The commercial world is undergoing a broad transformation associated with recent technological developments that generate unprecedented volumes and types of data. The so-called ‘data economy’ thrives by unlocking value from the analysis of data streams that describe social and individual phenomena. However, the explosion of value that has been set off comes with its own set of social challenges, such as information security and personal privacy. Moreover, large sections of global security have yet to experience the benefits brought by these transformations.
This project, and the resulting report, assesses the feasibility of data financing: a type of innovative financing intended to capture a small slice of the value created in the commercial exploitation of data and redirect that value towards achievement of broader social objectives.
Lehdonvirta, V., Mittelstadt, B. D., Taylor, G., Lu, Y. Y., Kadikov, A., and Margetts, H. (2016) Data Financing for Global Good: A Feasibility Study. University of Oxford: Oxford Internet Institute.
The project report summarises the results of a study commissioned by the Rockefeller Foundation and conducted by a multidisciplinary team based at the Oxford Internet Institute to investigate the feasibility of data financing. The purpose of the study was to take the first step in assessing whether and how data financing mechanisms might work to address global funding gaps, and what forms they could and should take. The study focused on a series of four expert workshops, bringing together stakeholders from around the world across academia, the public sector, and data-intensive industries. The result is a wide-ranging map of the issues and challenges involved, by no means exploring each avenue anywhere near to its end, but providing a chart of the general lay of the land.
Acknowledgement: The project team would like to extend its gratitude to participants in the project’s four workshops, who provided extremely valuable insight and critical feedback without which the report would not have been possible.
Lehdonvirta, V., Mittelstadt, B. D., Taylor, G., Lu, Y. Y., Kadikov, A., and Margetts, H. (2016) Data Financing for Global Good: A Feasibility Study. University of Oxford: Oxford Internet Institute.
Professor of Economic Sociology and Digital Social Research
Project role: Principal Investigator
Vili Lehdonvirta examines the politics and socio-economic impacts of digital technologies. He is one of the world's most cited authors on gig work and the platform economy. His current research deals with the geopolitics of digital infrastructures.
Professor of Data Ethics and Policy, Director of Research
Project role: Co-Investigator
Professor Brent Mittelstadt is a data ethicist and philosopher specializing in AI ethics, professional ethics, and technology law and policy. He is the founder/coordinator of the Governance of Emerging Technologies (GET) programme.
Associate Professor, Senior Research Fellow
Project role: Co-Investigator
Greg Taylor's research focuses on the economics of competition policy and regulation for digital and technology markets.
Former DPhil Student
Project role: Researcher
Yin is fascinated by the intersection between language and technology. She researches persuasion in the context of new media, focusing specifically on the rhetoric and resonance of Brexit tweets.
Law Faculty, University of Law
Project role: Researcher
Professor of Society and the Internet
Project role: Co-Investigator
Helen Margetts is Professor of Society and the Internet, a political scientist specialising in digital government and politics. She was Director of the OII from 2011-18. She is a Professorial Fellow of Mansfield College.
