Data is often touted as “the new oil”, a valuable resource that can be extracted, refined, and leveraged for additional revenue. Unlike oil, data knows no bounds in terms of usability; it doesn't deplete. It's a renewable resource, generated daily by users that make use of platforms like social media, e-commerce, and online services. Product enhancement, tailored recommendations, and display of targeted ads to users are some of the things acquired data are used for.
Ponder on this idea for a moment: What if end users could benefit from sharing their data? What if they could earn passive income while also contributing to a Climate Commons that serves the general community?
This is the concept underpinning the future of economics—a blueprint that tech giants like X (formerly Twitter) are currently embracing. They've laid the groundwork, and forward-thinking companies like Climecheck aim to harness this idea.
X’s Ad Revenue Sharing Program:
On a global scale, X stands as a top platform for daily engagement, allowing users to post short messages or tweets about anything they desire, all on-the-go.
X's innovative revenue-sharing program enables subscribers to profit from their tweet impressions. In this context, a subscriber is someone who has subscribed to Twitter Blue and amassed over 5 million tweet impressions monthly. Such users qualify for payouts via Stripe.
The benefits of this arrangement are evident, creating a win-win situation for both X and its subscribers:
- Subscribers can earn money from their tweets without relying on other income sources such as sponsorships, donations, or merchandise sales.
- They can also boost their engagement with followers by encouraging replies to their tweets.
For X, the advantages are clear as day:
- Attracting more creators to their platform.
- Expanding their ad inventory and revenue.
- Enhancing their brand image as supporters of creators.
Climecheck’s Climate Data Sharing and Its Empowerment for Africa
Climecheck, a community-sourced hyper-localized stream of climate data, utilizes AI technology to provide accurate and reliable information about the environment and climate change. Data is collected from the environment through sensors and disseminated as insights to three primary stakeholders: the general public, businesses, and policymakers.
It's worth noting that anyone can participate in this initiative by installing Climecheck’s sensors in their homes, offices, farms, factories or public spaces. Users are expected to download an app that reads and monitors the data transmitted from the sensor. The good part is, the sensor gets synched with the app downloaded from either the Google Play Store or Apple Store. Climecheck wants to reward its users with not just sales of their data to big tech companies, but other passive means like user XP (this is a reward point calculated by sensor uptime).
These sensors collect various data points, including temperature, humidity, rainfall, and carbon dioxide levels. The collected data is then transmitted to Climecheck’s platform, where it undergoes processing and analysis by artificial intelligence algorithms, which is then seen on the App. The AI-processed data is made accessible on user dashboards, providing insights into trends and notifications.
The importance of climate data in the African landscape cannot be overstated. Businesses stand to thrive when well-prepared for and able to mitigate the effects of climate change and its various manifestations. This added foresight consistently proves to be a game-changer in business.
We are currently in an era of sustainable development, not just in the climate and agricultural sectors, but also in industry. Understanding climate trends empowers us as a continent to adopt sustainability across all aspects of our livelihoods more rapidly.
Benefits of Participating in the Climate Commons
Participating in the Climate Commons is a win-win for all parties involved. Revenue generated is shared based on the sale of the data provided to companies interested in understanding climate risks and market opportunities:
- Users gain access to a wealth of information about their local environment and climate conditions, which can be used to enhance their health, comfort, or productivity.
- It serves as the starting point for advocacy among users, allowing them to contribute to the greater cause of monitoring and mitigating climate change in Africa.
- Users earn money passively by accumulating XP from the sensor uptime.
But what's in it for Climecheck?
- Climecheck accumulates a vast amount of data from diverse sources and locations, particularly in Africa, where climate data is often scarce or unreliable, establishing itself as a household name in the world of climate data and patterns. Working closely with policymakers, the data is being interpreted and actions taken to combat climate change issues.
- The data generated creates value for customers, partners, and investors.
- With a high data density, Climecheck advances its vision of developing hardware, software, and AI solutions for climate change monitoring and mitigation.
In Africa, data sharing has the potential to evolve into a promising business model for the information age, offering platforms the opportunity to create value for their users, their platforms, and society at large. X and Climecheck (as a prime example) demonstrate how data sharing can reward users for their contributions, providing an opportunity to earn income passively while contributing to a greater cause.
