Data forms a key pillar in 21^stcentury sources of growth. The confluence of several trends, including the increasing migration of socioeconomic activities to the Internet and the decline in the cost of data collection, storage and processing, are leading to the generation and use of huge volumes of data – commonly referred to as “big data”. These large data sets are becoming a core asset in the economy, fostering new industries, processes and products and creating significant competitive advantages.

For instance:

Open Government Data: Towards Empirical Analysis of Open Government Data Initiatives
27 May 2013

This paper highlights the main principles, concepts and criteria framing open government data initiatives and the issues challenging their implementation. It underlines the opportunities that OGD and data analytics may offer policy makers, while providing a note of caution on the challenges this agenda poses for the public sector.

Exploring Data-Driven Innovation as a New Source of Growth: Mapping the Policy Issues Raised by "Big Data"
19 April 2013
This report explores the potential role of data and data analytics for the creation of significant competitive advantage and for the formation of knowledge-based capital (KBC). Five sectors are discussed in this report as areas in which the use of data can stimulate innovation and productivity growth. They include online advertisement, health care, utilities, logistics and transport, and public administration. The report then maps the areas where coherent public policies and practices are needed to unlock the potential of big data for promoting growth and well-being.
 

Exploring the Economics of Personal Data: A Survey of Methodologies for Measuring Monetary Value
2 April 2013
This report takes an initial look at methodologies to measure and estimate the monetary value of personal data. Personal data is creating economic and social value at an increasing pace, but measuring and estimating the value being generated is difficult. This is because not only a huge amount of data is being generated, but personal data is used in many different situations for numerous purposes. Studying the value of personal data begins with comparing methodologies for assigning the monetary values attached to it.

Conference on “Growth, Innovation and Competitiveness: Maximising the Benefits of Knowledge-Based Capital”
13-14 February 2013, Paris
In the context of the New Sources of Growth (NSG) project, this high-level policy-oriented conference presented, reviewed and built on the findings of the OECD’s two-year programme of work examining the role of knowledge-based capital in growth. It included a panel discussion on “Big Data: an Emerging Frontier for Innovation and Policy?”. The conference was opened by OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría, who presented the project’s main findings.

Right: OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría delivering opening remarks at the event

Building Blocks for Smart Networks
17 January 2013
This report examines the development of smart networks and services with particular attention to the implications for communication policy and regulation. The word "smart" has become a term that is frequently affixed to an area where the introduction of networked information and communication technologies (ICTs) is expected to have significant implications for economic and social development. Collection of data will be enabled by the expansion of Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications. Large scale processing will be delivered by "cloud computing" services. Analysis of these data will be undertaken around a process frequently called "big data". Together these phenomena  form the "building blocks of smart networks".
 

2012 OECD Foresight Forum on “Harnessing Data as a New Source of Growth: Big Data Analytics and Policies”
22 October 2012, Paris
First launched in 2005, Technology Foresight Forums are an annual event organised by the OECD Committee for Information, Computer, and Communications Policy (ICCP) to help identify opportunities and challenges for the Internet Economy posed by technical developments. The 2012 Technology Foresight Forum focused on the potential of big data analytics as a new source of growth to help generate significant economic and social benefits. It put big data analytics in the context of emerging trends discussed at the previous three Foresight Forums, namely mobile communications (2011), smart ICTs (2010), and cloud computing (2009), to highlight the confluence of trends leading towards a data-driven economy.