From B2B to B2G and G2G data sharing in competition law. When data become a competitive advantage and an enforcement tool

Data has become an extremely important asset for our modern digital economy, mainly because of two key factors: the abundance of data that can be collected and processed (Big Data), and the technological advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data analytics techniques that make possible to transform data into meaningful information.In this scenario, data is not only a valuable resource for companies, but it is also a crucial element for public authorities when developing their own digital enforcement tools.This twofold function of data can be observed in competition law.Firstly, data serves as a competitive advantage for undertakings.By acquiring insights into users' habits and preferences, companies are able to tailor-made their products to customers' needs and strengthen their position in the market.Secondly, competition authorities have started to develop their own digital enforcement tools which would inevitably succeed or perish depending on data availability.This paper analyses the crucial role that data plays in competition dynamics as a competitive advantage for undertakings and as an enforcement tool for competition authorities, addressing potential challenges.On the one hand, theories of harm that involve data collection have been developed, and remedies to ensure that data can be fairly accessed and shared are put forward.B2B data sharing can be achieved by relying firstly on competition law instruments that can offer ex post solutions, and secondly on regulations that can mitigate ex ante the risk of infringing competition law.On the other hand, competition authorities need to have access to huge amount of data (quantitative data) of the right kind (qualitative data) in machine readable format, in order to develop reliable and accurate digital enforcement tools.Therefore, mechanisms for encouraging data sharing and cooperation between businesses and competition authorities (B2G data sharing) and between competition authorities and other relevant public bodies (G2G data sharing) are here suggested.