Data Market Trotter
Introduction to the data industry landscape by 16 industry themes
Overview
A “Market Guidebook” for those working in the field of data distribution. Each of the sixteen industry themes provides examples of noteworthy examples of relevant topics and trends.
We have covered topics such as API Economy, EdTech, Government Open Data, Social Research Methods, Smart Cities and Geospatial Data Distribution. We were on hiatus for some time and are now preparing to resume again.
Since industry news and technical explanation are available on other excellent websites, our “Data Market Trotter” editorial team places importance on our reporters studying one theme closely to provide an overview of the medium- to long-term outlook. We try to use many charts and data to provide “reading material” in simple language that is easy to understand.
Although the update frequency is limited to once every few months, we hope to deliver more reliable business stories based on our motto, “Interesting to read again even with the passage of time”.
Web site “Data Market Trotter”
List of Previous Articles
| 16 Industry Themes | Articles |
|---|---|
| Geography, road transport and automobiles: |
「“Future of mobility and challenges of map data from the perspective of the history of road transport business”」 |
| Housing and Safety: | Residentialization of smart cities and urbanization of smart homes |
| Public opinion, trends, and awareness survey: | Thoroughly organized! Methods of public opinion survey and social research that help businesses |
| Politics and money:： | Learn from the history of open government data, data disclosure systems and practices |
| Childbirth, parenting and education: | Present-day parenting hacks and EdTech that you can learn by yourself |
| Data distribution and privacy: | Why is the API economy called so? Usage and case studies |
| Home and living: | Bird’s-eye view of diverse consumer data |
| Weather, global environment and space: | We cover data on the natural environment, including weather and climate information, animal and plant ecosystems, marine systems and space exploration. |
| Diseases and health:： | We cover data on medical care, health care, pharmaceutical and social welfare. We also cover health-tech and medical statistics. |
| Manufacturing and industry: | We cover data related to manufacturing and industry. |
| Journalism and book information: | We cover data related to surveys, news reports, yearbooks, white papers and handbooks. Both paper-based and digital data are included. In recent years, we are trying to introduce new methods using data mining, machine learning, CMS and SNS. We gather noteworthy data from related industries. |
| Analytical technologies and scientific information: | In addition to introducing “analytical technologies” in the broader sense, such as analytical tools, processing platforms and cleaning services, we also offer publication databases, academic information retrieval, and other analytics solutions. |
| Corporate management and business information: | We cover data that have been used for a long time in various industries, including credit information, transaction data, patent information, market research and industry statistics. We also plan to cover labor, workplace, corporate and organizational data, where the dissemination of data acquisition terminals and development of data infrastructure have advanced in recent years. |
| Economic indicators and energy: | We also cover population (demographics), financial and economic indicators, resource and energy data, and macro indicators that show market and industry trends |
| Agriculture, forestry and fisheries, and food production: | We cover data of agriculture, forestry, cattle breeding, fisheries and marine industries that directly tap nature to obtain resources or process the resources obtained. We also plan to pick up statistical data on food supply and demand, production indices and international statistics. |
| Advertising, media and art: | We cover data related to communication and content. We also cover data of media (TV, radio, movies, publications, games and Internet), contents, entertainment and arts, as well as sports and competition, and tourism and travel. |
What is “Data Distribution”?
What is a “data distribution market” in the first place?
Although there are many theories on the etymology of the word “データ流通”. The Japanese term is translated as data distribution, data circulation, data flow, data exchange and data flow. Examples of their use can be found in the nineteenth century (according to our research on Google Ngram).
However, it was not until the 1950s that the words came into active use. As computer research and development progressed, the words gradually came into general use. The popularity of all the words peaked in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This peak coincided with the emergence of personal computers.
Subsequently, interest shifted to the growing use of the Internet (Internet, web, social media), and usage of the term “data distribution” decreased. However, there are signs of an increase again since around 2018, and it appears that data distribution has found new usage.
These “new usages” can be categorized broadly into six different perspectives.
1. Coordination and competition framework of an international digital economic bloc
2. Strategic PR for high-performance terminals, next-generation communication networks and machine learning
3. Policy messages to promote IT Investment
4. Development of knowledge and human resource networks inside and outside the organization
5. Easier, faster and broader cooperation among information systems
6. Increased distribution of digital content to corporations
Each perspective is explained in detail below.
Why is “data distribution” attracting attention?
1. Coordination and competition framework of an international digital economic bloc
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How do we create a framework for coordination and competition in the international digital economic bloc, including personal data distribution between nations? This problem has become a significant political issue for the international community amid the coronavirus pandemic. While governments of various countries are strongly influencing global IT companies from the U.S., such as Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft, companies from China, such as Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent, are also continuing to grow rapidly. The U.S., EU, China and Japan are working on their technology standards, legal systems and industry development.
2. Strategic PR for high-performance terminals, next-generation communication networks and machine learning
Data distribution is sometimes used as a keyword to promote the recently emerging advanced devices (IoT devices), next-generation communication systems (5G), and machine learning (AI) throughout the world. Network, security and governance that enable secure data distribution are essential for the reliable use of a wide range of devices and services. Related technologies such as data quality, data management and history management (data lineage) are also being developed, and the field is booming.
3. Policy messages to promote IT Investment
Ministries and agencies dealing with the information policy of Japan, such as the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and Cabinet IT Strategy Office, sometimes adopt “data distribution” as a kind of policy message to encourage Japanese private companies, local governments and schools to invest in IT. Whether establishing an industry association, implementing a commissioned project, or promoting the digitization of government (DX), individual pieces of data are the key at the end of the day.
4. Development of knowledge and human resource networks inside and outside the organization
Unlike stocks and securities, data is not bought and sold as “exchangeable goods”, but rather, data distribution can refer to the “proper distribution of information to those who need to know the information” or “proper use of the data which is available in the market or within an organization”. When we say, “Data distribution within a company is stagnant”, it does not mean that data transactions are not taking place. It implies that file control, knowledge management, reporting, communication and consultation flows are stagnant, making the use of in-house databases at the workplace difficult. Japanese organizations are considered to be behind other developed countries in the adoption of IT, and therein lies the deep-rooted problem, which is hidden behind the showy trend word.
5. Easier, faster and broader cooperation among information systems
The term “distribution” is also used when linking data through APIs and transferring customer and audience data between data management platforms. Words such as data exchange, data flow and data marketplace are used even for exchanging information more easily and quickly among a wide range of stakeholders. There is a growing interest in “data distribution” as a branch of IT consulting, which has been around for a long time.
6. Increased distribution of digital content to corporations
When we think of utilizing data, we tend to believe that it requires handling many numbers, statistical tables and complex formulas. However, there are other ways to revitalize data distribution by increasing digital content distribution such as audio, video and documents among corporations. The younger generation is accustomed to video communication on smartphones and immersive gaming experiences in the metaverse. The older generation must recognize and understand these trends and promote new values in the organization. Such communication is also “data distribution” in a broader sense.
Therefore, the term “data distribution” is used to describe multiple concepts in various contexts. “Data distribution market” is still a minor term and not very well known to the public. Meanwhile, similar names emerge and disappear and are endless with names such as the data trading market, data market, data marketplace and data exchange platform, which are too many to list.
The editorial team of “Data Market Trotter” does not publish unsubstantiated content unscrupulously but instead works on preparing articles that follow the trends of the times from a longer perspective about what is happening on the front lines of data distribution while respecting the circumstances of each industry, historical connections and cultural differences of each sector. The next update is planned for the end of winter. Please stay tuned.
