Data Insitution for Public-Interest Data

The Data Institution explores the concept of third-party data stewardship to facilitate better data circulation and value realization.

In China, the current demand for public data is forcing the government to consider how to introduce third-party market forces to overcome the dilemma of the government’s singular administrative power, which lacks both the capability and the willingness to effectively manage data openness.

In this process, a core issue is how to clearly define the cooperative relationship between third parties and the government, as well as to clarify the corresponding responsibilities and rights boundaries. At the same time, the introduction of third parties has also raised market concerns about potential monopolies. How to design a system to avoid possible monopoly issues is an urgent answer needed by the market.

In this initiative, we attempt to explore three questions by introducing international explorations of data institutions and combining them with China’s localized context:

• What should be the design principles for data institutions, or third-party data stewardship, in the governance of public interest data?
• How will the conceptual shift from data covered by public functions to data covering public interests affect the design and implementation of corresponding systems?
• How can we sustainably operate a data institution, and how can its sustainable operation balance the public interest inherent in public data?