Towards Decentralized Data Marketplaces

Data is the oil of the 21st century. In the past years the awareness about the benefits of data and its usage has increased. A growing number of sectors recognize the benefits of data and are collecting data. Data is also the fuel for Artificial Intelligence. Although today more data is generated and collected than ever before, there is a gap in its usage and acquisition. On one hand there are data collectors who collect data from data producers such as sensors, machines, users and so on. And on the other hand, there is a vast variety of data consumers such as researchers, educational institutions, artificial intelligence models, start-ups etc. who need data. In many cases for better decision making, improving efficiency and consumer experience even data collectors require other data which outside the internal boundaries. This had led many firms to look outside their boundaries and use commercialization mechanisms such as data brokers. To tackle the increasing demand of data, a common data sharing platform is required. A data marketplace would serve as a platform where the data producers can sell data and the others can consume it. Data marketplaces have multiple centralized and decentralized approaches. In order to establish direct data exchange between data producers and data consumers this thesis explores how a decentralized data marketplace can be designed. Furthermore, a real-world example where a data marketplace can be established, and a system architecture and proof of concept prototype is showed