Big data and global trade law

"7.60bData has been conceptualized as the 'new oil' and although this is a flawed statement, it catches well the high value attached to data as a driver of economic growth and innovation, and as a force of change in all facets of societal life. The implications of data and data analytics are multiple and some of them can be far-reaching. At a micro-level, for instance, the value of data changes the traditional relationship between consumers and producers. While in the past, companies sold products to their customers in return for money and some negligible data, 'today, transactions and indeed every interaction with a consumer produce valuable information. Sometimes the data itself is so valuable that companies such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, and many others are willing to offer free services in order to obtain it'. Data has also become essential in terms of competition and market power. Some firms, like Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft or Baidu, have had a sizeable first-mover advantage in the field and become 'analytics leaders', while at the same time establishing themselves as some of the most valuable companies in the world, as they benefit from double-sided markets. The capacity to handle data has increasingly turned into a competitive advantage not only for companies but also for countries and plays out as a power move in the global political economy. For instance, China unveiled in 2016 that it is in possession of the world's fastest supercomputer, which was 40 times more powerful than the fastest computer of 2010, only to be overcome by the United States in the following years by two IBM-built supercomputers. The ongoing battle between China and the US with regard to 5G dominance is equally revealing. Overall, companies as well as governments are increasingly encouraged to use the potential of data and to mobilize their resources aptly, so as to make the data-driven economy real f7.60"--