[CODATA-international] Digital Feudalism

anatoly av at total-knowledge.com
Sun Oct 13 00:47:36 EDT 2019 

I don't know what "data capitalism" could mean conceptually. But it 
seems to be clear that we deal here with a direct  derivative of IP 
concept(s). Copyrights, patents, trademarks, etc. are in opposition to 
the very foundation of humanity in general, art and science -- in 
particular. If and when IP monsters be gone the derivatives must  die along.

Anatoly Volynets

On 10/11/19 15:46, Mwitondi, Kassim wrote:
> This is an instance of a biased data ownership. A few years ago I was 
> working with a young African researcher on an agro-forestry research 
> project. No sooner had we started than I realused that her centre had 
> only some descriptive statistics but no direct access to the biomass 
> data which she and her colleagues had spent months collecting from two 
> islands! The vast chunk of the data had left with the development 
> partners at the end of the project. It turned out, nobody at the 
> centre had any knowledge or pressing interest to pursue the data and 
> there was already new initiatives to run another project, which in my 
> view was almost a duplicate of the first, but this time with a 
> different development partner.
>
> To cut the long story short, I have come across several cases of data 
> ownership of this nature and my view is that it doesn't help much 
> coining terminologies, as the best that can be achieved is a blame 
> culture. Would I call that data capitalism? Colonialism? Feudalism? I 
> never would! I have learnt, over the years, that proper problem 
> identification is a major stride in working out the solution. Blaming 
> it on one part marginalizing the other when it comes to data 
> generation, access and ownership is stripping everyone on the project 
> of a fundamental responsibility in managing the project.
>
> Apparently, the problem starts with the project write-up. If the 
> project recipient is fully engaged from project initiation to 
> delivery, they surely should know how to access the data, as that is a 
> key project deliverable. My personal experience is that there are a 
> several factors that lead to this kind of situation. One, many project 
> ideas are top-down, that is, they are not developed within the working 
> conditions of the recipients. Two, there are often many gaps in 
> engagement, mainly caused by near disparate motives on many projects, 
> with the funders, experts and recipients not necessarily having the 
> same perception, motives or knowledge. Put the two together and add 
> the determined project timeline, you have a near disaster. But the 
> tripartite interests to run projects continues and we are creating a 
> vicious cycle. What is the solution? It must start from the recipients 
> who must align each incoming project with their respective development 
> strategies. They must present themselves as equal partners in defining 
> the project problem and tracking and measuring its outcomes. They 
> should be able to quantifiable identify what worked and what didn't 
> and any there should be national institutions charged with such 
> responsibility. I could be writing all night, I would rather stop here 
> for now.
>
> Thanks.
>
> KSM
>
> Dr Kassim S. Mwitondi
> Sheffield Hallam University
> Faculty of Science, Technology and Arts
> Communication & Computing Research Centre
> 9410 Cantor Building, City Campus
> 153 Arundel Street
> Sheffield, S1 2NU
> United Kingdom
> Tel. +44-114-2256914 (Direct)
> Tel. +44-114-2255555 (General)
> https://www.shu.ac.uk/about-us/our-people/staff-profiles/kassim-mwitondi
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* CODATA-international 
> <codata-international-bounces at lists.codata.org> on behalf of Trimpact 
> - Niek <niek at trimpact.nl>
> *Sent:* 11 October 2019 18:12:22
> *To:* 'Ernie Boyko' <boykern at yahoo.com>; 'CODATA International' 
> <codata-international at lists.codata.org>; 'Suchith Anand' 
> <Suchith.Anand at nottingham.ac.uk>
> *Subject:* Re: [CODATA-international] Digital Feudalism
>
> Dear all,
>
> This is indeed a huge problem. I also recently learned that 
> information data from NGOs are best perhaps shared with some 
> ministries in Bamako, Mali, but not within a region where the work is 
> being done. This implies that local decision makers remain dependant 
> on the information/data stream back from the ministries which may take 
> some months, if ever. This can never be the purpose of the work executed.
>
> Since most of the projects are financed with public funding for the 
> benefit of de people in the given (development) country and 
> data/information belong in fact to the real funds provider of the work 
> (i.e. tax payers), claims of intellectual property rights that data 
> belong to the project executors seem not applicable. Consequently, 
> data and other information (e.g. lessons learned) should be shared at 
> large to the population and other relevant stakeholders to avoid 
> duplication of efforts.
>
> A discussion worthwhile to be continued.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Dr. Niek van Duivenbooden
>
> /Bringing value to life/
>
> Mezenlaan 138  -  6951 HR Dieren  -  The Netherlands – T +31 61 13 81 061
>
> KvK: 64218422  - niek at trimpact.nl <mailto:niek at trimpact.nl>- 
> www.Trimpact.nl <http://www.trimpact.nl/>
>
> *Van:* CODATA-international 
> <codata-international-bounces at lists.codata.org> *Namens *Ernie Boyko
> *Verzonden:* vrijdag 11 oktober 2019 15:26
> *Aan:* CODATA International <codata-international at lists.codata.org>; 
> Suchith Anand <Suchith.Anand at nottingham.ac.uk>
> *Onderwerp:* Re: [CODATA-international] Digital Feudalism
>
> Thank you Suchith,
>
> I have not heard that term before but I did run into   related term 
> this week at the DDI-CODATA workshop here in Dagstuhl.  The term is 
> Data Colonialism.  This often happens when a foreign entity (e.g., a 
> development agency/project).e data are collected in a developing 
> country and are taken out of the country.  They will leave behind some 
> summary tables but will take the rich data and metadata away.  This 
> makes it difficult to develop the data analysis and management skills 
> within the country.
>
> Thanks for the message.
>
> Cheers, Ernie
>
> +1-613-290-2804
>
> *Larrimac:  More than a golf course!*
>
> *CODATA: Making data work together to improve science to support 
> decision makers.*
>
> On Friday, October 11, 2019, 08:51:29 AM EDT, Suchith Anand 
> <Suchith.Anand at nottingham.ac.uk 
> <mailto:Suchith.Anand at nottingham.ac.uk>> wrote:
>
> I came across a recent op-ed by Prof. Mariana Mazzucato on “Digital 
> Feudalism”  at
>
> https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/platform-economy-digital-feudalism-by-mariana-mazzucato-2019-10?utm_source=Project+Syndicate+Newsletter&utm_campaign=d192f2bc47-sunday_newsletter_6_10_2019&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_73bad5b7d8-d192f2bc47-105013549&mc_cid=d192f2bc47&mc_eid=a8cee90b20
>
> Prof. Mazzucato is a leading researcher and thinker on Technology and 
> Innovation, advisor to the European Commission on research and 
> innovation strategy, and author of two important books on the subject 
> “The Value of Everything” and “The Entrepreneurial State”.
>
> The report on “Mission-oriented Research and Innovation in the 
> European Union” might be of interest
>
> https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/mazzucato_report_2018.pdf
>
> Since the use of cloud platforms for GIS data analysis is having a 
> huge impact on the GIS community, the subject is of relevance. I would 
> like learn more on this
>
>  1. Are there any examples of Digital Feudalism in GIS?
>  2. How will Digital Feudalism in GIS affect our future generations?
>  3. What policies are governments, regulators doing to reduce Digital
>     Feudalism in GIS?
>  4. What policies and curriculum are universities, educators adopting
>     to reduce Digital Feudalism in GIS?
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Suchith
>
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