"Data Act" of the EU: Revolution in the data market

"The new law with the simple name should enable nothing less than to raise the treasure trove of industrial data. It could make Europe a pioneer in digitization at least once.

Of all the EU Commission's digital laws, few have attracted less attention than the Data Act. The fight for data protection, against hate speech or against the dominance of the Internet giants just seems more exciting.

The law with the simple name that has now been agreed by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers could trigger nothing less than a revolution on the data market. For once, the EU is not only reacting to the negative consequences of digitization, which is dominated by Silicon Valley. EU goes on the offensive.

It's about the largely idle market for industrial data. Behind this lies an enormous treasure that is growing exponentially with the increasing digital networking of cars, airplanes, heating systems or industrial plants (keyword "Industry 4.0"). A wealth of data that can be used to develop new business models and services if innovative companies are given access.

A lot of data is idle

That's what's been wrong so far.

According to estimates by the Commission, eighty percent of industrial data lies unused on the manufacturers' servers. Last but not least, they hoard this data to protect themselves from new competition.

There can be no talk of a "so far well-functioning freedom of contract in data exchange between companies", as the industry says. And if the manufacturers themselves develop new business models with the data, then often only together with the US internet giants.

This is possible because they can dispose of the data as if they were their own property.

There is no reason why the data generated by users after purchasing a car, an airplane or an industrial plant should belong to the manufacturer.

The data law therefore gives the right answer: it obliges manufacturers to release data at the request of the user or to share it with third parties. At the same time, they retain the right to use the data themselves. This creates a whole new market for industrial data, a new competition for the best ideas for using the wealth of industrial data. In this way, the EU could actually change from a digital laggard to a pioneer.”