"Who Owns Data in the AI Era? VANA Advocates for a 'User-Driven Data Economy'"

# Vana Foundation Aims to Transform Data Ownership with a Decentralized Marketplace “We generate data about ourselves every day, yet that data doesn’t belong to us,” says Art Abal, co-founder of Vana Foundation, who is set on redefining data ownership dynamics. Through a decentralized data marketplace, Vana aims to empower individuals by giving them direct ownership of their data and enabling them to monetize it. In an interview with the Defiant, Abal detailed his journey towards addressing data ownership issues. His interest piqued while studying coffee farming communities in Colombia, where accessing crucial data for analyzing livelihood changes proved challenging. “I realized that Facebook posts from locals contained the necessary data — data owned by Facebook, not the individuals,” he explained. Later, as a data broker, Abal gained firsthand insight into the global data trade. “We express our identities through data every day, but its value ends up enriching platforms, not individuals,” he said. Vana was founded to address this fundamental imbalance. # Structure and Tokenization of the Vana Protocol At its core, Vana Protocol allows individuals to create "Data DAOs" organized around specific datasets. Participants contribute data, which is recorded as proof of contribution and rewarded via a token system. The cornerstone of this mechanism is the “Proof of Contribution” model, which automatically allocates a proportionate share of tokens to users providing actual data inputs. Central to the protocol is the VRC-20 token standard introduced by Vana. Similar to Ethereum’s ERC-20 standard, the VRC-20 standard distinguishes itself by backing tokens with tangible data assets. Token holders gain a stake in the governance of the associated dataset and potentially share in revenues generated through the sale of that data. Abal emphasized the growing importance of data quality in artificial intelligence (AI) development. “The performance gap among AI systems will increasingly be determined by the quality of the data they rely on,” he noted. “There will come a time when venture capitalists invest in data tokens instead of cash.” # Accelerated User Participation Following Mainnet Launch Since its mainnet launch in December 2023, Vana has seen rapid growth. To date, over 12 million individual data entries have been recorded on the protocol, covering datasets like Telegram activity and vehicle driving patterns. Currently, 22 operational Data DAOs oversee voluntary data collection and utilization across various sectors. To establish trust in data verification, Vana employs its own validator network. When users submit data, it is processed through Vana’s Trusted Execution Environment to verify contributions. Once verified, tokens are issued. This enables participants to earn rewards and actively engage in governance decisions related to the dataset. # Towards a Future Where Data Becomes an Asset Abal envisions a future dominated by AI, asserting that “most technologies will incorporate AI — and AI will depend on human-generated data.” He stressed the importance of enabling individuals to participate meaningfully in the AI economy. “Currently, people have little say in AI powered by their data. VRC-20 aims to change that by turning data into a new form of asset and labor.” Vana goes beyond simple token issuance by assigning time value to data and laying the groundwork for new financial markets and products built on data. This positions data as a verifiable asset and a genuine investment vehicle, heralding a transformative shift in its valuation. Concluding his interview, Abal stated, “Data is omnipresent and will increasingly become the heart of economic activity. Vana is poised to spearhead a human-centered data economy, ensuring individuals remain at the forefront of this transformation.”