In the modern age of digitization, data is everywhere. The need to efficiently sell and purchase data has led to an emergence of data marketplaces, which are platforms that act as intermediaries between data providers and data consumers, but at the same time offer functionality for processing the data offered (e.g., cleansing, anonymizing, aggregating, etc.), typically before it is being sold. There are many such marketplaces observable today and they differ widely in their target audiences and business models, more recently, they have even expanded into the realm of Internet of Things (IoT, e.g., Exosite, Libelium).

The DBIS Group has studied data marketplaces previously in a series of surveys that examined a large share of data marketplaces, analyzed their individual characteristics, and studied trends and developments in this area. The goal of this thesis is to continue this line of research by conducting a survey of the current state of affairs of data marketplaces, and also take a look at emerging IoT marketplaces. The latter are different in that they are not just about data, but also about appliances, APIs, apps etc. whose ultimate goal is the provision of an integrated IoT solution.

This thesis involves an advancement of the research framework that has been used in the past, as well as a thorough investigation into the latest services and offerings in this area. Furthermore, a comparison to previous surveys should be made alongside a prognosis of how the field might evolve in the (near) future. Of particular interest in this context is the effect of recent developments, such as blockchains and smart contracts (e.g., IOTA, Datum).