I’m then going to explore the political theories of data. A political theory of data establishes (such as those who collect data, those who use data, and those whom data describe) and allows for a political economy critique of who does and should receive value from data flows. I’m going to explore some of these theories, before examining the material facts on the table given that we live in a platformed, digitised and maybe even cyberpunk world. I’ll then consider how can the digital economy and the data flows which underpin it can be rearranged, leading into a discussion of data ownership models such as data trusts and data commons.
Next, I’m going to do some digital taiwan rcs data political economy by analysing some of emerging digital economic ideas, which include – but are not limited to – new digital rights, anti-trust legislation, open data strategies, self-regulation and network effects. Sometimes I may play Devil’s advocate, and sometimes I may be rather critical, yet the purpose of this discussion will not be to convince or convey my own opinion, but to demonstrate the new challenges raised by the digital economy and faced by legislators and policymakers.
This raises the question of how did we get here? I’m going to approach this question from a multitude of angles, returning to the political theory of data as an individual resource, the techno-libertarian ideology which Silicon Valley historian Margaret O’Mara argues is at the heart of big tech, and the influence economic growth regimes such as the knowledge economy have on the shape of future, potentially automated, digital economies.