Show me the Money: How to monetize data in data-driven business models?

Increasing digitization and the associated tremendous usage of technology have led to data of unprecedented quantity, variety, and speed, which is generated, processed, and required in almost all areas of industry and life. The value creation and capturing from data presents companies with numerous challenges, as they must create or adapt appropriate structures and processes. As a link between corporate strategy and business processes, business models are a suitable instrument for meeting these challenges. However, few research has been conducted focusing on data-based monetization in the context of data-driven business models so far. Based on a systematic literature review the paper identifies five key components and 23 characteristics of data-driven business models having crucial influence on data-based value creation and value capturing and thus on monetization. The components represent key factors for achieving commercial benefits from data and serve as guidance for exploring and designing suitable data-driven business models

Four Shades of Customer: How Value Flows in Fintech Ecosystems

The financial sector is undergoing a massive transformation, with new technology-driven players challenging established mechanisms and transforming the sector into a fast-moving market. With the gradual transition from a scale economy to a platform-driven network economy, enterprise networks are gaining strategic importance. Despite the growing interest in fintech’s, research has so far lacked a conceptualization of value creation in fintech ecosystems. Therefore, this research paper aims to analyze key players, value creation activities, and value streams based on the analysis of the business models of payment services, personal financial management, robo-advisory, peer-to-peer lending, trading, and cryptocurrency. We present a holistic value network for the fintech ecosystem based on structured literature review and analysis of 171 fintech companies. We were able to show that fintech platform orchestrates multiple market sides and that customers take four distinct roles at the center of the ecosystem when using fintech services

UNBOXING THE ROLE OF E-COMMERCE ECOSYSTEMS TO ADDRESS GRAND CHALLENGES

The modern world is confronted with grand challenges, such as those codified by the United Nations Agenda 2030, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While single organizations are often not capable to address a broad set of goals on their own, we can observe an increasing creation of e-commerce ecosystems. Although owners of focal platforms in e-commerce ecosystems wield the power to foster and implement sustainability, there is a demand for identifying and organizing corresponding initiatives and actionable guidance. This paper analyzes how e-commerce ecosystem participants implement sustainability through a multiple-case study featuring a set of 112 initiatives from sustainability reports. Our results show that (1) sustainability initiatives lay a particular emphasis on the reduction in inequality and management of climate change as well as (2) manufacturers, sellers, and service providers are the most involved ecosystem participants. Based on that, we (3) synthesized six categories of sustainability initiatives as measurements

UNDERSTANDING VALUE CREATION IN DIGITAL COMPANIES – A TAXONOMY OF IOT ENABLED BUSINESS MODELS

The spread of the Internet of Things offers companies the potential to exert a disruptive influence on existing market structures and entire domains. The shift from product to service orientation and the integration of the customer as a value co-creator makes the identification and development of value-adding, IoT-based offerings a central challenge. As a link between strategy and business processes, business models are a suitable tool to meet this challenge. However, present business models lack of consideration of IoT specific characteristics. Against this background we provide a taxonomy for the description of IoT-based business models based on systematic literature research. Furthermore, the taxonomy is applied to 103 business models, demonstrating its usefulness. We also provide insights into the design of business models within two domains. The taxonomy provides a tool for investigating busi-ness models, especially how IoT can be incorporated into them and also a conceptual basis for future research

Comments of 71 Concerned Economists: Using Procurement Auctions to Allocate Broadband Stimulus Grants

The signatories to this document are economists who have studied telecommunications, auctions, and competition policy. While we may disagree about the stimulus package, we believe that it is important to implement mechanisms that make stimulus spending as efficient as possible. To that end, we have come together to encourage the National Telecommunications Information Agency (NTIA) and Rural Utilities Service (RUS) to adopt auction mechanisms to allocate broadband stimulus grants.The broadband stimulus NOI asks which mechanisms NTIA and RUS should use to distribute grants and how those mechanisms address shortcomings in traditional grant and loan programs. In this note we explain why procurement auctions are more efficient and more consistent with the stimulus goals of allocating funds quickly than a traditional grant review process. We recommend that NTIA/RUS use procurement auctions to distribute at least part of the stimulus funds.The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) requires NTIA/RUS to distribute $7.2 billion in broadband subsidies. The broadband component of the Act has dual, and not entirely consistent, objectives of providing immediate economic stimulus and improving broadband service. NTIA/RUS faces a formidable challenge in determining how to spend the money quickly and efficiently in ways that meet these goals. The traditional grant application process is long, complicated, and involves subjective and arbitrary decisions regarding which projects to fund. In other words, requesting and reviewing grant applications is not an effective way to implement the plan.Procurement auctions, in contrast, provide a mechanism that can allocate grant money quickly, efficiently, and according to well-defined rules. As a result, procurement auctions offer NTIA/RUS the most promising method of maximizing broadband improvement while also creating some level of “temporary, timely, and targeted” stimulus. We therefore strongly recommend that NTIA/RUS adopt procurement auctions as its preferred method of distributing grants.This memo has three parts. First, it explains why the traditional grant application process is unsuitable for this task and why procurement auctions are better suited. Second, it sketches out a procurement auction plan. This plan is intended to be a starting point from which auction design experts would proceed to build and implement a fully functional auction. Finally, we explain that even if policymakers are skeptical of procurement auctions, one could be implemented quickly as part of an initial tranche of stimulus funding in order to test its efficacy relative to traditional approaches. This approach would allow NTIA/RUS to quickly expand upon or modify the procurement auction program in subsequent funding rounds