Data transactions can be divided into three links: confirmation of rights, pricing, and transactions.
Many companies report that they are facing the problem of unclear ownership at the first pass.
How to clarify the rights of data transactions and how to value enterprise data are two major problems that affect the participation of many enterprises.
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All regions are eager to seize the opportunities of big data, and the establishment of big data exchanges is one of the most specific forms.
In the first month of 2022, Beijing International Big Data Exchange announced that it will take the lead in establishing a digital economy intermediary industry system.
Since the beginning of 2021, Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing and other places have successively established or prepared to establish big data exchanges led by local governments.
According to the "Big Data White Paper" (December 2021) released by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, between 2014 and 2017 alone, 23 data trading institutions initiated, guided or approved by local governments were established in China.
According to incomplete statistics, there are currently more than 30 big data exchanges or trading institutions across the country.
However, the industry generally reflects that the operation effect and market reputation of many big data exchanges are not good enough, and the transaction scale is still relatively small.
An industry insider said bluntly: "Most big data exchanges are more like a market, and both the supply and demand sides can generally trade directly, and exchanges are not the first choice." Another method of "point-to-point" direct trading is also faced with data Difficult to confirm rights, user privacy protection and other practical problems.
In order to realize the "freedom of trading" of big data, it may be necessary to further improve the market rules.
Big data exchange boom in various places
In 2015, the first domestic big data exchange - Guiyang Big Data Exchange (hereinafter referred to as "Guishu Exchange") was listed and operated.
At the beginning of its establishment, Wang Sanshou, the executive president of Guishu, predicted that the daily trading volume of Guishu would reach 10 billion yuan in the next 3-5 years.
However, "the ideal is very full, and the reality is very skinny". In the following years, the transaction volume target of Guishu Exchange gradually decreased, from "daily transaction volume of 10 billion yuan" to "strive to exceed 100 million yuan throughout the year".
By 2018, the Exchange will no longer announce the transaction volume and transaction volume through the official website and other channels.
After that, Guishu underwent a share reform and was taken over and operated by the local state-owned assets department of Guiyang. It is still conducting big data trading business.
After 2015, Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Wuhan, Shaanxi, Heilongjiang and other provinces have successively established local big data exchanges.
The "Big Data White Paper" released by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology in December 2021 pointed out that starting from 2014, data trading institutions will be built in various places to provide centralized and standardized data trading venues and services, in order to eliminate the information gap between the supply and demand sides and promote Form a reasonable market-based pricing mechanism and a replicable trading system.
However, after more than 7 years of exploration, the operation and development of data trading institutions in various places has not achieved the expected results.
First, from the perspective of the number of institutions, most trading institutions have stopped operating or changed their business direction, and there are very few data trading institutions that continue to operate; second, from the perspective of business models, the landing business is basically limited to intermediaries. A series of value-added services such as valuation, delivery and clearing, data asset management, and financial services, as initially envisaged, have not been implemented. Third, from the perspective of operating performance, the overall data transaction volume of each trading institution is sluggish, and the market capacity is insufficient.
Yan Shu, deputy director of the Big Data and Blockchain Department of the Institute of Cloud Computing and Big Data of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, said that a large number of domestic data transactions are still completed "point-to-point".
Under the circumstance that the data element market is not perfect and the transaction demand is insufficient, the establishment of a large-scale data exchange may have the effect of removing the seedlings and promoting the growth.
"The lesson or experience of many pilots is that when the demand is insufficient, it may be a failure."
According to the "Big Data White Paper", at this stage, the annual data procurement amount of commercial banks alone exceeds 10 billion yuan. Although the "point-to-point" transaction model can meet the needs of enterprises for targeted procurement of data, it cannot achieve large-scale marketization of data elements. configuration.
The market is still calling for a more efficient and complete big data exchange.
In 2020, the State Council issued the "Opinions on Building a Better Market-Based Allocation System and Mechanism for Factors" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions").
The document compares data with production factors such as land, labor, technology and capital, and proposes to "accelerate the cultivation of data factor markets."
In March 2021, the Beijing International Big Data Exchange was established; in November, the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city was approved to set up the Northern Big Data Exchange; in the same month, the Shanghai Data Exchange was officially unveiled; in December, the Western Data Exchange was established in Jiangbei District, Chongqing established.
It is reported that Shenzhen is also actively promoting the establishment of data trading venues.
In addition, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hunan, Anhui and other provinces are also promoting the establishment of more complete local big data trading venues.
For example, the Guizhou Provincial Data Circulation and Trading Platform was launched in October 2021. Unlike the Guizhou Stock Exchange, the platform is guided by the Guizhou Provincial Government, and the government's credibility and the supply of government data resources will be further improved.
Rules are yet to be perfected
Regarding the exploration of the establishment of big data exchanges in some places, Lin Fang (pseudonym), the head of the Big Data Administration of a certain place, believes that a lot of experience has been obtained, but the effect is generally not as expected. The main reason is that "it was done too early" , the demand is insufficient; and the fundamental institutional obstacles have not been broken through, "the level of laws and regulations is not clear enough, and the relevant regulatory system and market rules have not been established."
Huang Kai, a partner of Commerce & Business Law Firm, has provided legal advice on data transactions to many companies.
He found that the transaction volume of big data trading platforms in various places is generally lower than expected. Most of the data transaction parties are state-owned enterprises, scientific research institutes, universities and other institutions. True participation; some businesses only reach out to counterparties through the exchange, but the actual transaction bypasses the exchange.
"The core problem is that although the national macro policy clearly encourages big data transactions, there are still no laws and regulations that directly regulate big data transactions." Huang Kai said that many companies need to be based on different big data platform transactions when participating in transactions. Different platforms abide by different trading rules and cannot effectively and centrally control risks, which will directly lead to uncertainty in transactions and instability in relief.
The rules of data exchanges vary from place to place, which is also a matter of concern to the academic community.
Xie Yongjiang, executive director of the Internet Governance and Legal Research Center of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, told China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily that many places are now developing their own big data exchanges, but "each trading center is making its own rules."
Efficient data transactions need to follow generally consistent rules, and more consistent regulations on basic elements, data types, transaction conditions, and exchange audits are required.
"At present, various places have to build their own exchanges, which will form many small trading markets, but in the future, it is more appropriate to build several large trading centers in the whole country." Xie Yongjiang believes that considering the cross-regional nature of data trading and the High efficiency, more data transactions may be concentrated in a few head exchanges in the future.
Lin Fang believes that the data exchange should also study the establishment of a data asset evaluation system, promote the incorporation of data assets into accounting standards, and incorporate data elements into the statistical accounting system.
She believes that the current pilot projects in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and other places may explore some new models.
In March and November 2021, the data exchanges in Beijing and Shanghai were unveiled successively.
According to the reporter's understanding, Shenzhen's data trading agency is also in preparation.
In terms of technological innovation, Beijing International Big Data Exchange (hereinafter referred to as "Beijing Data Exchange") has high expectations.
According to reports, Beijing Digital Exchange is the first domestic data exchange based on the new transaction paradigm of "data is available and invisible, and uses are controllable and measurable", using blockchain technology, multi-party secure computing technology, privacy encryption technology, etc. Carry out innovative practices in terms of genus confirmation, data circulation efficiency, and data security governance.
For example, Beijing Digital has launched a "digital transaction contract" based on blockchain technology.
According to Yan Shu, Beijing Digital Exchange is also seeking new breakthroughs in the trading model, trying to introduce more third-party institutions to provide different data services, "some for data quality management, and some for data pricing".
Based on the practice in various places, at the end of 2021, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Overall Plan for the Comprehensive Reform of the Market-based Allocation of Factors", which also proposed that it is necessary to establish and improve data circulation and transaction rules, and put forward relevant requirements for data transaction paradigms and data transaction markets.
How to solve the problem of data verification
Generally speaking, data transactions can be divided into three links: confirmation of rights, pricing, and transactions, but in reality, many companies face the problem of unclear ownership at the first level.
As a regulator of the data industry, Lin Fang also said that in many data transactions in the past, how to clarify the rights of data transactions and how to value corporate data are two major problems that affect many companies participating in it.
At present, my country's laws related to data transactions mainly include the Data Security Law and the "Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Data Regulations", in which the definition of data is "any record of information by electronic or other means", and does not involve data rights. Definition and division.
"There is no conclusion on the legal nature of big data in my country, which is directly related to the characterization of the transaction contract and the determination of the legal relationship, which objectively affects the smooth flow of data and increases the transaction cost of data." Huang Kai believes that only Only by assigning clear property rights to data can the separation of data ownership and use rights be realized, and then promote efficient allocation of data elements through market competition, transactions, and pricing.
"The worry of enterprises is nothing more than unclear rights and responsibilities." Xie Yongjiang believes that in the next step, the state should also increase efforts to build a legal system that facilitates data development, utilization and transactions, "Knowing the boundaries of rights, (enterprises) have clear obligations. And accountability, then you can trade, share data.”
In fact, separate data regulations are already being explored in many places.
According to Xie Yongjiang's statistics, about 22 provinces and cities across the country have promulgated more than 50 local regulations related to data storage, development and utilization, of which 16 are regulations formulated by local people's congresses.
"For the very complex issue of data ownership, such an attempt is worthwhile. With more local attempts, the National People's Congress can accumulate experience." Synthesizing the legal practice in various places, Xie Yongjiang believes that the current pilot projects in various places have formed The tacit understanding is to first promote the open use of data, and then gradually explore issues such as data ownership.
This also coincides with the views of policy research institutions such as the Academy of Information and Communications Technology.
"If you are caught in the quagmire of data rights confirmation, the entire data element market will not be able to be established." Yan Shu pointed out that one of the current pilot experiences in various places is to separate the personal rights and property rights of data, and use privacy calculation, trusted zone Blockchain and other new technologies to avoid disputes such as data property rights.
As a big data practitioner, Li Jianbin, assistant president of Tianrongxin Technology Group, believes that technology cannot solve all kinds of problems in data transactions.
Tianrongxin is a network security, big data and cloud service provider that can provide comprehensive data security governance consulting for big data trading centers.
In Li Jianbin's view, technological improvement is inevitable, but various new technologies have certain limitations. To solve practical problems such as data confirmation, more clear industry norms, standards and management methods are needed.
China Youth Daily, China Youth Daily reporter Wang Lin Source: China Youth Daily