An Unknown Treasure – How Do Companies Determine The Value Of Their Data?

- The collection, analysis and exploitation of data are key drivers of the digital economy. But the importance of data for economic success is also increasing in industries that are not primarily associated with the digital economy. The basis of efficient data management is the evaluation of the data processed by the company. This study provides details of the data evaluation methods currently used by German companies. For an empirical analysis, a total of 1,235 firms from different sectors of manufacturing industry and industryrelated services were surveyed using the IW-Zukunftspanel 2018. The study asks whether, and for what purposes, companies of different sizes and with different degrees of internationalization and digital orientation determine the value of their data. It also examines the characteristics which lead a company to prefer one data evaluation method over the others. Thus, an overview of the status quo in German corporate data evaluation is built up. The empirical analysis shows that data evaluation is still a side issue for German business. Most companies neither analyse their data now nor intend to do so in the future. Of the companies in this sample, it is mainly those that offer digital products that evaluate their data. Companies are currently unable to capture the potential of the data they possess and hence are unable to exploit the economic potential of digitalization.