Re: Linked Data Business Models?

On 8/1/12 6:19 AM, Christophe Guéret wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> That may or may not really fit into the discussion, but here is a 
> small write up about the commercial benefits of doing 5 star data 
> instead of 3:
> http://wp.me/p1ffiZ-7D
>
> It is not a new idea but some data owners I spoke with did not see it 
> that way, thinking that Linked Open Data implies giving away all the 
> data for free.
> This post relates what I explained to them, hope this makes sense. And 
> if it doesn't, I'd be pleased to discuss it :-)
>
> Cheers,
> Christophe
>
> -- 
> Christophe Guéret Ph.D. (c.d.m.gueret@vu.nl  <mailto:c.d.m.gueret@vu.nl>)
> http://www.few.vu.nl/~cgueret/  <http://www.few.vu.nl/%7Ecgueret/>
> http://semweb4u.wordpress.com/
> Postdoctoral researcher working on LATC (http://latc-project.eu)
> Knowledge Representation & Reasoning Group
> Computational Intelligence Group
> Department of Computer Science, AI
> VU University Amsterdam
>

You share great insights in your post re., fundamental misconceptions 
about publishing Linked Data, and the presumption that its must be free 
as in $0.00 versus free-flowing via incorporation of standards into the 
art of data representation and publication -- across public and/or 
private networks.

Let me extend the theme of your post a little, via a simple business 
model breakdown aimed at publishers of Linked Data. Specifically, 
outlining a simple business model for Linked Open Data publishers in 
general.

Business Model Basics:

1. identify pain
2. craft a solution
3. unitize solution
4. monetize units
5. market solution
6. sell solution -- usage terms enforcement has to be part of the solution.

I've always seen Linked (Open) Data as being the equivalent of DNS for 
data objects. Like many, I've also presumed that the InterWeb is a super 
information highway; thus, toll booths are a simple metaphor for the 
most basic business model.

Digital Toll Booths:

In the U.S. (and I presume other countries) you have two options at a 
tool booth, you pay cash on the spot or prepay via "easy passes" that 
enable you drive past toll booths without stoppage etc.

*Quick WebID Primer:*

A WebID is a cryptographically verifiable de-referencable (5-star Linked 
Data) URI that denotes an agent (human, organization, or machine). The 
WebID authentication protocol is what facilitates verification by 
looking up structured profile oriented data, analyzing relationships 
that have specific semantics combined with existing and widely deployed 
PKI infrastructure i.e., dominant Web user agents are already endowed 
with all the functionality required for functional Web-scale PKI, hence 
the existence eCommerce on the Web etc..

Once you establish a verifiable identification mechanism (that is itself 
an application of Linked Data) you can then use access control lists as 
the basis for sophisticated data consumption policies. The 
sophistication of these policies are only constrained by the boundaries 
of the imagination of the data publisher. For instance, you can have 
data access policies driven by social relationship semantics that 
enforces constraints such as:

1. access is only granted WebIDs that resolve to profile data bearing 
claims about knowing TimBL via foaf:knows predicate
2. ditto but extending this to any WebID that's <= 1 degree of 
separation from TimBL via foaf:knows predicate navigation
3. using certificate attributes (predicates in an X.509 graph) to 
determine data access.

Basically, the only constraint is our imagination since SPARQL ASK 
offers an extremely powerful mechanism for what's outlined above.

Beyond Data DNS, you also have Data GPS where access to data that aids 
reasoning (the GPS part) is constrained by ACLs, These ACLs enable 
consumers to navigate Linked Data graphs (data highways) with varying 
degrees of sophistication which ultimately affects productivity and 
agility.


*Conclusion*

Verifiable Identity is a critical component of any viable Web-scale 
Linked Open Data publishing endeavor. Coarse-grained Web 2.0 API keys 
don't cut it since they are silo vectors across two dimensions: identity 
verification and data access policy (authorization) granularity.

The great thing about WebID is that its all about URIs, Linked Data, and 
REST. Basically, its pure AWWW (Architecture of the World Wide Web) DNA.


Links:

1. 
http://blog.twitter.com/2012/07/our-approach-to-trust-safety-and.html-- 
complete post

2. http://bit.ly/PjOypK-- collection of posts about WebID and Web-scale 
verifiable digital identity

3. http://www.w3.org/wiki/WebID-- WebID Portal

4. https://plus.google.com/s/webid%20acls%20idehen -- collection of G+ 
hosted posts covering WebID ACLs

5. http://slidesha.re/PrsQRg -- circa. 2009 presentation titled: Solving 
Real Problem Using Linked Data.

-- 

Regards,

Kingsley Idehen 
Founder & CEO
OpenLink Software
Company Web: http://www.openlinksw.com
Personal Weblog: http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen
Twitter/Identi.ca handle: @kidehen
Google+ Profile: https://plus.google.com/112399767740508618350/about
LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/kidehen