精通技術

（左起）Vana 共同創辦人 Anna Kazlauskas 和 Art Abal 於 2018 年在麻省理工學院媒體實驗室會面。 —供稿照片 數據是推動人工智慧 (AI) 革命的「新石油」。

Technology is rapidly advancing, and artificial intelligence (AI) is at the forefront of this revolution. However, AI's insatiable appetite for data is hitting a roadblock as publicly available databases are nearly depleted. To continue fueling AI's growth, big tech companies are seeking innovative ways to access fresh, high-quality and nonpublic data sources.

科技正在迅速發展，而人工智慧 (AI) 處於這場革命的最前沿。然而，隨著公開可用的資料庫幾乎耗盡，人工智慧對資料的永不滿足的需求正在遇到障礙。為了繼續推動人工智慧的發展，大型科技公司正在尋求創新的方式來存取新鮮、高品質的非公開資料來源。

According to a report by the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology, data is now the new asset that is being exploited by big tech giants, mainly because it can be replicated for free and has multiple uses.

根據聯合國科學技術委員會的報告，數據現在成為大型科技巨頭正在利用的新資產，主要是因為它可以免費複製並且具有多種用途。

Filipino tech expert Arthur Abal says that “data is essentially a form of capital … Each person, including ordinary Filipinos, is sitting on a massive store of valuable data capital that companies are willing to pay for.” He further explains that user data is currently being bought and sold by companies, without the person's consent and with no compensation as well.

菲律賓技術專家阿瑟·阿巴爾 (Arthur Abal) 表示，“數據本質上是一種資本形式……每個人，包括普通菲律賓人，都擁有大量有價值的數據資本，公司願意為此付費。”他進一步解釋說，用戶資料目前被公司買賣，未經個人同意，也沒有任何補償。

The so-called monopolization of data is what the Iligan-born Abal wants to address with his tech startup called Vana. Built on blockchain technology, Vana seeks to give users complete control over their data. Derived from the word nirvana, he says that it provides a pathway “to liberate” Filipinos and exercise their legal rights to reclaim their data from these platforms.

出生於伊利甘的阿巴爾希望透過他的科技新創公司 Vana 來解決所謂的資料壟斷問題。 Vana 基於區塊鏈技術，旨在讓用戶完全控制自己的數據。他表示，這個詞源自於「涅槃」一詞，它提供了一條「解放」菲律賓人並行使其合法權利從這些平台收回數據的途徑。

Abal, a corporate lawyer who has a master's degree in public policy from Harvard Kennedy School, cofounded Vana with Anna Kazlauskas.

阿巴爾是一名企業律師，擁有哈佛大學甘迺迪學院公共政策碩士學位，與安娜·卡茲勞斯卡斯共同創立了 Vana。

Kazlauskas, whose mother is from Pampanga, studied computer science and economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The pair met in 2018 during a class at MIT Media Lab, where they were asked to develop technology for emerging markets.

卡茲勞斯卡斯的母親來自邦板牙省，在麻省理工學院 (MIT) 學習電腦科學和經濟學。兩人於 2018 年在麻省理工學院媒體實驗室的課堂上相識，當時他們被要求為新興市場開發技術。

What they came up with was Toca, a project aimed at involving people in low-income areas by having them label data using their phones. But they had to eventually give up Toca to focus on their studies at MIT.

他們想出了 Toca，這是一個旨在讓低收入地區的人們使用手機標記數據的項目。但他們最終不得不放棄託卡，轉而專注於麻省理工學院的學習。

After completing their studies, they worked on a research project aimed at revolutionizing data ownership.

完成學業後，他們開展了一個旨在徹底改變資料所有權的研究計畫。

The project resulted in a bold venture called Vana. Established in 2021 at the Open Data Labs in San Francisco, Vana aims to enable users to reclaim their data and carry it across applications.

該計畫催生了一個名為 Vana 的大膽企業。 Vana 於 2021 年在舊金山的開放資料實驗室成立，旨在使用戶能夠回收他們的資料並將其跨應用程式攜帶。

The idea of a decentralized platform caught the eye of some of the leading crypto venture capitalists such as Paradigm and Polychain.

去中心化平台的想法引起了 Paradigm 和 Polychain 等一些領先的加密創投家的注意。

But how does Vana work? Abal explains that users can band together to collate their data and sell them to tech companies. “On-chain transactions on Vana make this process possible by allowing data to be grouped together and tokenized, unlocking its financial potential,” he adds. In cryptocurrency, tokens are considered digital assets that can be exchanged for valuable goods and services.

但瓦娜是如何運作的呢？阿巴爾解釋說，用戶可以聯合起來整理他們的數據並將其出售給科技公司。他補充說：“Vana 上的鏈上交易允許將數據組合在一起並進行代幣化，從而釋放其財務潛力，從而使這一過程成為可能。”在加密貨幣中，代幣被視為可以兌換有價值的商品和服務的數位資產。

Abal says that the average Filipino owns hundreds of accounts across platforms. Every move that a user makes on the internet is a valuable asset that can be mined. “By securing and earning from their data, Filipinos can actively participate in the new data economy, creating new income opportunities and reclaiming value that would otherwise be locked away in corporate silos,” the 35-year-old says in an email interview.

阿巴爾說，菲律賓人平均在各個平台上擁有數百個帳戶。使用者在網路上所做的每一個動作都是可以挖掘的寶貴資產。這位 35 歲的人在電子郵件採訪中表示：“通過保護數據並從中獲利，菲律賓人可以積極參與新的數據經濟，創造新的收入機會並回收原本被鎖在企業孤島中的價值。”

An example of Vana's real-world effect was the creation of The Reddit DataDAO (decentralized autonomous organization) in April 2024. DataDAO is defined as an entity, underpinned by blockchain technology, where all members have a say on what to do with their data set.

Vana 在現實世界中產生影響的一個例子是2024 年4 月創建的Reddit DataDAO（去中心化自治組織）。集有發言權。

DataDAO allowed users to contribute their comment history into a pooled data set. It was a result of the Reddit users’ uproar when the social media platform had struck a $60-million deal with Google to sell user data for the purpose of training the tech giant’s AI.

DataDAO 允許使用者將他們的評論歷史記錄貢獻到一個池資料集中。這是社群媒體平台 Reddit 與Google達成一項價值 6000 萬美元的協議，出售用戶資料以訓練這家科技巨頭的人工智慧時引起用戶騷動的結果。

A group of concerned users approached Vana with a proposal to create a DataDAO “to reclaim control over their data set that represented their contributions to the platform.” Abal says they thought they would acquire a “modest participation” for this experiment involving tokens to collect data.

一群關心此事的用戶向 Vana 提出創建 DataDAO 的建議，「以收回對代表他們對平台貢獻的資料集的控制權」。阿巴爾表示，他們認為他們會獲得「適度參與」這個涉及代幣收集數據的實驗。

Within a week, the initiative already amassed 140,000 participants. At this point, they knew they were on to something big. “This level of engagement was remarkable, especially considering that it can take months to collect even a fraction of that number of data points for similar initiatives,” Abal says.

一週之內，該倡議已吸引了 14 萬名參與者。此時，他們知道自己正在做一件大事。阿巴爾說：“這種參與程度非常引人注目，特別是考慮到即使是類似舉措的一小部分數據點也可能需要數月時間才能收集到。”

Perhaps it was the outrage of the Reddit users that led to the massive participation in the DataDAO, he says. Another factor could be the token incentives that enticed users to join the movement, he points out.

他說，也許正是 Reddit 用戶的憤怒導致了 DataDAO 的大規模參與。他指出，另一個因素可能是吸引用戶加入運動的代幣獎勵措施。

“The Reddit DataDAO exemplified how tokenization and community mobilization could intersect to challenge the status quo, ultimately providing a new model for data ownership and financial empowerment,” he says.

「Reddit DataDAO 體現了代幣化和社群動員如何交叉來挑戰現狀，最終為數據所有權和金融賦權提供了一種新模式，」他說。

Several safety nets have put in place to safeguard the data of each Vana user. The patented noncustodial techniques for data encryption and decryption allow users to secure their data using their crypto wallet keys. Abal explains that “only the user, who has access to their wallet, can

已經建立了多個安全網來保護每個 Vana 用戶的資料。用於資料加密和解密的專利非託管技術允許用戶使用其加密錢包金鑰來保護其資料。 Abal 解釋說，「只有有權訪問其錢包的用戶才能