How Blockchain Can Help Creators and Consumers Monetize Data

Data is rapidly becoming the most valuable commodity around. Enterprise-level companies have embraced data analytics for sales, market analysis and customer retention, among other things.

But with the rush to big data, a deeper philosophical question arises. Who owns the data that companies access and use for monetizing industries? Do the consumers who create the data own the data or do the platforms used for the data own the data?

Data creators like photographers, writers and 3D image developers are seeking new and helpful ways to monetize data. At the same time, consumers want some control over what data is made public and getting a stake in what their public data is selling for.

Blockchain technology is a distributed ledger database, meaning that information can be placed on the database and stored or distributed to all those within the database as well.

This distributed system contains a series of profound benefits for the financial security, as well as for data sharing. Some companies have felt the underlying push by creators to be able to share and sell their content to other users freely, without the control of centralized hubs.

Companies like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google take the work that is uploaded to them and use it to increase membership, and therefore increase profit. Creators are left with a pittance, only able to monetize content through ad schemes on the respective sites, or through difficult data channels.

However, Blockchain technology creates a system where creators of content are able to sell that content directly to buyers without the intervention of a centralized corporation. Rather than hubs taking the bulk of the funds because of the service they provide, the creator is able to receive the full value of their content. Effectively, the managerial hub is being outsourced to Blockchain technology.

The power of this system should be evident. Companies like Cappasity, for example, are able to create databases of 3D images useful for VR and online retailers.