Sofia Hristova, a research intern at the Department of Economic Cybernetics at the Faculty of Economics of the Southern Federal University, studies why information is becoming a new factor of production and a strategic resource for business.

As part of his research, the researcher analyzes data as an economic resource, develops approaches to estimating its value, studies the macroeconomic effects of the development of the data economy and the formation of data markets, as well as corporate strategies that make it possible to turn data into a strategic asset. At the first stage of the research, the conceptualization of data economics as an independent stage of economic development and management system was carried out. Four groups of drivers of its formation have been identified — technological, economic, behavioral, and regulatory — and key development contours have been identified. Multilevel analysis has shown that the data economy permeates the macro, meso, and micro levels, forming a complex system of interactions between government regulation, industry structure, and corporate strategies.

Today, data has become the "engine" of the economy. According to Sofia Hristova, comparing the data with oil reflects very little of the truth:

"From the point of view of significance, definitely yes. But if we go into the theoretical aspects of this issue, then data is an inexhaustible, renewable resource, with increasing returns on scale, etc., which distinguishes it from traditional factors of production." 

The research is aimed not only at the development of economic theory, but also at solving practical business problems.

Special attention is paid to the industrial sector. Modern enterprises generate huge amounts of information, from equipment performance indicators to logistics and production data. However, this resource is far from being fully utilized.

"I see a special applied role of my research for industrial enterprises. First of all, we are talking about developing a methodology for evaluating data as an economic asset and a model for their strategic management," comments Sofia Hristova.

The development of the data economy is closely linked to a number of serious challenges. These include, for example, the need to develop infrastructure, increase computing power, privacy issues, and legal restrictions.

"These are, first of all, problems related to infrastructure development. In this case, computing power plays a big role. It is impossible not to mention the issues of privacy and security throughout the data lifecycle. The challenges also include a shortage of open data and the presence of legislative restrictions that restrict their use," Sofia Hristova drew attention.

The risks associated with confidentiality and data security can be reduced if there is a well-developed institutional environment. In Russia, the national project "Data Economics and Digital Transformation of the State" is being implemented from 2025 to 2030, aimed at creating legal and technological conditions for secure data circulation and developing a digital trust infrastructure.

The study highlights that the growing value of data does not automatically lead to its uncontrolled sale. On the contrary, enterprises can build differentiated modes of working with data.

"However, risks arise in conditions of institutional uncertainty, when data ownership rights are not secured and there are no trusted exchange environments. The key task of the regulator is to create such a framework, therefore, the most important areas of government policy are the formation of organized data markets, the development of rules for their sale and turnover, as well as the creation of control mechanisms," Sofia Hristova shared.

It is also acceptable to commercialize depersonalized technological data, aggregated statistics on equipment efficiency, and data on machine operating modes without reference to specific orders in accordance with the law. At the same time, personal data, trade secrets, and information about critical production infrastructure must remain strictly protected.

At the current stage of the research, the focus is shifting from data economics as a system to data as a resource, primarily in industry. On this basis, a two-circuit industrial data management architecture has been developed. The operational contour involves evaluating the effectiveness of data usage in the company's routine processes. For this purpose, a methodology is being developed for questioning the management level with subsequent mathematical processing, which makes it possible to assign an integral quantitative assessment to the enterprise. Based on this assessment, a roadmap is being built — a specific plan of measures to improve efficiency - indicating the steps, deadlines and those responsible.

"The strategic Outline focuses on how data changes the very logic of value creation. It uses the BPMN/IDEF0 business process modeling method, which makes it possible to visualize and analyze the full data lifecycle in an enterprise and, on this basis, develop an adapted data usage strategy integrated into the overall corporate strategy," said Sofia Hristova.

At the macroeconomic level, the work allows us to approach the solution of the problem of measuring intangible capital and assessing the contribution of data to economic growth. Empirical results show that the growth in the volume of transmitted data per capita is positively related to the dynamics of the regional gross domestic product, which confirms the importance of data as a factor in economic development. At the same time, the ambiguous effects of various digital technologies have been identified, requiring more precise adjustment of the digital transformation policy.

At the enterprise level, the study addresses three key issues: inefficient use of accumulated data, the difficulty of assessing the return on investment in digital infrastructure, and the lack of institutional recognition of data as an economic asset. In current practice, these data are not accounted for on the balance sheet of enterprises, are not amortized or insured, which limits their economic capitalization.

In the future, the role of data in the economy will increase.

"It can be assumed that one of the key trends will be the further institutionalization of data as a full-fledged asset. Probably, in the coming years, the data will be taken into account on the balance sheet of enterprises, standards for their audit, approaches to depreciation and mechanisms for the transfer of ownership rights will be formed," Sofia Hristova emphasized.

At the same time, the data market is being formed as a regulated institutional environment based on systemic exchange rules, legal norms and control mechanisms.

Sofia's articles have been published in Russian economic journals, and the results have been presented at scientific conferences, one of the latest being "Data Economics: Analysis of Development Drivers and Contours of Formation" published in March 2026 in the journal "Vectors of Well–being: Economics and Society". One of the significant presentations was the presentation of the study "Data Management in industrial enterprises: a dilemma about the value of data" at the DTI-2025 conference. In 2025, Sofia Hristova became the recipient of a scholarship from the Government of the Russian Federation for achievements in education and contribution to the development of science.

"The research conducted by a young scientist from the Faculty of Economics of the Southern Federal University in the field of data economics is not just an urgent task in the field of the state strategy of digital transformation, but one of the main directions of the development of modern economic thought, being in direct relationship with the goals of achieving technological sovereignty and building an innovative economy. By giving young people the opportunity to independently conduct research in such a high-tech and rapidly evolving field, we are investing in the human capital of the future, without which sustainable economic growth and global competitiveness of our state are unthinkable," says Natalia Kosolapova, Doctor of Economics, Dean of the SFedU Faculty of Economics, scientific director of the project.

The work of the young scientist will help develop modern areas of economics, explore new resources and mechanisms that will determine the development of the economy of the future.