The environmental crisis is the consequence of the natural environment degradation and the well-being of the society.
Among the solutions contemplated to remedy this situation, the shared economy stands as a stronghold against the waste of goods and services, and against the overexploitation of natural resources. It is a new business model that reintegrates human values into the business world.
This economy revives the spirit of sharing in economic transactions, even in those that are monetized. Monetary compensation remains insignificant when compared to the feeling of satisfaction of having participated in the sustainability of the community.
The genius of man is his ability to adapt to new situations by creating the means to adapt to new deals. In the sharing economy context, it is the advent of digital technology, illustrated by research in Big Data analytics which gives rise to digital platforms, that has contributed to the realization of this new model.
Thus, Big Data analytics has become an essential instrument for management in all disciplines, including economics. It helps to ensure efficiency in decision-making at both macroeconomic or microeconomic levels. Through this book, we have tried to demonstrate the role that Big Data analytics can play in the evolution of the sharing economy.
I.2. The scope of this book
Having knowledge without sharing it, is to put oneself at a level of the one who has no ideas.
Thucydide (5th Century BC)
Through this book, we wanted to be forward-thinking by proposing a topical theme of great socio-economic relevance. It is dedicated to researchers in both disciplines: economics and data science.
It is also intended for business leaders, managers and investors who want to engage in the sharing economy activities. It also concerns students, or simply those interested in using digital platforms.
This book contains information that will satisfy the scientific intuition of researchers and refine the sharing economy and Big Data knowledge of “amateurs”.
I.3. The challenge of this book
As I change my thoughts, the world around me changes.
Louise Lynn Hay
The challenge of sustainable development goes by achieving millennium development goals, the first of which is the well-being of the society. The initiatives undertaken to meet the demands of the society are very diverse and take different approaches. They involve disciplines that seem dissimilar at first glance.
This is the ambition of this book! It claims to demonstrate the role of Big Data in the development of the sharing economy.
The sharing economy therefore includes digital platforms that connects buyers and sellers of goods and services. However, this sharing and collaboration would not be possible without the data, in addition to the algorithms, that drive the sharing platforms. Data are therefore the driving force behind this economy.
These large data-sets produced in various forms and in real-time, forming what we now call Big Data, require sophisticated methods coupled with analytical tools in order to create value. Managing data from sharing economy platforms is therefore a factor that promotes cooperativism, which can maximize beneficial economic, societal and environmental impacts.
Big Data contributes in many ways to the growth of this sharing economy, and we will, through this book, examine the different ways in which this is reflected.
By covering a wide range of topics such as Machine Learning algorithms, social innovation and sustainable development, this book provides concrete examples of successful use of the sharing economy, based on the analysis of large amounts of data. And we chose to use Python, a widely used data science language, to analyze the data of the practical examples in this book.
This book adheres to a practical implementation perspective for amateurs, but for professionals too. Its purpose is to familiarize you with the different concepts covered. It will provide emerging insights into the theoretical and practical aspects of Big Data analytics in collaborative and sharing applications.
It is the result of several years of research in environmental economics and Big Data analytics. It also draws on a data analytics experience within the SRY Consulting start-up, based in Montpellier (France).
I.4. How to read this book
Science is organized knowledge.
Herbert Spencer
The purpose of this book is based on two new concepts: the sharing economy and Big Data. These two concepts are well-known and have generated great interest in research in recent years.
Data is at the heart of the sharing economy, as it allows professionals in this context to operationalize their different practices. Exploiting this data and transforming it into value is a high-performance business strategy and this may make it seem complex. However, this is not the case. You can easily evolve your analytical capabilities and create opportunities at each step of your data analysis process.
Several studies have dealt with these two concepts, but separately. Thus, in this book, we have tried to combine them and deduce the possible relationship between these two concepts. We have organized each chapter so that each reader can approach it with confidence. The next three sections highlight what is specifically covered in this book.
Part 1: The shared economy or the emergence of a new business model
Part 1 discusses a literature review on the theme of the sharing economy. It aims to sketch a congruent overview of the state of the art and the knowledge needed to understand this “phenomenon”. In this part, we will present the sharing economy as an alternative to an outdated economy that is unable to meet the socio-economic and environmental expectations of individuals. It will shed light on the challenges facing the practices of the sharing economy and the possible risks faced by companies and society. Talking about the sharing economy cannot be done without mentioning the technology that has led to the emergence of this new business model, namely digital platforms. The latter provide the foundations of the sharing economy, but also ensure its realization and future.
Chapter 1, “The Sharing Economy: A Concept Under Construction”, discusses the emergence of the “sharing economy” concept and its rise to becoming a business model that disrupts the practices of a bygone economy, to the extent that it has created socio-economic and environmental problems.
In Chapter 2, “An Opportunity for the Business World”, we look at the consequences of adopting the sharing economy, namely the potential opportunities for the business world, as an optional approach in order to gain a competitive advantage.
Chapter 3, “Risks and Issues of the Sharing Economy”, examines the inevitable risks and challenges that the sharing economy covers for economic agents. How would producers perceive the new consumer behavior? Would they be able to embrace it? Or would they be on the defensive? How would individuals, who would see their jobs
