Towards a Data Economy: An enabling framework

The report outlines a functional and governance architecture for data exchanges to unlock the economic potential of data, particularly in India. It proposes a five-layer technical model and a 'Protect-Prevent-Promote' governance approach to balance innovation with privacy and security. The document highlights specific opportunities in the agriculture, urban, and logistics sectors, while suggesting various monetary and non-monetary incentives to encourage data sharing.

• Integrated data use in India's major sectors is estimated to have a value of approximately $500 billion, representing about 10% of the country's goal to reach a $5 trillion economy by 2025.
• The report proposes a five-layer functional architecture for a data-exchange ecosystem consisting of the data, consent, data provisioning, exchange, and consumption layers.
• A '3P' governance approach is recommended for the Indian data economy, focusing on Protecting personal data and rights, Preventing anti-competitive practices and misuse, and Promoting innovation and standards.
• In the Indian agriculture sector, unlocking 15 critical datasets—including soil health, satellite imagery, and weather data—could realize an opportunity valued at $65 billion.
• The document identifies several barriers to a data economy, including the unavailability of data (often siloed in the private sector), low data quality, lack of interoperability, and regulatory uncertainty regarding privacy.
• To incentivize data sharing, the report suggests monetary methods (direct selling) and non-monetary methods such as reciprocity, opportunities for innovation via hackathons, and the introduction of 'data credits' similar to carbon credits for ESG compliance.
• The report highlights the Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP) as a government-led initiative in India to act as a gateway for data exchange between public and private entities to improve supply chain efficiency.
• The framework emphasizes 'privacy-by-design' and the separation of personal and non-personal data at the schema level to ensure compliance with protection regulations.
• The report recommends a calibrated implementation strategy for data exchanges based on the principle: Think big, Start small, Scale fast.

APA

World Economic Forum (2021). Towards a Data Economy: An enabling framework. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Towards_a_Data_Economy_2021.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Towards a Data Economy: An enabling framework. 2021. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Towards_a_Data_Economy_2021.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Towards a Data Economy: An enabling framework |date=August 2021 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Towards_a_Data_Economy_2021.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2021towards, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Towards a Data Economy: An enabling framework}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2021}, month = aug, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Towards_a_Data_Economy_2021.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }