Data and information flows. Assessing threads and opportunities to ensure privacy and investment returns

Timely access to data and information has always been the key to the success of every business. A merchant who can find goods, before anyone else, at a lower price, may succeed in obtaining a higher profit margin for the resale, the researcher who first manages to discover a chemical formula or to invent a new design, can sale a new product. Therefore, science must always face a terrible trade-off between the private need to make profits and the social opportunity of scientific development. Information and knowledge undoubtedly represent a valuable competitive advantage for those who hold them [1-2]. The data holders, in order to continue to benefit from this advantage, try in every way to protect their secrecy. Innovation is a creative process, generated by the human mind, driven by completely different potential factors. Some economic theories claim that innovation is driven by competition. Conversely, other more recent theories highlight the advantages produced by information sharing [3-6]. In this research paper, the author provides a systematic overview of the main factors that (a) influence decisions, (b) limit the development and dissemination of ideas [7], (c) guarantee economic growth. The analysis provided represents an effective tool for companies and policy makers to understand the standard patterns of the data and information flows and the key factors that drive the innovation, the development, and the growth of the world economy.