A SEED model for constructing the data factor market: Evidence from Guiyang Global Big Data Exchange (GBDEx) in China

In the era of digital economy, the data has increasingly become one important production factor. Taking Guiyang Global Big Data Exchange (GBDEx) as an empirical case, this paper first proposes a SEED model for constructing the data factor market which mainly consists of four components: S for System rules designing which refers to the design of rules, standards, policies and laws on data transaction process; E for Exchange platform building which should be credible, controllable, reliable and traceable; E for Ecosystem nurturing that refer to diverse data suppliers, customers for data demand, data intermediaries, data regulators, and other data trading alliances should be nurtured; and D for Data convergence and co-governance refers to the convergence and co-governance of various types of data trading subjects. The SEED can also be interpreted as a process of constructing the data factor market, with the data exchange as the core, igniting the vitality of the whole data factor market like a seed. We believe this paper can make contributions to the digital economy literature: first, it contributes to extant literature on data marketplaces and data ecosystem; second, it provides practical suggestions for constructing the data factor market; third, relevant policy makers and higher-level managers will likely achieve much enlightenment from this paper.