Quadrant is a network protocol that aims to bring Big Data and Blockchain together to solve the problems of Data Economy. Here is an article, giving a preview of what the issues in Data Economy are, and how Quadrant aims to address them.
What is Big Data and its Manifesto?
Big Data as the name suggests, a huge amount of data, that is complex, could be structured, semi-structured or unstructured, and is generated at a great velocity.
The Four Vs can essentially describe the Big Data manifesto –
Volume – Big Data could be of unknown volume or something that runs into terabytes, or sometimes even petabytes.
Velocity – Data is usually generated at a high speed, which may also be needed to be processed at a high velocity, sometimes, as fast as real-time or near real-time.
Variety – Traditional data was always structured, and easy to process. However, Big Data includes semi-structured and unstructured data, which would need pre-processing before it can be used.
Veracity – This refers to the authenticity or the truthfulness of the data.
What is the Data Economy?
To become valuable, data must be shared across market verticals and organizations, such that it can be used to solve tactical and strategic business problems, to have more efficient operations, to offer better products and services, innovation and good customer experience. The whole ecosystem, where there are producers, vendors and consumers of valuable data, becomes Data Economy.
What are the Problems in Data Economy?
While having data can change the way an organization or vertical market functions, it is not always simple to obtain, store and process the data. Some of the problems in Data Economy are –
Large volumes of data – Not all organizations have the means or the infrastructure to collect, store and process large amounts of data. It is a challenge for small organizations to collect and store their data, owing to the infrastructure costs they would need to bear to process large volumes.
The authenticity of the data – Data is mostly used by organizations to feed into algorithms that produce outputs to solve business problems. While purchasing data, consumers want to be sure that the data is compliant with laws and regulations and is authentic, so that the algorithms they are fed into produce the right output.
Fair Remuneration – The producers of the data do not get fair compensation for the data they produce because, once the data moves downstream, they do not have any control over it.
Solving the problems in Data Economy using Blockchain.
Quadrant Protocol uses blockchain technology as its underlying foundation to solve the problems of Data Economy. It is a blockchain based network protocol that makes it possible for sources to create data of various varieties, vendors to create and distribute data products and consumers to use data while solving the problems of Data Economy.
This is ensured by these features of Quadrant -
The data is authentic.
There is a fair distribution of remuneration.
Aggregating data of great variety and combining them in a manner that creates value.
Providing data in a decentralized manner.
Quadrant Protocol CEO, Mike Davie with Chris Dawe - CEO of Effect.ai during #RISEconf in Hong Kong.
Stakeholders and Terminology
At the core of the Quadrant, there are various stakeholders –
Nurseries – They are the first level producers of data. The data by itself may or may not be valuable and may derive value when it is combined with other data or transformed into another format.
Stars – Raw data produced by Nurseries, present on the Quadrant network.
Constellations – Group of Stars on the network is called as Constellation. Constellations can be grouped to create Mega Constellations. When Stars are aggregated, combined with other Stars and transformed, a Constellation is created. A Constellation could contain Stars of more than one variety, thereby, bringing together disparate data together to create something of value.
Pioneers – Vendors who aggregate, combine, transform and sell data that becomes valuable in its processed form on the Quadrant network. They are the entities who create Constellations.
Elons – Entities that use Constellations to create products and services that solve business problems.
Guardians – In the blockchain technology, data authenticity is protected by stamping the data blocks with a timestamp and a cryptographic hash, such that any tampering can be detected. In Quadrant terminology, Guardians are master blocks of data which protect the Constellations from being tampered with and provide stamping, authentication, and data verification services.
How does it ensure fair remuneration to the producers of data?
To use data on the Quadrant, Elons would always have to use the Constellations, instead of accessing the Stars directly. When one Constellation is purchased for use, subsequently, all the other Constellations in the same tree are also activated, thereby, making sure that Nurseries get payments from all the Pioneers who are using these Constellations.
Where Can Quadrant be Used?
Quadrant can be used in banking, location-based services, e-commerce and any other application which requires a high amount of authentic data.
Read more about Quadrant in their Whitepaper and on their Website.
To talk to the Team, and to get your questions answered, head to their Telegram and Bitcointalk.
Please note that this is not financial advice or a recommendation to invest in this or any other ICO. Investors must perform their own due diligence and not rely on external ratings to make their final investment decisions. ICOs are risky and 100% loss of capital is possible.