[AISWorld] Post doctorate position on Data Value Modeling at ESSEC Business School

[Jan Ondrus]

The Center of Excellence for Digital Business is opening a post
doctorate position on Data Value Modeling In partnership with Digital
& Ethics.

ESSEC is one of the leading European Business Schools, and a French
“Grande Ecole” with three campuses, one in the Paris metropolitan
area, one in Singapore, and one in Morocco. It offers graduate level
training in business administration (MSc, MBA, Executive MBA,
Specialized Masters, PhD, etc.). Its Master in Management (MiM)
program was ranked #3 worldwide in the last Financial Times ranking.
ESSEC gathers a wide ecosystem on data-related topics, with many
initiatives, partnerships, skills and capabilities.

The Center of Excellence for Digital Business, in partnership with
Digital & Ethics, opens a full-time post-doctorate position to conduct
research on data valuation modeling. This research is fundamental with
experimental development in accounting, marketing, finance, law or
economics. The position is open for the Paris campus, located in
Cergy-Pontoise.

The Center’s mission is to produce and to diffuse knowledge on
business transformation in a digitalised world. More generally, its
mission is to coordinate all ESSEC activities in the digital domain
and develop additional initiatives in terms of research, teaching,
corporate support or participation in public debates.

Digital & Ethics is an Innovative Enterprise specialized in issues
related with the protection of privacy, when dealing with Data. D & E
offers a wide spectrum of services including the consultancy in ethic
and legal issues related to the release of personal data and providing
customers with software solutions on personal data re-identification
risk evaluation. Nowadays, D & E aims at enlarging its activities to
cover the analysis of the value of data. D & E looks for developing
knowledge in order to create data valuation software solution.

Context of the project:
------------------------------
Digital platforms are ubiquitous and in the process of taking over the
global economy. Those companies fund their growth on the collection,
treatment and monetisation of data. As Lev (2014) emphasises,
intangible assets, such as data, are becoming strategic resources
driving long-term competitive advantages. The biggest platforms have
indeed billions of users, benefit from huge network effects and
growth, and account for more than $2.6 trillion in market
capitalisation worldwide. But if data can be monetised, what is its
value?

In this new economy, data is key, yet there is no generally accepted
model for pricing or even valuing data. We know that data is an
intangible asset and informational goods. But the actual definition of
data is still unclear. And among the issue related with data valuation
is the question of data ownership, governance and usage rights.

Our research aims at framing those issues better and proposing a
general model for data valuation. Such a model would be useful for any
company dealing with data, which is the case of most companies
nowadays. There will be applications to accounting (data value as an
asset of the company), marketing (the value of customer-generated data
and advertising-based models), finance (the value of the data-centric
company itself), law (rights and regulation related to data markets),
and economics (investigate market mechanisms of this new type of
asset). The model would also be useful for developing software
solutions of data valuation.

Description of the research activities:
--------------------------------------------------
We are looking for a post doctorate researcher working on data
valuation models. In order to achieve this mission, the researcher
will work on the following activities:

- Establish a full review of the academic literature on data’s
definition and valuation
- Design a data valuation model for companies (both data-centric on
not data-centric.)
- Test this data valuation model on different empirical applications
from different settings and sectors.(These applications would include
the business cases encountered by Digital & Ethics)
- Disseminate research findings, in particular through peer-reviewed
publications, white papers destined to industry practitioners and
academic conferences. The final purpose of such papers being to be
accepted in top ranked academic journals.
- Participate to workshops or conferences presenting this research
(academic and industrial)
- Manage, in coordination with Prof. Nicolas Glady, the research
project. In particular, manage the relationship with the research
partners and contribute to the organisation of the project events.

Post doctorate is required to be in residence for the duration of the
appointment. The dates of the employment relationship can be
negotiated, starting at earliest in September 2017. The position is
offered for a period of 1 year and is renewable.

We are looking for a highly motivated junior scholar whose research
interests and skills are aligned with the Center’s objectives. We are
particularly interested in candidates who believe that academic
excellence and practical relevance should go hand in hand.

Qualifications required:
-------------------------------
● Doctorate or Ph.D. in Information Systems, Technology Management and
Innovation, Strategy, Economics, or Accounting & Management.
● Knowledge of and interest for the field of digital business, data
problematics, platforms and ecosystems
● Ability to publish research in high-quality, peer-reviewed journals
● Ability to manage projects and to organize events autonomously
● Ability and appetite to work with academics and industry executives alike
● Ability to navigate effectively between academic concepts and
concrete industry pilots
● Effective written and oral communication skills
● Fluent English. French is a plus but is not mandatory.

Prof. Nicolas Glady (Director of the Center) will supervise the
research project in collaboration with Digital & Ethics, the partner
of this project. Qualified candidates should send their applications
to champion at essec.edu, including (1) a letter of application/research
statement, (2) a detailed curriculum vitae including the list of
publications (if relevant), (3) a job market paper, and (4) 3 letters
of recommendation. We will continue to accept applications until the
position is filled.


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Jan Ondrus
Associate Professor of Information Systems
Chair of Networked Business Models
Director of Research - Center of Excellence for Digital Business
ESSEC Business School, Singapore
Web: www.janondrus.com