Understanding Pacific Data Commons
What is Pacific Data Commons?
Pacific Data Commons (PDC) is a digital marketplace where Pacific institutions — universities, government ministries, research agencies — can list their data and earn direct payments when AI agents or researchers query it. Your data stays on your own servers at all times. SBP never stores, copies, or controls your data.
What does SBP do, and what does SBP NOT do?
SBP is the directory and payment infrastructure only. SBP verifies your institution's identity, lists your data in the directory, and routes payments from buyers directly to your wallet. SBP does not store your data, assess its quality, arbitrate disputes between you and buyers, or hold your money at any point. 97% of every payment goes directly to your Algorand wallet. SBP earns 3% as an infrastructure fee.
Who can register as a data provider?
Any Pacific institution with a verifiable institutional email address and a data endpoint they own can register. This includes universities, government ministries, research agencies, NGOs, and regional bodies. Individual researchers cannot register — institutions only.
Understanding Each Page
What is the Provider Dashboard?
The Provider Dashboard is your institution's home page after registration. It shows your PDC wallet balance (how much USDC you have earned), your recent queries (which agents or researchers have accessed your data and when), your trust tier progress (Bronze, Silver, Gold), and your active data endpoints. Think of it as your institution's earnings and analytics centre.
What is the Agent Marketplace?
The Agent Marketplace is where AI agents are listed that can query Pacific data on behalf of users. These agents are pre-built tools that combine data from multiple PDC endpoints to answer specific questions — for example, the Pacific Fisheries Status agent queries ocean temperature data and fisheries catch data together to give a more complete picture than either dataset alone.
When I click 'Run Agent' — what is actually happening?
When you run an agent, the agent queries one or more data endpoints listed in the PDC directory. Each query triggers a small USDC payment from your wallet to the data provider's wallet — this happens automatically via the Algorand blockchain. You pay a small per-query fee (shown on the agent card) and receive a formatted report or data response. You are the buyer in this transaction. If you are also a data provider, your own earnings from others querying your data are separate from what you spend running agents.
What is the 'Add Dataset' page?
Add Dataset is where you upload a new dataset to the PDC directory. This walks you through the same 7-step onboarding process used for your first dataset, but skips the registration and wallet setup steps since your institution is already verified. You can add as many datasets as you have data for.
What is 'Wallet Settings'?
Wallet Settings takes you to the wallet setup page where you can review your Algorand wallet address, check your USDC opt-in status, and access the wallet setup guide. Your wallet address is where all your earnings are sent — it is worth checking occasionally to confirm it is correct.
Getting Paid
How does my institution get paid?
Every time an AI agent or researcher queries your data endpoint, a USDC payment is sent automatically from their wallet to your Algorand wallet. This happens on the Algorand blockchain — there is no invoice, no bank transfer, and no waiting period. Payments arrive within seconds.
What is USDC?
USDC is a digital currency pegged to the US dollar — 1 USDC always equals 1 USD. It is held in your Algorand blockchain wallet. It is not automatically convertible to local currency (WST, FJD, etc.) — your institution holds it as a digital asset. SBP is actively consulting with the Central Bank of Samoa on the regulatory pathway for USDC-to-local-currency conversion. We will notify all providers when this pathway becomes available.
What are the different pricing tiers (Tier 1 through Tier 5)?
When you list a dataset, you set a price for each access tier. Tier 1 is a brief summary (cheapest — typically $0.01). Tier 2 is a filtered data slice. Tier 3 is the complete dataset. Tier 4 is the full dataset plus methodology documentation. Tier 5 is a custom commissioned query where SBP and the provider work together directly with the buyer. You set your own prices — the platform suggests prices based on comparable datasets but you have full control.
What is the $0.01 directory query fee?
Every time someone searches the PDC directory (not a data query — just browsing the listings), a $0.01 USDC fee is charged. This small fee helps SBP cover operational costs and discourages automated scraping of the directory. You do not pay this fee — buyers pay it when they search.
Trust Tiers
What is Bronze tier?
Bronze is the starting trust tier, awarded automatically when your institution is verified. It means SBP has confirmed your institution exists, your email domain matches your institution, and your Algorand wallet is valid. Bronze providers can list data and receive payments. Buyers see “Identity Verified — Unrated” for Bronze providers.
What is Silver tier?
Silver is earned when 3 different verified buyers have paid for a query from your endpoint and submitted a positive rating. This is community verification — SBP does not assess quality, buyers do. Silver tier removes the price cap on your listings and tells buyers your data has been independently used and rated. It is free to achieve.
What is Gold tier?
Gold is earned when your dataset has been formally peer reviewed and you submit the DOI (Digital Object Identifier) as evidence. SBP does a clerical check only — confirming the DOI resolves, the author name matches, and the paper references the dataset. SBP does not assess scientific quality. Gold tier costs $25 one-time and signals to buyers that your data meets academic peer review standards.
Your Data and Privacy
Does SBP store or copy my data?
No. Your data stays on your own servers at all times. SBP only stores your metadata — the description, pricing, and provenance information you enter during onboarding. When a buyer queries your data, the query goes directly to your endpoint. SBP routes the payment but never sees the data.
Who can access my data?
Only buyers who pay the appropriate tier price can access your data. You set the price and the access conditions. You can also set sovereignty flags — for example, marking data as containing traditional ecological knowledge, which restricts certain types of commercial use. Buyers must acknowledge these flags before querying.
Can I update or remove my data listing?
Yes. You can update your metadata, pricing, and provenance information at any time through your provider dashboard. If you need to remove a listing, contact SBP at anthony@synergybcpacific.com — full endpoint removal is currently a manual process during the pilot period.
Can I register multiple datasets?
Yes. Use the ‘Add Dataset’ link in the navigation to add additional datasets to your institution's account. Each dataset gets its own endpoint, its own pricing, and its own trust tier progression. Your wallet receives payments from all your datasets in one place.
Can I register two different organisations with the same email?
No — one email address is linked to one institution. This is a security measure to prevent the same contact from creating duplicate listings for the same institution. If you genuinely represent two separate institutions, use a different institutional email address for each registration. Contact SBP if you need assistance with this.
Technical Questions
What is an Algorand wallet and why do I need one?
An Algorand wallet is a digital payment address — like a bank account number for the Algorand blockchain. You need one so that USDC payments from buyers can be sent directly to your institution. SBP recommends Pera Wallet (free, available on iOS and Android) for most institutions. SBP sends 0.5 ALGO to your wallet to cover the initial setup costs — you do not need to purchase anything to get started.
What is x402 and why does it matter?
x402 is the payment protocol that PDC uses to enable per-query micropayments. When an AI agent sends a query to your endpoint, x402 automatically handles the payment verification and settlement — the agent pays, the payment is confirmed on the Algorand blockchain, and then the query is fulfilled. This happens in under a second. You do not need to understand or configure x402 — it works automatically once your endpoint is live.
What happens after I complete registration?
After completing all 7 registration steps, SBP reviews your submission within 2 business days. We verify your institution details, confirm your data endpoint is accessible, and activate your listing in the directory. You will receive an email when your endpoint is live and ready to receive queries.
Still have questions?
Contact SBP directly — we respond to every message.
Email anthony@synergybcpacific.com