The Resource Dependency of Data: A Prospective on Data Sharing in Supply Chains

Abstract

In addition to traditional production factors, such as capital and labor, data can also be considered a similar resource. Furthermore, data cannot be created and handled without the involvement of other resources. In contemporary supply chain structures, companies rarely produce all the resources required by the final product internally. Instead, they partially rely on external inputs from other supply chain participants. This proportion is reflected by the added value captured by each supply chain participant. This study examines the extent of sharing of data by companies to their supply chain participants. The study explores how these data sharing percentages would look if data was shared in the same proportion as the value added is captured by the supply chain participants. While the theoretical figures on data sharing based on the assumption of similar proportions of data sharing and value added are high, in practice no correlation can be seen between the value added contribution and data sharing within the supply chain.

Acknowledgements: This report has been drafted as a part of the Industry and Data research project by The Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra and by Digital Disruption of the Industry (DDI) research projects funded by Academy of Finland. Sitra’s IHAN project builds the foundation for a fair, human-driven data economy. In the new model, data is shared through the individual’s or data source’s consent, leading to transparency and trust in the use of data, as well as perceived value among all network members from individuals to companies and society at large. Special thanks to Mika Pajarinen for his data prosessing work.

Keywords: Data sharing, Supply chain, Value Chain System of systems, Data as a Resource, Boundary resources, Value added

JEL Classification: M21, O30, P49