In the volume “Privacy and the free digital market” edited by Luca Bolognini, the contribution by Carlo Rossi Chauvenet and Silvia Martinelli on the birth of Data Valley, the ideas that animate it and the next steps.

The use of data and algorithms in the industrial environment and in the offer of products and services has led to a paradigm shift which has invested both the forms of production and exchange, and the product itself. The smart, personalized and connected product has created an ecosystem around the physical product of operators involved and services offered to the end customer.

In this way, in these years and in this historic moment, the Data-based business models, all based on new forms of use of the information collected in them. At the same time, interest in having access to additional databases necessarily increases, in order to generate new correlations and new services to be offered to end users, consumers or businesses or even public bodies.

Data sharing and its reuse in an innovative way for the creation of new smart products and services They meet, however, some obstacles. First, the use of data, where personal or even if later anonymized, up to its anonymization, requires, as known and necessary, thethe application of all the principles, precautions and procedures provided by our legal system for the processing of personal data. Second, the sharing of data between different entities, private or public, requires agreements, partnerships or the construction of new legal structures for the management of data governance and for the regulation of all potential problems that may arise from sharing same. In particular, agreements must be made regarding the possibilities and methods of making future decisions, the division of risks and the predetermination of liabilities, as well as the protection of the investment made.

Furthermore, a precondition for sharing itself is the encounter that generates it, making it essential to identify the desired partner, namely: (i) companies that own or are able to acquire the requested datasets; (ii) companies that manage the interface or the product or the sensor that communicates with the user or the environment that you want to reach.

Thirdly, but again, a fundamental precondition is technical interoperability between software. The latter is, in fact, essential for real-time communication between systems, for data quality, as well as for reaching the end customer himself, accessing the desired interface or product.

To give an example dear to the Veneto region, if a company that produces tractors wanted transform your product into 'smart', will not be able to limit himself to studying how to integrate components (wheels, gearbox, paints, headlights) coming from various Italian and foreign automotive companies, nor can he organize production with “lean” systems to reduce downtime, but you must select third-party services in order to ensure their best integration into the product and its full compatibility with the most used platforms. Only in this way can it, in fact, ensure that it offers added value to the user.

Continuing our example, the product that is placed on the market must integrate with artificial intelligence and natural language systems such as Amazon's Alexa or Apple's Siri, or alternatively communicate in writing with the user through messaging systems, designed for dialogue between individuals and now also developed for dialogue between machines, such as those made available by companies such as Whatsapp or Telegram. The integration of the product with these services could prevent the user from learning to use a new interface and to communicate with the tractor's internal systems, from the accelerator to the most advanced soil treatment functions.

The integration with geolocation services (perhaps offered by Google) could instead make it possible to calculate precisely the perimeter of the tractor's area of use (perhaps thanks to the operator's smartphone), while the data could flow into the existing IBM business management system. The data is not entered, but directly acquired and saved by the same application on the Amazon Web Services server, with which the company has an account. The duration of the tractor's intervention in the field will be determined according to current weather conditions, detected through Siemens sensors, as well as on the basis of weather forecasts offered by weather.com, a subsidiary of IBM, with which the company has entered into an agreement and provides for payments made and monitored through PayPal.

If the tractor manufacturer actually intends to integrate, as we have seen above, various services into its product, it must take care to select them not only according to the characteristics, but also to ensure that they integrate perfectly with each other and with the controls of the vehicle.

These applications are called “third parties” in jargon, that is, public or private systems that they perform additional services than the one for which the product was originally designed, using the data acquired from the product itself. “Third-party” services have grown over time, losing their accessory and possible character (the map inserted into a site offered by Google Maps) until they become essential part of the service, fully integrated into it (for example the geolocation service of a device that allows you to modulate the offer of the main service). The third-party service is actually in some cases a substitute for the interface between the main company and its customers.

The example shows the paradigm shift implemented by the 'smart product' in relation to the production and supply of goods and services. The traditional production chain undergoes profound transformations. It's not just about the integration of the physical component and the software component, but about new ways of creating products and services and new ways of reaching end customers.

We said that the key to the smart product is integration: not only between the sensors and the hardware and software core of the product, but between the product and third-party services.

Sharing and integration therefore become essential strategic elements, enabling new ways to use resources and, in particular, information, and extract value from them. The new business models and success stories all have these characteristics.

Normally This activity is curated by software integration company who, based on the needs of their customer, choose the simplest (and, possibly, cheapest) applications to guarantee these functionalities. The choice is typically made based on the specifications of the product (enabling elements) and, where present, the conditions of the service at the time of integration. Integration is not, however, only technological, but also involves the conclusion of contracts between the parties involved, which are often placed in the background or overlooked.

The legal conditions relating to the use of the technology, the possibilities of unilateral modification, the guarantees offered, the distribution of responsibilities are, on the other hand, all relevant elements that can have a decisive impact on the choice of the technological partner and should be the subject of specific negotiation. Technical integration must, therefore, be accompanied by the “legal integration” of technological solutions.

“Data Valley” — www.datavalley.it — It is a project that was created to respond to this need for sharing and integration, also carefully evaluating the contractual and compliance elements, both between the SMEs themselves and between them and subjects that are normally less accessible to them: large technological multinationals.

Intercepting these needs, a law firm dedicated to digital innovation (CRCLEX) and a communication company (Blum Communication), starting from May 2019 they created an “on the field” project aimed at transforming Big Tech from mere technology suppliers to strategic partners, not only from a technical point of view, but also from a commercial point of view, allowing the international scalability of products and services designed by SMEs at the local level.

The first step in this ambitious rapprochement project was the organization of 7 meetings with the participation of leading representatives of the major global players in the technological field, including IBM, Microsoft, Infocert, PayPal, Alibaba and Amazon.

The volume “Privacy and the free digital market: convergence between regulations and individual protections in the economy Data-driven”, edited by Luca Bolognini and published by Giuffrè, can be purchased at this links.

‍