Resocializing digital water transformations: Outlining social science perspectives on the digital water journey

Abstract

Digital water transformation is often written about as though universally desirable and inevitable, capable of addressing the multifaceted socioecological challenges that water systems face. However, there is not widespread reflection on the complexities, tensions and unintended consequences of digital transformation, its social and political dimensions are often neglected. This article introduces case studies of digital water development, bringing examples of technological innovation into dialogue with literature and empirical research from across the social sciences. We examine how Big Data affects our observations of water in society to shape water management, how the Internet of Things becomes involved in reproducing unjust water politics, how digital platforms are entangled in the varied sociocultural landscape of everyday water use, and how opensource technologies provide new possibilities for participatory water governance. We also reflect on regulatory developments and the possible trajectories of innovation resulting from public‐private sector interactions. A socially and politically informed view of digital water is essential for just and sustainable development, and the gap between industry visions of digital water and research within the social sciences is inhibitive. Thus, the analysis presented in this article provides a novel, pluralistic perspective on digital water development and outlines what is required for more inclusive future scholarship, policy and practice. This article is categorized under: Human Water

Socio-technical system analysis of responsible data sharing in water systems as critical infrastructure

“…With the introduction of digitalized data-driven water management these interactions will increasingly become automated in workflows that partially or fully do not require human interaction. This will necessitate that we view interactions not only as social behaviors of exchange, but also as (in)voluntary processes based on the principles of reciprocity (Emerson, 1976 ) and FAIRness (Wilkinson et al, 2016 ; Collins et al, 2018 ; Stall et al, 2019 ); and overall, the social adaptations of system agents to technologies and data are required (Skjølsvold et al, 2015 ; Hoolohan et al, 2021 ).…”

Integrated management of limited water resources in Smart Cities

“…Future Smart Cities should focus primarily on safe and resilient water management concepts based on sustainable development. In 2019, the "SMART-WATER" project was implemented in Greece, which implemented a system of intelligent sensors and analytical processes Big data into practice (Antzoulatos et al, 2020;Hoolohan et al, 2021).…”

Social barriers to open (water) data

“…Additionally, since water data collected in the past has proven useful much later for unanticipated purposes, we can expect that some water data collected and made open today will similarly one day have serendipitous value. And to the degree that they are part of a larger "digital transformation" of water, open water data may contribute to better civic engagement; democratization of water knowledge; and the empowerment of communities seeking a better understanding of their local environment (Hoolohan et al, 2021).…”

“…This is especially important in light of the need to honor and enact indigenous data sovereignty when data are collected about indigenous people by non-indigenous entities. Implementation of the CARE Principles could also be seen as a way to mitigate social tensions and negative unanticipated social and political consequences that can result from the broader digital transformation of water (Hoolohan et al, 2021).…”