47 Data
“ Some data platforms bid on advertising space with no intention of winning the bid . Rather , they are there to harvest the data of web users .”
Organisers of digital events approached us as their face-to-face event auditor and asked what metrics should be used for attendance and exhibitors such that they could submit their digital event for ‘ approved status ’ by UFI ( the global association of the exhibition industry ) as they had done for in-person events .
This prompted some research on our part and we found a general lack of standards across the DEPs . Terms were not commonly defined . Criteria necessary to meet a definition were not universal . There was no norm for the format of the data .
We organised a tripartite Reporting Standards for Digital Events ( RSDE ) working group comprised of exhibitor perspective , event organisers , data analysers , and DEPs to tackle the subject .
Our project has three phases . First , to recommend digital event metrics to UFI for incorporation in its Auditing Rules for the Statistics of UFI Approved Events . Second , to establish digital event standards for a taxonomy , criteria , and data format , ‘ RSDE ’, as well as a compliance programme to check that DEP technology adheres to the standards . Accomplishing this enables organisers to comparison-shop in comfort . Third , to offer standard terms and conditions for organisers to consider when establishing data ownership with a digital event platform .
We came upon phase three after asking ourselves , ‘ Are the DEPs similar to bidstream data harvesters ?’ When event organisers consider digital events and shop DEPs , are the organisers paying attention to contracts ? Are they addressing who owns the data , how the data is stored , and for what the data can be used ?
Some DEPs look to use data to create 24 / 7 / 365 marketplaces rather than one-off events . Are these marketplaces owned by the event organiser from whom attendee data is being collected ? Is attendee data to be anonymised and shared across all event organisers using the same DEP ?
Our working group completed phase one at the end of March . Phase two is now available for public comment . Phase three is being undertaken and we expect release for public comment by the end of September . I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the matter . CN www . conference-news . co . uk