Next Billion and Ocean Protocol pilot new data sharing model to directly benefit rural store owners

SINGAPORE, March 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Next Billion today announced its collaboration with Ocean Protocol, the first general platform for borderless data sharing that marries blockchain, data and AI, to pilot a new data sharing model that gives store owners in rural India an extra stream of income.

Next Billion creates insights to enable companies to expand in high-growth emerging markets. The Company provides free point-of-sale (POS) platforms to rural store owners to record real-time inventory and sales data. It is building a data marketplace and piloting a new data sharing model on Ocean Protocol.

Through the pilot, stores in rural India will capture real-time transactions through the POS platform and are incentivized to consistently use this platform to submit verified data. When companies buy their syndicated data, transactions can be traced back to the source via Ocean Protocol, enabling Next Billion to reward these rural store owners with royalties.

"We believe global companies' needs for commercial data can unlock sustainable and inclusive business models that empower local data providers to share fair value from their data," said Oliver Gilbert, Managing Director of Next Billion. "Ocean Protocol enables Next Billion to monetize data and share it with companies in a safe and secure manner."

Despite the lack of digitization in retail practice in rural Asia, sales are climbing. Driven by the rise of the middle class, the consumption of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) in rural areas is growing across Asia. From 2009 to 2012, spending by India's 800+ million rural residents reached $69 billion, some 25% more than their urban counterparts over the same period. According to recent estimates, consumption in rural areas is growing at 1.5 times the rate in urban areas. The current $12 billion consumer goods market in rural India is expected to reach $100 billion by 2025.^[1]

FMCG companies are eying this new opportunity and have revved up their distribution channels in rural areas. This has been reflected by a significant rise in demand for rural market research data. However, traditional market research firms lack rural reach, maintain outdated platforms premised on different environments, and their costs remain prohibitively expensive.

Ocean Protocol is a blockchain-based platform for safe sharing of data. It enables companies and data services to build on top. Its technology allows organizations to put a value on, own and control their data while addressing many frictions around data sharing today including privacy concerns, trust, and auditability. Ocean also allows algorithms and models to come to the data, get trained and then leave without exposing the data or taking a copy, thereby retaining privacy and freeing up data to advance the economy and society.

"A lot of data is generated today, yet they are locked up in silos because people are scared of losing control and not getting rewarded. Ocean helps to solve this by giving the tools for people to own and control their data and develop new data-driven business models," said Bruce Pon, founder of Ocean Protocol. "Data owners can program the conditions of access which are then executed precisely. In addition, data can be traced back to its source, enabling incentives to be spread across all stakeholders in the data sharing process."

"Being incentivised along with transparency on how data is being used increases the willingness for people to share data," Gilbert added. "We hope to provide high quality and agile retail insights at a fraction of what the traditional market research firms would charge while targeting an increase in sustainable livelihoods by 30-50%."

About Next Billion

Next Billion creates data platforms & insights enabling companies to expand in emerging markets. Next Billion's consumer and retail platforms build new opportunities for data creators (mom & pop shops, part-time workers, etc) to collect & share fair value from their data. This delivers flexible, cost-competitive insights at the last mile for companies while increasing sustainable livelihoods for local stakeholders.

Next Billion was founded in 2013 and operates insight programs with commercial partners in 10+ countries across APAC & Africa.

Visit www.nextbillion.asia to find out more.

About Ocean Protocol

Ocean Protocol is a decentralized data exchange protocol to unlock data for AI. Through blockchain technology and token, Ocean Protocol connects data providers and consumers, allowing data to be shared while guaranteeing traceability, transparency, and trust for all stakeholders involved. It allows data owners to give value to and have control over their data assets without being locked-in to any single marketplace. By bringing together decentralized blockchain technology, a data sharing framework, and an ecosystem for data and related services, Ocean Protocol is committed to kick-starting a new Data Economy that touches every single person, company and device, giving power back to data owners, enabling people to reap value from data to better our world.

Visit oceanprotocol.com to find out more.