Data and value

Value creation is currently intertwined with the data produced and circulated in various settings across the expanding digital economy. This chapter analyzes some of the characteristics of digital data and outlines the main steps of the data value chain. The analysis highlights the importance of transformation processes data undergo during their journey from procurement to service delivery and the structural and institutional conditions in which such transformations are embedded. The account of value creation is aligned with prevailing views that consider value as a never-ending process, extending far beyond the making and delivery of “final” goods and services. Data commodities such as advertising audiences, personalized suggestions, indexes, scores and rankings are only transient achievements of data relations that need to be steadily recalculated and refigured. At the same time, this account of value brings about a renewed concern for the conditions of production (as distinct from consumption) and the structural and technological forces that condition the data transformations we link with value creation.