Data as an asset – what does this mean to you?

Social media frequently depict data as the new oil. Whilst Industry 4.0 is data centric, in the sense that it promotes a data driven “piloting of the vessel”, quotes like the above should be interrogated or at least taken with a pinch of salt. There is no doubt that data constitutes an asset but the fundamental value of this asset, to invoke a stock market jargon, remains not well understood.  Biopharma has adopted the mentality that it sits on a pile of cash and has ostensibly embarked on a journey to capitalize on its data.  However, although the market provides an excellent mechanism to evaluating an asset, the strategy of most corporations is paradoxical in that it does not aim to quantify demand but rather to tailor it to its traditional views. This talk will attempt to explore the data market by uncovering not only conventional ways to capitalize on data but also tapping onto drastically unconventional proposals that throw biopharma out of its comfort zone. The results of this exercise corroborate the suspicion that realizing the fundamental value of data as an asset requires revising the traditional ways of working.