7 3. RISE OF THE DATA ECONOMY - NEED TO RE-THINK POLICY A shift in approach to data regulation is required for countries to properly benefit from the emerging global data economy. This shift informs this framework. Key elements of this integrated approach to data policy formulation are outlined below. 3.1. DATA AS THE BASIS FOR NEW SOCIAL CONTRACT AND INNOVATION ECONOMY As data in and of themselves have little value, it is only through the processing, transmission, storage and combination that value is added. In economic terms, data can be understood as a public good in that it is inherently non-rivalrous (at the technical level, it is infinitely usable without detracting from another person’s ability to use it). It is naturally nonexcludable, which means that there are no natural barriers to multiple people using the same data at once. Although there are attempts to render data excludable through technological and sometimes legal means, these are not inherent features of data. Attempts to limit access, whether for purposes of commercialisation or security, can be regulated to be non-excludable. For example, data that are made open under an internationally recognised licence or public statistics can be regulated to be accessible like free to air public broadcasting, as a classical public good. Data also does not automatically generate value. Instead, there are different uses of data and different methods to measure the economic and social value of data and data flows (OECD, 2019). In the economic sense, it is what firms do that leads to value creation both internally within the firm and externally across the extended-data network. Theoretically, this value can be quantified by assigning monetary value taking in consideration several cost and income-generating variables, such as how organisations charge for user-generated data or reconciling data management costs such as collecting, maintaining and publishing data. Valuing data from a socio-economic benefits perspective – or non-market-based data value – arises when there are fundamental conditions or enablers that allow governments to deliver more effective public services, offer effective environmental stewardship, and when citizens live healthier and economically secure lives through leveraging data (World Bank, 2021). An example of public data value creation includes using data to inform resource allocation needs to enhance service delivery. These data characteristics have elsewhere been framed as the potential of data to provide the basis of a new social contract (World Bank, 2021). Arising policy directions from this approach emphasise the need for open data, interoperability standards and data-sharing initiatives to harness the potential of data for driving development; ensuring a better distribution of the benefits of data; fostering trust through safeguards that protect people from the harm of data misuse; to create and maintain an integrated national data system that allows the flow of data among a wide array of users in a way that facilitates safe use and reuse of data. Trust is central to a robust, flourishing data environment. Trust is often equated in the context of digital governance with technical security and confidence in the technical system required for e-commerce to operate. While technical security may be a necessary condition for trust, it is not sufficient. Instead, trust-building permeates the entire data ecosystem,