Organising the development of black gold in the 21st century

Data is not a purely collective good that could be shared across the board. Nor is it a good that lends itself easily to the organisation of an efficient system of market exchange. Under these two cardinal systems for organising their circulation, the diversity and granularity of the data available would give rise to efficiency gains well below their potential. These are the reasons why we need to go beyond a purely "regulatory" approach, by taking into account the relationships between data producers and users, and the possible involvement of intermediaries who can, in a neutral manner, provide services ranging from the technical processing of data to the provision of services derived from its analysis. However, care must be taken to ensure that alliances or intermediaries do not abuse the central position they may occupy.