精通技术

（左起）Vana 联合创始人 Anna Kazlauskas 和 Art Abal 于 2018 年在麻省理工学院媒体实验室会面。 —供稿照片 数据是推动人工智能 (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.

技术正在迅速发展，而人工智能 (AI) 处于这场革命的最前沿。然而，随着公开可用的数据库几乎耗尽，人工智能对数据的永不满足的需求正在遇到障碍。为了继续推动人工智能的发展，大型科技公司正在寻求创新的方式来访问新鲜、高质量的非公开数据源。

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.

根据联合国科学技术委员会的一份报告，数据现在成为大型科技巨头正在利用的新资产，主要是因为它可以免费复制并且具有多种用途。

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.

菲律宾技术专家阿瑟·阿巴尔 (Arthur Abal) 表示，“数据本质上是一种资本形式……每个人，包括普通菲律宾人，都拥有大量有价值的数据资本，公司愿意为此付费。”他进一步解释说，用户数据目前被公司买卖，未经个人同意，也没有任何补偿。

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.

出生于伊利甘的阿巴尔希望通过他的科技初创公司 Vana 来解决所谓的数据垄断问题。 Vana 基于区块链技术，旨在让用户完全控制自己的数据。他表示，这个词源自“涅槃”一词，它提供了一条“解放”菲律宾人并行使其合法权利从这些平台收回数据的途径。

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

阿巴尔是一名企业律师，拥有哈佛大学肯尼迪学院公共政策硕士学位，与安娜·卡兹劳斯卡斯共同创立了 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.

卡兹劳斯卡斯的母亲来自邦板牙省，在麻省理工学院 (MIT) 学习计算机科学和经济学。两人于 2018 年在麻省理工学院媒体实验室的课堂上相识，当时他们被要求为新兴市场开发技术。

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.

他们想出了 Toca，这是一个旨在让低收入地区的人们使用手机标记数据的项目。但他们最终不得不放弃托卡，转而专注于麻省理工学院的学习。

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

完成学业后，他们开展了一个旨在彻底改变数据所有权的研究项目。

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.

该项目催生了一个名为 Vana 的大胆企业。 Vana 于 2021 年在旧金山的开放数据实验室成立，旨在使用户能够回收他们的数据并将其跨应用程序携带。

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 等一些领先的加密风险投资家的注意。

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.

但瓦娜是如何工作的呢？阿巴尔解释说，用户可以联合起来整理他们的数据并将其出售给科技公司。他补充道：“Vana 上的链上交易允许将数据组合在一起并进行代币化，从而释放其财务潜力，从而使这一过程成为可能。”在加密货币中，代币被视为可以兑换有价值的商品和服务的数字资产。

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.

阿巴尔说，菲律宾人平均在各个平台上拥有数百个账户。用户在互联网上所做的每一个动作都是可以挖掘的宝贵资产。这位 35 岁的人在电子邮件采访中表示：“通过保护数据并从中获利，菲律宾人可以积极参与新的数据经济，创造新的收入机会并回收原本被锁在企业孤岛中的价值。”

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 在现实世界中产生影响的一个例子是 2024 年 4 月创建的 Reddit DataDAO（去中心化自治组织）。DataDAO 被定义为一个以区块链技术为基础的实体，所有成员都对如何处理其数据集有发言权。

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 允许用户将他们的评论历史记录贡献到一个池数据集中。这是社交媒体平台 Reddit 与谷歌达成一项价值 6000 万美元的协议，出售用户数据以训练这家科技巨头的人工智能时引起用户骚动的结果。

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.

一群关心此事的用户向 Vana 提出创建 DataDAO 的建议，“以收回对代表他们对平台贡献的数据集的控制权”。阿巴尔表示，他们认为他们会获得“适度参与”这个涉及代币收集数据的实验。

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.

一周之内，该倡议已吸引了 140,000 名参与者。此时，他们知道自己正在做一件大事。阿巴尔说：“这种参与程度非常引人注目，特别是考虑到即使是类似举措的一小部分数据点也可能需要数月时间才能收集到。”

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.

他说，也许正是 Reddit 用户的愤怒导致了 DataDAO 的大规模参与。他指出，另一个因素可能是吸引用户加入该运动的代币激励措施。

“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 体现了代币化和社区动员如何交叉来挑战现状，最终为数据所有权和金融赋权提供了一种新模式，”他说。

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

已经建立了多个安全网来保护每个 Vana 用户的数据。用于数据加密和解密的专利非托管技术允许用户使用其加密钱包密钥来保护其数据。 Abal 解释说，“只有有权访问其钱包的用户才能