Data Cooperatives as a Catalyst for Collaboration, Data Sharing and the Digital Transformation of the Construction Sector

Abstract

Digital federated platforms and data cooperatives for secure, trusted and sovereign data exchange will play a central role in the construction industry of the future. With the help of platforms, cooperatives and their novel value creation, the digital transformation and the degree of organization of the construction value chain can be taken to a new level of collaboration. The goal of this research project was to develop an experimental prototype for a federated innovation data platform along with a suitable exemplary use case. The prototype is to serve the construction industry as a demonstrator for further developments and form the basis for an innovation platform. It exemplifies how an overall concept is concretely implemented along one or more use cases that address high-priority industry pain points. This concept will create a blueprint and a framework for further developments, which will then be further established in the market. The research project illuminates the perspective of various governance innovations to increase industry collaboration, productivity and capital project performance and transparency as well as the overall potential of possible platform business models. However, a comprehensive expert survey revealed that there are considerable obstacles to trust-based data exchange between the key stakeholders in the industry value network. The obstacles to cooperation are predominantly not of a technical nature but rather of a competitive, predominantly trust-related nature. To overcome these obstacles and create a pre-competitive space of trust, the authors therefore propose the governance structure of a data cooperative model, which is discussed in detail in this paper.

Decentralised content moderation

“…Data cooperatives are a specific type of cooperative, acting as an intermediary or-ganisation (also known as a data intermediary) collecting data from members and trading it to accrue value for members. Data may be of many types, ranging from personal -like browsing and social media, health and fitness (Tanwar et al, 2021), shopping, or banking -to environmental, including construction management (Bühler et al, 2023), defence against phishing (Salau et al, 2021), or citizen science projects (Tanwar et al, 2021). Existing data cooperatives tend to be producer-owned, in the sense that those providing data and benefiting from its trade are the "producers".…”

“…Other data cooperatives may be cooperatives of organisations, wherein companies or non-profits are members of a broader data cooperative, as is the case in a proposed construction management cooperative (Bühler et al, 2023).…”

“…Technical systems vary widely (Bühler et al, 2023;distributed cooperative organisation, 2019; and must address specific considerations around at least four issues: sharing management (Bühler et al, 2023;Hafen et al, 2014), consent systems, security (Salau et al, 2022), and state policy requirements related to data protection and data intermediaries (e.g. European Union through Data Governance Act) (Bietti et al, 2021;European Commission et al, 2023).…”

Recyclable and Efficient Construction using Mineral Landfill Materials and Demolition Wastes

“…With extensive experience in construction, infrastructure, and urban development, the project group's research expertise covers areas such as geotechnical engineering, earthquake engineering [56], soil dynamics [57], climate research [58,59], and education/management research [60]. The team's professional experience spans geotechnical design/construction management, infrastructure advisory/finance, and global initiatives, research, strategy, and business development through involvement with organizations like the World Economic Forum, T20/G20 Task Forces [61][62][63], G20 Infrastructure Hub [64], and OECD Executive Consultation Group.…”

Unlocking the Power of Digital Commons: Data Cooperatives as a Pathway for Data Sovereign, Innovative and Equitable Digital Communities

“…Our research aim is to integrate the digital commons [2] discourse with the practical execution of data cooperatives [3,4] and digital federation platforms. Through a comprehensive analysis of various case studies, we strive to develop a robust policy framework designed to facilitate the adoption and effective operation of these digital structures.…”