Oil billionaire Mukesh Ambani explains why data is better than oil

Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani last week built on the often-used “data-oil” adage to say why the first of the duo was better.

“Data is indeed the new oil. But this new oil is fundamentally different from the traditional oil,” the 63-year old billionaire said at an event on Dec. 3. While oil was usually extracted at only a few places, generating income only for select countries, he said data could be generated and consumed anywhere and by anyone.

“It (data) has the potential to create value equitably, across sectors, across geographies and across economic classes. Every person can be a user, creator and owner of data. Therefore, the new oil has been completely democratised and decentralised,” the businessman explained.

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