The Windows Azure MarketPlace DataMarket is the Data-as-a-Service offering in the Windows Azure Platform. It provides a marketplace where data providers can make their data available in a standardized manner that simplifies the consumption of that data. Commercial providers of data, typically charge a subscription for their data while government entities may make it freely available. The DataMarket already contains a wide variety of data from commercial and government providers, varying from house-price data in the USA to gross domestic product expenditures in Afghanistan.
The DataMarket benefits providers of datasets by giving them a standard way of exposing these datasets and generating revenue from them. It benefits consumers of datasets by simplifying the process of accessing data without the need to negotiate individually with providers. The DataMarket therefore serves to democratize access to large datasets that may previously...