PDEC releases its first Startup Technology Report [download the pdf] today, researched by Markus Sabadello, funded by a grant from the Internet Society. The research explored which technologies are currently being used across the many efforts to build personal data services in the emerging personal data ecosystem. Markus collected the data through interviews and surveys with founders and technologists at dozens of startups, including many from PDEC’s own startup circle. He summarized and analyzed the data for the first ever snapshot of the tools deployed at the front line by people betting their companies and careers on interoperability. The research covers architecture, user identity and authentication protocols, data models and types of personal data used, access APIs, privacy and security methods, and interoperability scenarios.
This report lacks the excitement of a Jason Bourne adventure but it will be immediately useful for your own personal data project.
Our executive director, Kaliya Hamlin, founded the Personal Data Ecosystem Consortium to catalyze a thriving ecosystem where every day people have the power to gain insight and, if they choose, to get value from their personal data. In Kaliya’s preface to this report, she writes “the PDEC Startup Circle came together a year ago to connect startup entrepreneurs and technologists who share this vision. We successfully fostered shared understanding amongst this growing community, now at over 30 companies. A shared language is starting to emerge; this report is a key part of that process. We’re also learning through evidence, discovering the range of approaches that make the vision of a Personal Data Ecosystem a reality.”
Thanks to funding from Lucy Lynch at ISOC and the research of Markus Sabadello we are pleased to publish what we hope will be the first of many topical and collaborative reports on key aspects of this emerging industry.