The Second Curve in Digital Transformation: A Study on Business Model Innovation through Highway Maintenance Data Assetization

Abstract

Against the backdrop of deep integration between digital economy and transportation infrastructure, highway maintenance data are evolving from internal management tools into tradable and financeable strategic assets. However, existing research lacks systematic explanations of how highway transportation enterprises cultivate the second curve through maintenance data assetization. This study integrates resource-based theory, data lifecycle theory, and business model innovation theory to construct a “resource foundation—technical transformation—model reconstruction” three-dimensional analytical framework, and proposes a three-stage evolution model: internal empowerment, external transaction, and capitalization operation. Through a dualcase study of Gansu Provincial Highway Construction Group and Jilin Provincial Highway Group, findings reveal that: (1) Highway maintenance data meet VRIO criteria, with organizational support serving as the key prerequisite; (2) The critical transition condition from internal empowerment to external transaction is scenario definition and productization capability, while the transition to capitalization operation requires market validation and financial instrument embedding; (3) Data assetization drives business model innovation by reshaping value proposition, value creation and delivery, and value capture; (4) Maintenance data and traffic data exhibit two differentiated assetization pathways: “depth mining” and “breadth coverage.” This study operationalizes the second curve theory into an analyzable three-stage evolution model, extending the application of resource-based view in the context of data assets.