By 2016, nearly a third of businesses will boost their revenues by selling their information assets to external parties, analyst company Gartner predicted today.

According to analyst Doug Laney, the data that businesses have accumulated is an untapped source of financial value. In three years time, 30% of businesses will be reselling that data as new a source of revenue.

However, the practice of monetising data will be impaired by a lack of experience both in calculating the potential value of information and of building information services.

Laney therefore predicts that intermediary organisations that help businesses process, analyse and ‘productise’ their for use third parties will emerge. He describes these organisations as "information resellers".

He also warned that companies that decide to resell their data must do so carefully, lest they aggrevate consumers and regulators.

"Businesses monetising information assets need to be sensitive to the reputational risk of public backlash against such practices, that may in turn lead to a tighter regulatory environment," he said.

In November, Information Age spoke to Laney about the topic of infonomics – calculating and exploiting the economic value of information.

He believes that calculating the economic value of data has numerous benefits. One of these is the ability to identify which assets can be resold and for how much, but it can also help in planning information management investments, and in valuing a company in advance of an acquisition.

Laney explained the various methods of calculating the value of information. Click here to read the full feature.