Data is the new Oil: must-read PDF by the World Economic Forum

This report is a really great find, and a must-read for anyone interested in what can best be summarized as the convergence of the data and attention economies (thanks, HuffPo and Bianca Bosker) :

Download PDF WEF_ITTC_PersonalDataNewAsset_Report_2011

"We are moving towards a “Web of the world” in which mobile communications, social technologies and sensors are connecting people, the Internet and the physical world into one interconnected network.1 Data records are collected on who we are, who we know, where we are, where we have been and where we plan to go. Mining and analysing this data give us the ability to understand and even predict where humans focus their atten- tion and activity at the individual, group and global level. This personal data – digital data created by and about people – is generating a new wave of opportunity for economic and societal value creation. The types, quan- tity and value of personal data being collected are vast: our profiles and demographic data from bank accounts to medical records to employment data. Our Web searches and sites visited, including our likes and dislikes and purchase histories...." 

“In practical terms, a person’s data would be equivalent to their ‘money,’” wrote the WEF in its “Personal Data” report. “It would reside in an account where it would be controlled, managed, exchanged and accounted for just like personal banking services operate today.”

 

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