Technology brings opportunities, but also responsibilities
Crowdsourcing technology increases the likelihood of unintentional missteps, says Senior Advisor Eivind Junker from the Norwegian Environment Agency.
In our ongoing series of stakeholder interviews, we've asked Eivind Junker from the Norwegian Environment Agency about opportunities and considerations relating to the use of ICT and crowdsourcing in the context of urban sustainability. Junker is a Senior Advisor working with environmental law and climate adaptation issues.
1. In the last decades, new ways of research have been implemented, and they are referred to as crowdsourcing, citizen participation, citizen science, public participation or volunteered information. Where do you see the biggest advantage of such approaches?
I think the biggest benefit is the potential for large volumes of observations or data - often far beyond what is possible with traditional methods. This provides a potentially better basis for generalization.
I think the biggest benefit is the potential for large volumes of observations or data
2. Where do you see the biggest challenge of such approaches?
It's harder to check for errors, especially for data collected manually as opposed to for example data collected through automated gathering of location data from cell phones.
3.The vision of smart cities is nowadays a well-established path based on integrating multiple ICTs. Where do you see the greatest potential (if any) for the use and integration of multiples ICTs for urban sustainability.
Better management of services such as energy and heat, transport, water and sewage, including need-based scaling. For example, if the weather forecast predicts rain, the public transport capacity can be increased as fewer people will use their bike in the rain.
Also, responsible authorities can check whether relevant stormwater measures are working as intended ahead of intense precipitation.
4. What are the biggest challenges with digitalization and the integration of multiples ICTs for urban sustainability?
The possibility of system failure, and that society and individuals have become so dependent on or accustomed to ICT-solutions that functions comes to a halt or stops.
..the technology and the scale it allows for, increases the likelihood of deliberate abuse and unintentional missteps.
5. What does the term social responsible tell you? Do you see it compatible with crowdsourcing and/or citizen participation in research?
I think social responsibility could be explained as a moral obligation to do our best to make sure that our own efforts benefit society, or not harm society or individuals unnecessarily.
In principle, I don’t think crowdsourcing involves greater challenges than other research, but the technology and the scale it allows for, increases the likelihood of deliberate abuse and unintentional missteps.
(photo by: Miljødirektoratet/Inger Karin Lien)
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This blog post is part of a series where we interview stakeholders about ICT, crowdsourcing, research and urban sustainability.
You can take part in the dialogue by using the hashtag #crowds4research
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