HATDeX Economic and Revenue Model

HATDeX is tasked to manage and grow the HAT ecosystem. We are very clear that we must align our economic incentives with that of HAT users so that the more they benefit, the more we do. Since individuals benefit in ways that are also non financial (eg sharing things), we must also ensure that free sharing of data is always possible. However, someone has to pay for all the services and infrastructure. So we have to devise revenue models so that some money can come into the system to pay for everything else and everyone benefits from it. We derive revenues in 5 ways:

MarketSquare™ Data and Content exchange

The way we WANT to make money is for HATDeX HAT users to get benefit for their data and their original content. Whether it’s to trade their data for vouchers, or just trade it for cash or services; whether it’s to sell their original art, photography or music, we built Marketsquare™ to enable peer to peer sharing, exchanges and purchase. And when HAT users get the benefit, HATDeX takes a very small cut. In a way, HATDeX is the data and content agent for our HAT users. So the more benefit you get from your data and content, the more money we will make. But because the ecosystem could be very big, we will only need to make pennies for each transaction, and everyone benefits from a large community network. The amount we make is also shared back with HAT users through the HAT digital currency – crowns. This alignment of this scalable revenue model between HATDeX and the benefits to HAT users is important to us all.

HAT users can share their data without going through MarketSquare™, for example through other HAT applications certified by the HAT community foundation. HATDeX won’t derive any revenues from those exchanges but we’re OK with that, because there will be more reasons for people to get HATs – it will make the HAT ecosystem bigger and that will be better economically for everyone.

Hosting end user HATs

We derive revenues from hosting and provisioning HATs. However, almost all these revenues go towards paying our cloud service provider, currently AWS, and towards technical support, to make sure HATs are backed up and functioning properly. This is actually money we really don’t want to make, because we know that if we charge, the ecosystem growth is slowed and we will have people more reluctant to get their own HAT since we are all so used to freemium services. So we are thinking of how we can make HATs free, and inviting other organisations to provide HATs as well. We could also invite companies who want to consistently have your data, and ask them to pay for you in exchange for some of your data, so you can get a free HAT for all the other things you want to do with it. And if you are willing to share that bit of data for a free HAT, it’s a win win. So we are looking for these companies. Many are considering it. Banks, insurance companies, stores, they all store your data, so they could just outsource that over to your HAT. So we’re working on it. You can see our business products section here.

MarketSquare™ other Metadata services

HAT users’ data and content are always private, but the type of data being exchanged is reported back to HATDeX (without any identity information). As the ecosystem grows, such metadata becomes more important to ensure that the ecosystem is working properly. But it also allows HATDeX to create services for users, some of which may be chargeable. This means HATDeX can give services back to the community to improve the use of their data.

Rumpel™ add-on services

HAT users use Rumpel™ as their personal hyperdata browser and as more data comes in, there will be more demand for functionalities and services. Some of these add-ons may be chargeable, but some could be free. Rumpel™ is an open source programme so other companies and developers in the HAT community may also offer add on services through Rumpel™ or even create their very own hyperdata browser!

Consultancy and HAT provisioning for businesses

For companies that wish to outsource personal data containment, access, usage and sharing (e.g. IoT companies, government etc.) to the HAT, we provide services for organisations, and the products are viewable here. We also encourage consultants to work with us on projects that would incorporate the HAT into their offerings.

 

As the commercial arm of the HAT foundation, we aim to be as transparent as possible in the way we derive revenues, and more importantly, we want to derive revenues that are sustainable, aligned with the ethos of the HAT community, and yet be economically successful and giving benefits back to HAT users as well as other stakeholders.

Irene Ng

Chief Economist, HATDeX