No. 53

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Data and Value

27 May 2026

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RiTo No. 53, 2026

Estonia has high-quality data, yet struggles to create value due to a systemic “wicked problem.”

The issue lies in misaligned incentives: data providers bear costs, institutions face legal risks, and users struggle with access. This leads to underuse and inefficient repeated data collection. Risk avoidance, especially around privacy, discourages data sharing. As a result, processes become complex, slow, and costly. Proposed solutions include creating a central data agency, using synthetic data to reduce privacy risks, making data collection more costly to encourage efficiency, and enabling institutions to share costs. The goal is to better balance risks and value to unlock data’s potential.

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