initiatives can help citizens better understand what different agencies do and can reveal new opportunities for improvement.

Open-government programs also help fuel private-sector innovations. Consider GPS: data from the global positioning system developed by the US government starting in the 1970s provides the foundation for thousands of businesses in every sector, from agriculture to self-driving cars. Without GPS data, we'd have no Google Maps, no location data for 911 emergency calls, no UPS fleet tracking capabilities or Facebook photo geotagging.

No wonder the US White House in 2013 described freely available government data as an "important national resource".

Opportunities in B2B

Imagine opening up similar opportunities with business data. While the private sector won't publicly reveal its data stores like government does, I believe businesses could discover rich new insights and synergies by sharing information with partners, suppliers and other stakeholders.

Opportunities exist in almost every imaginable business sector. Healthcare. Retail. Financial services. Manufacturing. Oil and gas. Name any industry, and it's possible to imagine all sorts of applications.

Consider, for instance, what innovations could be enabled by sharing data across the supply chain for consumer packaged goods. Shared information could provide new insights: How long does a product sit on a shelf before it's sold? Where is breakage most likely to occur? How can breakage be minimized? Such insights could lead to improvements that benefit customers and businesses alike.

Data sharing for business

A business data-sharing system has two essential elements. One, it needs a platform for sharing large volumes of information in real- or near-real-time. And, two, it must be built on trust, so stakeholders can share inside information without risking trade secrets, proprietary data or competitive advantages.

Such systems are possible with today's technology. We have the tools to ensure information is shared in legal, compliant and privacy-protecting ways.

But there's a challenge: getting businesses to understand and accept that data sharing can be helpful rather than a threat. Enterprises today still tend to have a highly protectionist mindset about information. That attitude will have to be overcome before we can begin building a data-sharing economy.

Sharing information could enable many innovations and improvements. Better insights into customer and product trends could, for instance, help reduce the number of bugs in software or help identify and resolve service problems before they lead to an uptick in customer support tickets. Imagine how such insights could help retailers ensure they have the right stock on hand in the right amounts at the right time. The possibilities are endless.

Looking ahead

We're not there yet, though. Along with overcoming fears about giving up competitive 'secrets', businesses must consider privacy, regulations, legal ramifications and more.

Over the next 5-10 years, I believe we'll start seeing early movers doing just this. And once they get it right, the rest of the business world will have to join in. Just as with digitisation, once the data-sharing economy gets rolling, it can't be ignored. Enterprises that don't get on board will face the same fate as Blockbuster after Netflix arrived on the scene.

Data value, fully tapped

In today's digital age, we recognise that information is an asset, a resource just as vital as money, fuel or raw materials. Most organisations haven't yet come close to tapping the full value of their in-house data. Once they begin doing that with the help of AI and cognitive computing, the next step will be finding even more profitable ways to put data to use. And that will come through sharing data with other companies in their networks.

When that happens, monetising your unused and underused information will seem like as much of a no-brainer as monetising underused cars and homes does today.

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Editorial contacts

Adam Howatson
Open Text
africa@opentext.com