Making data markets: Assetization, valuation, and proxy work in a digital health start-up.

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Sociology of Technology
• Digital Health

Background:

• Digital data is central to modern health and medicine.
• Diverse actors transform data into various forms of value.
• Artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled technologies generate significant health data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine valuation practices in AI-enabled smart health technology.
• To understand how data is transformed into asset forms.
• To explore the role of assetization and proxy work in digital health.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative analysis of valuation practices.
• Examination of assetization processes.
• Concept development of proxy work in digital health data.

Main Results:

• Valuation practices are diverse and contingent, shaping AI health technology and its data.
• Assetization is a contested but crucial activity in data value realization.
• Proxy work mediates between data generation and assetization, enabling value across sites.

Conclusions:

• Assetization is a dominant framework for understanding digital health data value.
• This framework influences governmental, firm, and actor perspectives on health futures.
• Practices of assetization shape the potential of digital health data.