Smart homes, the Internet of Things, social media, mobile applications, and other technologies are generating an unprecedented amount of data. However, despite its potential to unlock significant value and address large societal challenges, data doesn’t have any inherent value itself. Data only achieves value by being transformed into insights, applications, and services. While this process is often contained within individual companies, new applications and technologies are giving way to a new kind of value loop—one that spans across organizations.
But too often data remains stuck. While many companies are well underway on their digital journeys, organizations have yet to realize their data’s full potential, which can only come from their participation in the data economy. The data economy is increasingly based on data sharing in intercompany ecosystems, and growing it will require building new capabilities, harnessing emerging technologies for enablement, and defining new organizational and governance models to support greater collaboration. In this series of articles, we explore different aspects of unleashing the data economy. Topics include understanding what the data economy is and examining its value, the challenges of data sharing, and how firms can navigate the changing landscape of opportunity.
Participating in data ecosystems can be a critical part of a company’s comprehensive total societal impact strategy and a foundation for sustainable business model innovation.
Realizing the digital promise and gaining a sustainable advantage take much more than investments in technology. Companies need to expand their perception to discover hidden relationships.
The value of the Internet of Things lies in the data it serves up and the insights that result.
A Report from the World Economic Forum and Boston Consulting Group Finds That Data Sharing Is Essential for Reaching the Next Level of Data-Based Excellence in Manufacturing.
About the Podcast Series
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What is the path to a world of increased data sharing?
If companies are not willing to share their data, ecosystems die on the vine.
The new European Data Governance Act is a good first step, but there’s room for complementary initiatives.
The Internet of Things presents a new opportunity for value creation—and a risk for those who ignore it.
Companies across industries have vast amounts of valuable information—but most struggle to monetize it. A close look at those that do reveals the secrets to success.
Many companies are building or joining collaborative networks. The challenge is how to effectively set up and manage these ecosystems and use them strategically to maximize value—and gain a competitive edge.
Companies must attract members and partners to their platforms while maximizing profits.
Companies thinking about participating in data ecosystems need to consider the opportunities and risks that the various models present.
A complex marketplace is taking shape. Corporate management teams with data-sharing interests need to get up to speed.
These features of data sharing are essential to achieve the true potential of the data economy.
Innovation versus privacy leads the list of challenges as cities seek to boost intelligence and insight.
How should companies think about use cases that are distant, unknown, or do not yet exist?
Click on the data uses or data entities in the graphic below to explore a network of data sharing.
B2B companies need a plan for IoT and other enterprise data privacy.
How well companies manage their use of consumers’ personal data can spell the difference between failing and flourishing.
Data and data sharing are at forefront of the response to the novel coronavirus.
What the story of one woman's cancer cells, which have fueled 70 years of medical R&D, portends for data collected from the Internet of Things.
The BCG Henderson Institute is Boston Consulting Group’s strategy think tank, dedicated to exploring and developing valuable new insights from business, technology, and science by embracing the powerful technology of ideas. The Institute engages leaders in provocative discussion and experimentation to expand the boundaries of business theory and practice and to translate innovative ideas from within and beyond business. For more ideas and inspiration from the Institute, please visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter).
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