Data that Serves
How basic groceries—free to every resident—can catalyze a network of local public utilities and build the world’s most powerful data commons
In the Fair Data Economy, we envision for the 21st century, our data can be managed by a trusted agent, like innovative public utilities, who harness it to improve daily life and deliver better, healthier goods and services.
In today’s data economy, however, we find ourselves on a different path. We’ve fallen prey to powerful technologies controlled by predatory algorithms, all fueled by personal data we no longer control.
Instead, imagine a world where people share and aggregate their data with a trusted intermediary that acts as an agent to benefit everyone in a geographic area. The agent would be charged with sourcing reliable, quality, affordable goods and services for every resident, all based on a market system that pays for itself. This is data that serves.
This vision may sound impossibly utopian, with competition too fierce and capital needs too great. However, new public utility business models are illuminating a way for building local networks to create powerful local data commons intended to serve every resident of a given locale.
Here’s where we think innovation and testing should start. What if the community’s agent was a public utility that began its efforts by providing a basic set of 100 free grocery items for every resident, available from stores they usually shop. By building a community data commons/trust, starting with free basic groceries, much in the same way Amazon started with books, the amount and power of the shared data would scale quickly.
Using market forces, the program can pay for itself. As the data commons gained powered, the utility could address housing, healthcare, education, financial services and more. The theoretical promise of the Fair Data Economy would become reality, transforming the lives of every community member. We just need to get started.