The Aiven Data Economy series will explore various aspects that are driving arguably the most influential and innovative area of global commerce today. Spanning five pieces, the series will begin - below - by establishing what the data economy (DE) is and why it is important. What will follow will be articles looking at the individual macro elements driving it forward, environment, people and investment. The series will close with a piece looking into the future of the DE given the influences of the areas we have covered. The articles will be steered by a selection of key industry leaders each representing an area of the DE. These include; start-ups, enterprises, investors and of course, thought-leaders from within Aiven.