Fairer rules for data economy are emerging - Grammy-award winning recording artist Imogen Heap to discuss positive transformation in the music industry at the MyData 2019 conference

The new data protection regulations and numerous recent personal data scandals are affecting the emergence of more transparent and fair data-driven services in many sectors. Internationally acclaimed artist Imogen Heap has created a premium identity standard and supporting database designed to help musicians retain ownership of their work. She is one of over 100 presenters at the MyData 2019 conference in Helsinki, Finland in September.

Imogen Heap started Mycelia, a not-for-profit research and development hub for musicians focused on practices and technologies supporting a fair, sustainable and vibrant music industry ecosystem. One of Mycelia’s projects is a B2B digital ID solution for music makers called The Creative Passport, helping to connect services and other collaborators to the music maker and their works. Non profit, though ultimately leading to new revenue streams as services innovate on new verified and organised data on behalf of the music maker for fans and new opportunities.

Gathering recognition and support amongst music makers and the industry at large on the Mycelia World Tour, the Creative Passport is launching in beta the first half of this year. Many seeing this as a key missing piece to help bring cohesion and filling the data gaps on musical works, the Creative Passport vies to become a premium digital identity standard for music makers to empower them to be part of the solution.

Underpinning it will be a decentralised registry which contains verified profile information, partnerships and payment mechanisms for new and existing data. Enabling better discoverability for the individual music maker as each Creative Passport is user centric, a beacon of information working 24/7 to fit this digital landscape. Music makers will finally have the ability to contribute data and link to their works directly from one trusted place saving immense amounts of time of cost for the industry at large.

A work in progress the Creative Passport team is spending the next few months on tour, both getting the first version of the product ready and soliciting feedback from music makers to ensure that it delivers on every level at their weekly workshops.

Lack of trust is an obstacle for growth in digital services

Today, the balance of power is weighted towards organisations, which have the power to collect and trade personal data, while individuals have little control over their own data. Whereas The Creative Passport is mainly focused on the music industry - although it has the potential to go beyond into other creative sectors - the MyData movement drives similar change in multiple industries. Both concepts are geared towards a future where the sharing of personal data is based on trust as well as an equitable relationship between individuals and organisations.

In Finland, The Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra’s IHAN® project is building the foundation for a fair and functioning data economy in Europe. IHAN® supports the creation of new innovative services like the MyCelia Creative Passport and is the main partner for the MyData 2019 conference and supporter of the MyData movement.

”Our extensive international survey revealed that people’s lack of trust towards digital services presents an obstacle to the growth of digital business. We claim that people need an alternative to the dominant platform-based business model. The alternative model is based on transparency, better control of personal data and new kind of personalized services. The new alternative shall lead to successful and trustworthy business relations between people and service providers,” explains Jaana Sinipuro, project director for IHAN®.

MyData 2019 conference rebuilds trust for a fairer data economy

MyData 2019 Conference is the flagship event of the MyData movement and will attract some 1000 people from around the world. It takes place on September 25-27 Helsinki, Finland and is an associated event of the Finnish EU presidency during the second half of 2019. MyData 2019 conference is a forum for businesses, start-ups, researchers, policymakers, activists and NGOs to meet and work together towards more equitable ways to use and share data. 

The MyData movement is steered by the award-winning international nonprofit MyData Global. It was founded in October 2018 and in six months, almost 600 individuals members and over 70 organisations, from over 40 countries on six continents have joined the association.