Today, Project Liberty Institute released “Towards a Fair Data Economy: A Blueprint for Innovation and Growth” – a comprehensive roadmap for transforming our digital economy. Developed by an international task force of distinguished leaders, the report outlines concrete steps to build a more equitable digital future that puts people first while driving innovation and economic growth.
“The digital revolution promised opportunity for all. Instead, we’ve witnessed the unprecedented concentration of our data and power in the hands of a few. At Project Liberty, we believe it’s time to start building the digital future we all deserve,” said Frank McCourt, Founder of Project Liberty. “This report is a call to action. Our Task Force identifies concrete steps for building a better internet and ecosystem where digital infrastructure empowers rather than exploits.”
“This report captures the momentum around the fair data economy and provides a blueprint for decisive action” noted Tomicah Tillemann, President of Project Liberty and CEO of Project Liberty Institute. “Far from suggesting incremental tweaks, we are reimagining the foundations of the digital economy to give individuals true voice, choice, and stake.”
Four Pillars for Transformation
The Project Liberty Fair Data Economy Task Force Members identified four key pillars for transformation:
- Entrepreneurship and New Business Models: Creating a new center of gravity for entrepreneurial innovation by rethinking value distribution while fostering business models that blend economic growth with data agency.
- Next-Generation Digital Infrastructure: Building the foundational digital infrastructure stack—spanning digital ID systems, data architectures, and protocols—to enable widespread adoption and drive mainstream impact.
- Policy Innovation and Frameworks: Creating enabling regulatory environments and forward-thinking policies that safeguard data ownership while stimulating innovation and competition in a high-performing economy.
- Strategic Capital Allocation: Mobilizing smart capital across private markets to scale high-potential fair data economy ventures and enabling technologies through innovative financing mechanisms.
“This report is a pivotal moment for Project Liberty Institute. The Task Force’s recommendations provide us with a clear strategic direction and concrete actions to drive systemic change in the digital economy,” said Dr. Jeb Bell, Head of Insights at Project Liberty Institute. The report presents a bold vision for a digital economy where users have true control over their digital lives, interoperable platforms foster healthy competition, and business models prioritize fair value distribution.
Under the leadership of Paul Fehlinger, Director of Policy, Governance Innovation & Impact at Project Liberty Institute, the Task Force worked intensively over three months to develop a comprehensive framework for transformation. “By bringing together entrepreneurship, infrastructure, policy, and capital, we’ve created an actionable blueprint for fostering a new generation of responsible innovation,” said Fehlinger. “These four pillars working together can create the virtuous cycle needed to realize the multi-trillion dollar opportunity of a fair data economy.”
Task Force Members
The Project Liberty Fair Data Economy Task Force brought together 18 distinguished leaders from over 10 countries, spanning policy, technology, business, investment, academia, and civil society:
- Daron Acemoglu, Institute Professor at MIT and 2024 Nobel Economics Prize Recipient
- Jean-Bertrand Azapmo, Principal Advisor to the African Union Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, Tourism, Industry and Minerals
- Linda Bonyo, Founder, Lawyers Hub
- Erik Brynjolfsson, Director, Stanford Digital Economy Lab; Jerry Yang and Akiko Yamazaki Professor and Senior Fellow, Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI
- Cristina Caffarra, Co-Founder, CEPR Competition Research Policy Network; Honorary Professor, University College London
- Adriana Groh, Co-Founder, Sovereign Tech Fund
- Sergei Guriev, Dean and Professor, London Business School
- Laura Halenius, Director, Data and Competitiveness Project, Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra
- Miapetra Kumpula-Natri, Member, Parliament of Finland
- Ivan de Lastours, Blockchain Lead, Bpifrance
- Jens Molbak, CEO and Founder, NewImpact
- Sujith Nair, CEO and Co-founder, Foundation for Interoperability in Digital Economy (FIDE)
- Alex ‘Sandy’ Pentland, HAI Fellow and Digital Platforms and Society Research Lead, Stanford Digital Economy Lab; Professor Post Tenure, MIT
- Lyel Resner, Head, Public Interest Technology Studio at Cornell Tech
- Paul Samson, President, Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Joachim Schwerin, Principal Economist, Digital Transformation of Industry Unit, DG GROW, European Commission
- Govind Shivkumar, Director, Responsible Technology, Omidyar Network
- Mark Surman, President, Mozilla Foundation
Recommendations and Next Steps
The report outlines 17 high-priority actions across these pillars to be implemented over the next 12-24 months. These recommendations will shape Project Liberty Institute’s roadmap and inform its collaborations with partners worldwide.
The report launches at the Project Liberty Summit on the Future of the Internet in Washington D.C. (November 21-22, 2024), where global leaders gather to transform this vision into action. The Summit will establish clear priorities for progress and ensure sustained momentum in implementing the Task Force’s recommendations.