Gwendolyn Floyd, co-founder of REGIONAL, an 'international office for development and design', talks about the possibilities in sharing personal data.

She points out that it is difficult for humans to see themselves outside a social context. Technology has enabled people to share everything on one common platform; the Internet. There is already so much personal data out there that it is impossible to control it. Rather than trying to protect it, it should be shared and used by as many as possible.

Data collecting is one of the tools to improve efficiency. The right tool can track improvement, produce data and notice things one wouldn't ordinarily see. Our lives are already filled with data collecting gadgets; watches that monitor heart rate when exercising, sleep monitors, pedometers and so on. Gwendolyn Floyd refers to do-it-yourself-solution where a guy put a microphone under his mattress in order to track his sleeping patterns.

The data collecting and sharing is also happening on the internet - sites like Facebook, Twitter and Blogger enables the users to share their personal lives with others. It is possible to tell stories through data. On CureTogether users share their symptoms and disease while supporting each other. They are creating a scientific method for everyday life.

Another thing that data collecting and sharing can be used for is setting limitations. An athlete was tracking his training. And as it is normal human behaviour, Gwendolyn Floyd points out, he pushed himself to the limit. But when he reached his limit, he didn't keep going and potentially hurt himself. By tracking and collecting his training, he had found patterns in his behaviour and therefore knew his natural physical limitations. By changing perspective, he triggered a large scale phenomena based on one single accident.

In another case, a man was tracking his blood sugar while undergoing anger management. After keeping track of the spikes in blood sugar, he realizes that they correlated with his anger bursts. A simple case that would have been hard for the doctor to discover.

Gwendolyn Floyd emphasizes that sharing and opening up for data is a tool for mindfulness, for oneself and the surrounding environment. Personal data is a resource and will be the base for innovation in the future - it will simply define one's relationship with the outside world.