The central goal of the proposed research effort is to build the analytical framework and collect basic data for a new a research agenda on industrialization and economic statecraft strategies in the context of the global data economy. There is active and rigorous political economy scholarship devoted to the question of “What can and should we do to data?” in terms of regulating its collection and use. Much less systematic thought has been paid to the question of “What will data do to us?” in terms of our global political–economic relationships. The latter question will be the focus of this research project.
