What Does Information Science Offer for Data Science Research?:A Review of Data and Information Ethics Literature

This paper reviews literature pertaining to the development of data science as a discipline,current issues with data bias and ethics,and the role that the discipline of information science may play in addressing these concerns.Information science research and researchers have much to offer for data science,owing to their background as transdisciplinary scholars who apply human-centered and social-behavioral perspectives to issues within natural science disciplines.Information science researchers have already contributed to a humanistic approach to data ethics within the literature and an emphasis on data science within information schools all but ensures that this literature will continue to grow in coming decades.This review article serves as a reference for the history,current progress,and potential future directions of data ethics research within the corpus of information science literature.

An ethics assessment list for geoinformation ecosystems: revisiting the integrated geospatial information framework of the United Nations

To achieve sustainable development goals,georeferenced data and geographic information systems play a crucial role.Yet,the way in which these data and systems are summoned upon rests on positivist assumptions which overlook both epistemological and ethical concerns.This is epitomized by the integrated geospatial information framework(IGIF)of the United Nations,which,from the perspective of sustainable development,aims to provide guidance for the management of geoinformation and related tools,considering these as mirrors of the physical world.In this respect,the article has three main goals.First,it delivers an epistemological and ethical critique of the IGIF,by highlighting its internal tensions.Second,it suggests how the IGIF and similar geoinformation initiatives can benefit from an ethical reflection that allows to conduct georeferenced practices in a fair(er)way.Third,it designs an ethics assessment list for self-evaluating the ethical robustness of geoinformation initiatives as ecosystems.

Transformations of trust in society: A systematic review of how access to big data in energy systems challenges Scandinavian culture

In the era of information technology and big data,the extraction,commodification,and control of personal information is redefining how people relate and interact.However,the challenges that big data collection and analytics can introduce in trust-based societies,like those of Scandinavia,are not yet understood.For instance,in the energy sector,data generated through smart appliances,like smart metering devices,can have collateral implications for the end-users.In this paper,we present a systematic review of scientific articles indexed in Scopus to identify possible relationships between the practices of collecting,processing,analysing,and using people’s data and people’s responses to such practices.We contextualise this by looking at research about Scandinavian societies and link this to the academic literature on big data and trust,big data and smart meters,data ethics and the energy sector,surveillance capitalism,and subsequently performing a reflexive thematic analysis.We broadly situate our understanding of culture in this context on the interactions between cognitive norms,material culture,and energy practices.Our analysis identified a number of articles discussing problems and solutions to do with the practices of surveillance capitalism.We also found that research addresses these challenges in different ways.While some research focuses on technological amendments to address users’privacy protection,only few examine the fundamental ethical questions that discuss how big data practices may change societies and increase their vulnerability.The literature suggests that even in highly trusting societies,like the ones found in Scandinavian countries,trust can be undermined and weakened.

Digital earth:yesterday,today,and tomorrow

The concept of Digital Earth(DE)was formalized by Al Gore in 1998.At that time the technologies needed for its implementation were in an embryonic stage and the concept was quite visionary.Since then digital technologies have progressed significantly and their speed and pervasiveness have generated and are still causing the digital transformation of our society.This creates new opportunities and challenges for the realization of DE.‘What is DE today?’,‘What could DE be in the future?’,and‘What is needed to make DE a reality?’.To answer these questions it is necessary to examine DE considering all the technological,scientific,social,and economic aspects,but also bearing in mind the principles that inspired its formulation.By understanding the lessons learned from the past,it becomes possible to identify the remaining scientific and technological challenges,and the actions needed to achieve the ultimate goal of a‘Digital Earth for all’.This article reviews the evolution of the DE vision and its multiple definitions,illustrates what has been achieved so far,explains the impact of digital transformation,illustrates the new vision,and concludes with possible future scenarios and recommended actions to facilitate full DE implementation.