Soraya Sedkaoui - Sharing Economy and Big Data Analytics

Following the economic crises that shook the world economy after the Industrial Revolution, we became aware of the multi-dimensional nature of these crises (economic, social, environmental) and the value of reviewing the business models adopted so far.

“Sharing” has thus become the emblem of the new business model that we tend to call “the sharing economy”. It is defined as an activity to procure, provide or share goods or services via digital technology or, more precisely, “digital platforms”.

The sharing economy is part of the sustainable development perspective, the purpose of which is to rationalize the exploitation of underutilized resources or assets.

This business model owes its reputation to Internet performance: digital platforms, even if individuals have been engaged in sharing activities for thousands of years.

Over time, digital platforms have become more efficient and now govern a wide range of business transactions: C2C, C2B and also B2B.

But what about the spirit of sharing in the sharing economy?

Criticisms about the sharing economy focus on the lexical amalgam encountered in the activities of start-ups in this field. Thus, when a company like Airbnb is considered as a highly prized example of the sharing economy by the majority of individuals, where is the principle of sharing in the rental or paid reservation of an apartment by this platform?

There is controversy over the concept of the sharing economy, because other concepts are related: the collaborative economy, the platform economy, the demand economy, the independent economy, the gig economy, etc.

To avoid this confusion, we can say that the sharing economy is about the use of underutilized resources, which are not free of charge, because the shared products or services can be both paid and free.

In this context, the spirit of sharing or collaboration is a metaphor that satisfies the beliefs of a new standard of economic thought that is at odds with traditional models.

Even if this displeases some people, we will improperly call it the “sharing economy” and the “collaborative economy”.

Our most beautiful adventures are our thoughts .

Victor Cherbuliez, 1864

This is a relevant question that we had to ask ourselves before embarking on this “delightful” adventure!

On the one hand, the idea for this book was born from our personal beliefs. As researchers, it is our responsibility to question and analyze the phenomena that challenge us.

On the other hand, and without a doubt, our training courses have a lot to do with the choice of this theme. This is the meeting of two disciplines: environmental economics and data sciences. Therefore, we initially started from the interest of these two disciplines.

The environmental economy has undergone a remarkable expansion over the past forty years, coinciding with the rise of ecological awareness. The environmental crisis is the consequence of the natural environment degradation and the well-being of the society.

Among the solutions contemplated to remedy this situation, the shared economy stands as a stronghold against the waste of goods and services, and against the overexploitation of natural resources. It is a new business model that reintegrates human values into the business world.

This economy revives the spirit of sharing in economic transactions, even in those that are monetized. Monetary compensation remains insignificant when compared to the feeling of satisfaction of having participated in the sustainability of the community.

The genius of man is his ability to adapt to new situations by creating the means to adapt to new deals. In the sharing economy context, it is the advent of digital technology, illustrated by research in Big Data analytics which gives rise to digital platforms, that has contributed to the realization of this new model.

Thus, Big Data analytics has become an essential instrument for management in all disciplines, including economics. It helps to ensure efficiency in decision-making at both macroeconomic or microeconomic levels. Through this book, we have tried to demonstrate the role that Big Data analytics can play in the evolution of the sharing economy.

Having knowledge without sharing it, is to put oneself at a level of the one who has no ideas .

Thucydide (5th Century BC)

Through this book, we wanted to be forward-thinking by proposing a topical theme of great socio-economic relevance. It is dedicated to researchers in both disciplines: economics and data science.

It is also intended for business leaders, managers and investors who want to engage in the sharing economy activities. It also concerns students, or simply those interested in using digital platforms.

This book contains information that will satisfy the scientific intuition of researchers and refine the sharing economy and Big Data knowledge of “amateurs”.

As I change my thoughts, the world around me changes .

Louise Lynn Hay

The challenge of sustainable development goes by achieving millennium development goals, the first of which is the well-being of the society. The initiatives undertaken to meet the demands of the society are very diverse and take different approaches. They involve disciplines that seem dissimilar at first glance.

This is the ambition of this book! It claims to demonstrate the role of Big Data in the development of the sharing economy.

The sharing economy therefore includes digital platforms that connects buyers and sellers of goods and services. However, this sharing and collaboration would not be possible without the data, in addition to the algorithms, that drive the sharing platforms. Data are therefore the driving force behind this economy.

These large data-sets produced in various forms and in real-time, forming what we now call Big Data, require sophisticated methods coupled with analytical tools in order to create value. Managing data from sharing economy platforms is therefore a factor that promotes cooperativism, which can maximize beneficial economic, societal and environmental impacts.

Big Data contributes in many ways to the growth of this sharing economy, and we will, through this book, examine the different ways in which this is reflected.

By covering a wide range of topics such as Machine Learning algorithms, social innovation and sustainable development, this book provides concrete examples of successful use of the sharing economy, based on the analysis of large amounts of data. And we chose to use Python, a widely used data science language, to analyze the data of the practical examples in this book.

This book adheres to a practical implementation perspective for amateurs, but for professionals too. Its purpose is to familiarize you with the different concepts covered. It will provide emerging insights into the theoretical and practical aspects of Big Data analytics in collaborative and sharing applications.

It is the result of several years of research in environmental economics and Big Data analytics. It also draws on a data analytics experience within the SRY Consulting start-up, based in Montpellier (France).

Science is organized knowledge .

Herbert Spencer

The purpose of this book is based on two new concepts: the sharing economy and Big Data. These two concepts are well-known and have generated great interest in research in recent years.

Data is at the heart of the sharing economy, as it allows professionals in this context to operationalize their different practices. Exploiting this data and transforming it into value is a high-performance business strategy and this may make it seem complex. However, this is not the case. You can easily evolve your analytical capabilities and create opportunities at each step of your data analysis process.