From actual to future services : promises and value of the MyData model

The core of the human-centric personal data movement is the empowerment of individuals: they should be able to take control of their own information and use it for themselves. For instance, to manage their lives better, understand their habits, make better decisions… One of the possibilities is that they will be able to share their data with businesses: this means shift from ”attention economy” where companies profiled customers based on customer data and tried to guess or predict what customers want to ”intention economy” where consumers will be able to share — under their complete control — their intentions to businesses. A change foresee by Doc Searls.

However, consumers need intermediaries to help them use their data. This forms a new market for Personal Information Management Systems (PIMS) that help individuals collect, store, control and use their own data for their purposes. Those PIMS can be sectorial: helping individuals collect and use their health data, their telco data, their social network data, their bank data — those last one are often call PFM (Personal Finance Manager). Or they can be multisectorial and have other services/apps, plugged to them to provide specific value for individuals.

MyData2017 conference will introduce use cases and opportunities emerging from individuals, PIMS and business perspectives.

• Individuals will be able to collect and govern their personal data in one place (a PIMS) instead of having all personal data spread all over digital services and channels. They will decide to whom they will give access to that data. Having richer personal data on their hands, individuals will be capable of streamlining and improving the running of their own lives as well as making better decisions based on personalised suggestions.
• Personal Information Management Services (PIMS) are core players and critical element of personal data ecosystem. They will enable new relations between individuals and companies and offer services for them both. PIMS will for example enable individuals to gather, store, manage, use and share their own data under their own control. They will also help individuals manage their relationships with many suppliers as well as help individuals specify their wants and needs, and making this available to suppliers in the marketplace.
• For companies, human-centric personal data movement can offer access to richer, more rounded and up-to-date data about customers. This information will be far more richer and updated (by individuals themselves!) than any data of separate companies and enable brands to do more relevant marketing, selling and offering new services, always under the control of the individual, though insuring a richer relationship based on trust between all parties.

New, powerful economy will grow around personal data and data sharing will be a key to added value. This means profound changes in the ways individuals and companies interact with one another. New roles and business opportunities will emerge and business impacts are estimated to be huge. According to CtrlShift, the market for PIMS is evolving rapidly and one new service is launched every week in UK only: the estimations of business value vary, but they forecast that in UK a mature market for PIMS will be worth £16.5 billion, making up 1.2% of the UK economy.

For companies perspective, PIMS providers can also be seen as a threat. PIMS will increase transparency, easier price, product and service comparison. This can increase margin pressure, churn and they position themselves as trusted intermediaries between companies and their clients. Broadly speaking, companies have three core options:
1) Adopt PIMS as new channels, enabling new ways to engage with individuals by giving them their data back on their PIMS, offering third party services…
2) Compete by offering their own PIMS services
3) Combat them, refusing to do business with them

PIMS can disrupt companies, sure, and the new European regulation will make them give back the data to individuals (right to portability), ok. But at a time when data is considered one of their main assets, we need to show the value of the human-centric personal data approach for companies, individuals and innovators, so that this emerging model does not die in years of conflicts and oppositions.

We need you to show that value! Are you carrying a project that helps individuals gain control of and use value from their personal data? Do you have your own case story to share?

We are going to present best use cases during the conference and we need your input! The call for proposals is open until 30th of March 2017, please submit your usecase: http://mydata2017.org/programme/call-for-proposals/

Written by Heli, Julian, Manon and Pierre