Blinded by data: The risks of the implicit focus on data in ICT for Sustainability

Zapico, Jorge Luis

doi:10.2991/ict4s-14.2014.18

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…It could be argued that this values basis of sustainability makes it inherently unsuited to computing. Zapico [61] describes how sustainability is a normative concept, building on ideas such as justice, equity and responsibility, and based on human culture and society. This does not sit well with a machine (and a science) that deals with quantitative data" and can lead to "data blindness" which he describes as "the risk of trusting only or too much in data".…”

Section: Values Change Over Behaviour Modificationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shifting the maturity needle of ICT for Sustainability

Mann¹,

Bates²,

Maher³

EPiC Series in Computing

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The ubiquity of ICT means the potential of ICT4S covers a broad range of sustainability topics and application domains. However, ICT4S research can be ill positioned with regard to the complexity of transforming society in such a way that people and environmental ecologies can coexist in a sustainable system. The danger is that ICT4S becomes partitioned into a small subset of sustainability and using a limited set of the levers at our disposal. Grounded in the Mann-Bates maturity scale for sustainability this paper performs an analysis of the ICT4S conference corpus to measure how mature the research is in our field with regard to sustainability. Based on this analysis we identify areas in which the ICT4S community can begin to shift the maturity of research in order to promote sustainable futures. By applying the Transformation Mindset our article demonstrates through a series of illustrative how ICT4S can apply this mindset to shift ICT4S research towards more sustainable trajectories. This is an essential first step in taking stock, highlighting shortcomings and identifying opportunities in ICT for sustainability.

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Section: Values Change Over Behaviour Modificationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shifting the maturity needle of ICT for Sustainability

Mann¹,

Bates²,

Maher³

EPiC Series in Computing

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“…[4,51]). Solutions that look to encourage sustainable transformation must be sensitive to data-driven approaches where users and decision makers can 'blinded by the data' and that transparency, context and reflection is important when using data-driven approaches in sustainability [61].…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

ICT for Sustainable Last-Mile Logistics: Data, People and Parcels

Bates¹,

Friday²,

Allen³

et al.

EPiC Series in Computing

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In this paper we present a vision of how ICT can be leveraged to help combat the impact on pollution, congestion and carbon emissions contributed by the parcel delivery sector. This is timely given annual growth in parcel deliveries, especially same-day deliveries, and the need to inform initiatives to clean up our cities such as the sales ban on new petrol and diesel vehicles in the UK by 2040. Our insights are informed by research on parcel logistics in Central London, leveraging a data set of parcel manifests spanning 6 months. To understand the impact of growing e-commerce trends on parcel deliveries we provide a mixed methods case study leveraging data-driven analysis and qualitative fieldwork to demonstrate how ICT can uncover the impact of parcel deliveries on delivery drivers and their delivery rounds during seasonal deliveries (or "the silly season"). We finish by discussing key opportunities for intervention and further research in ICT4S and co-created Smart Cities, connecting our findings with existing research and data as a call to the ICT4S community to help tackle the growth in carbon emissions, pollution and congestion linked to parcel deliveries.

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