Data Unions are more than just a new data monetisation strategy- they are the beginning of a new relationship between creators and their users. This post serves as a getting started guide for those creators that are ready to get building.
Data Unions (DUs) enable creators to share data sales revenue with users via crowdsourced, scalable data sets, generated by the users of their apps and services. DUs rest proudly on top of the Streamr and Ethereum stacks.
Under the hood,
- Ethereum is used to store and transfer value,
- The Streamr Network transports the real-time data,
- The Streamr Core app is used to build and manage the DU contract, and,
- The Streamr Marketplace monetises the data.
Table of Contents
How to start a Data Union? – Here are the four steps:
- Define the sort of data you’ll be streaming to your DU.
- Deploy the DU contract on Ethereum.
- Integrate your end user app.
- Publish the DU on the marketplace.
I will briefly explain these steps, and if you prefer, you can also get to know the process by watching me create a DU in the screencast series, or by reading the DU docs. The accompanying demonstration GitHub repo of example code can also be found here.
1. Define the sort of data you’ll be streaming to your DU
As the DU creator you’ll first need to decide what sort of data will be included into the DU and how to model that data into streams. A firehose approach is typical and we have some general advice on that topic in the streams section of the docs.
2. Deploy the DU contract on Ethereum
This part requires some crypto basics. If it’s your first time, please check out the Getting Started section of the docs.
Using the Streamr Core interface you will be customising the parameters of the DU contract such as the price of the data and the revenue share percentage.
3. Integrate your end user app
Using one of Streamr’s client libraries is highly recommended. The essential functionality such as member balance checks and member withdrawals are wrapped in easy to use library method calls.
4. Publish the DU on the marketplace
If you’ve gotten this far, this step is a breeze. It’s a one-click publish Ethereum transaction to have your DU available for purchase on the Marketplace.
🎉 Congrats! You’re all set. 🎉
The Docs go much deeper into the implementation details and we encourage you to reach out on the developer forums to share your experience with the platform.
