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 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.

Disruptive Technologies for e-Diasporas: Blockchain, DAOs, Data Cooperatives, Metaverse, and ChatGPT

“…Additionally, data cooperatives could provide businesses with access to shared resources, such as marketing and sales data, customer databases, and other tools to improve their operations and reach new markets. The Calzada (2021b), Calzada (2020) and Bühler et al (2023c) collected several case studies about data cooperatives that could be inspirational for e-diaspora development worldwide. To illustrate the potential of data co-operatives as a disruptive technology, several cases are listed below.…”

“…Calzada (2021b), Calzada (2020) identified six active cases: (i) Salus, (ii) Driver Seat, (iii) My Data, (iv) LBRY, (v) DOrg.tech, and (vi) Polypoly. Bühler et al (2023c) in a recent policy brief published by G20 identified ten transformative use cases of data co-operatives from Asia and Africa, with limited examples from Europe and the US: (i) M-Pesa (mobile money in Kenya), (ii) e-Kutir (digital agriculture in India), (iii) Farmerline (collaborative land management in Ghana), (iv) SOLshare (decentralized renewable energy in Bangladesh), (v) Nubank (Fintech for financial inclusion in Brazil), (vi) Halodoc (telemedicine in Indonesia), (vii) Zenzeleni (community networks in Africa), (viii) GemeinWerk (construction industry in Bavaria, Germany), (ix) Salus (healthcare in Barcelona, Catalonia), and (x) Driver's Seat (ride-hailing, USA). Salus.coop can illustrate the potential of data co-operatives as disruptive technologies by creating a framework for a citizen-driven collective health data management and governance model.…”

“…Data cooperatives give members control over their data, allowing them to decide how their data is used and shared (Bauwens et al, 2019). They propose a framework for a digitally federated and sovereign architecture, providing a blueprint for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Bühler et al, 2023c). Data ownership and data sovereignty are at the core of data co-operatives (Calzada, 2021b;Hicks, 2022).…”

“…When using data cooperatives for research, it may be necessary to identify specific motivations, outcomes, and strategies to ensure the research achieves its objectives and can be properly evaluated (Bühler et al, 2023c). Salus.coop is a good example that has inspired the HanHemen e-diaspora platform (Calzada, 2023a).…”

“…Data cooperatives are a type of cooperative that allows individuals to share and control their data collectively (Bühler et al, 2023c).…”