[OSGeo-Discuss] Discuss Digest, Vol 187, Issue 13

Steven Feldman shfeldman at gmail.com
Mon Aug 1 04:35:37 PDT 2022 

Suchith

Lots of companies use the word “science” in their marketing, here are a few examples from a very quick search:
https://www.skinscience.uk <https://www.skinscience.uk/>
https://www.foodscience.co.uk <https://www.foodscience.co.uk/>
https://www.ministryofsupply.com <https://www.ministryofsupply.com/>

It does not mean that they are claiming ownership of the whole domain of skin science or materials science.

The company you are probably referring to says on its website "Since 1969, we have supported customers with geographic science and geospatial analytics, what we call The Science of Where. We take a geographic approach to problem-solving, brought to life by modern GIS technology. We are committed to using science and technology to build a sustainable world.” It’s marketing blurb and it is effective but I cannot see what is unethical? 

After all it is not much more than a decade ago that academics started talking about GIS as Geographic Information Science, before that we all used the acronym for Geographic Information System. As for the use of the word where, that is a relatively new term in our sector (possible early usage by whereonearth.com <http://whereonearth.com/>) and is not in my experience in common usage in the academic community.

Is your problem the use of the word “science" by a business or is it because the company is a proprietary software company or …?
______
Steven

Unusual maps in strange places -  mappery.org <http://mappery.org/>

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> 
> Today's Topics:
> 
>   1. Fw: GIS Education (Suchith Anand)
> 
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Message: 1
> Date: Sat, 30 Jul 2022 16:56:06 +0000
> From: Suchith Anand <Suchith.Anand at nottingham.ac.uk>
> To: "discuss at lists.osgeo.org" <discuss at lists.osgeo.org>, GeoForAll
> 	<GeoForAll at lists.osgeo.org>
> Subject: [OSGeo-Discuss] Fw: GIS Education
> Message-ID:
> 	<AM6PR06MB4581AA89ACC29F0B23E9EC3682989 at AM6PR06MB4581.eurprd06.prod.outlook.com>
> 	
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"
> 
> For those interested in GeoEthics  can join the OGC GeoEthics maillist at https://lists.opengeospatial.org/mailman/listinfo/geoethics
> 
> 
> Best wishes
> 
> 
> Suchith
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: GeoEthics <geoethics-bounces at lists.ogc.org> on behalf of Suchith Anand via GeoEthics <geoethics at lists.ogc.org>
> Sent: 30 July 2022 08:25
> To: geoethics at lists.opengeospatial.org <geoethics at lists.opengeospatial.org>
> Subject: Re: [GeoEthics] GIS Education
> 
> 
> Dear colleagues,
> 
> 
> I received email from some colleagues requesting more information on the Trademark of ?Science?. So for openness and transparency , I would like to provide more information.
> 
> 
> I am not a native English speaker, so my apologies if anything got lost in translation.  Please feel free to ask me if you need any further information.
> 
> 
> I am a Geographic Information Scientist. Geographic Information Science (GIS) is my scientific discipline. I am now writing an article on Education which is also looking into the Ethics of Digital Feudalism in GIS Education. I am inviting advice and guidance from colleagues as I have many questions that I do not know answers.  Hence I shared my ethical questions.
> 
> 
> 
> I came across  example of a vendor trademarking ?the Science of Where? in the GIS/mapping domain and using this to promote their brand/products/services.
> 
> 
> https://trademarks.justia.com/871/92/the-science-of-87192660.html
> 
> 
> Is it Ethical to market/promote any vendor brand/products/services as ?the Science ? of whichever area of study ? Is Science in that subject area   ?owned? by the Vendor who has trademark rights? For example if vendors start trademarking and marketing their brand/products/services as ?The Science of Climate Change? , ?The Science of Where? etc etc?  If so, what are the implications for credibility of Science?
> 
> 
> 
> Are there any guidelines for  Scientific Associations (esp. if they are members of the International Science Council ) for  taking sponsorship from vendors who promote their   product/brand/services as  ?The Science of ?whatever? topic !?
> 
> 
> I am a member of the GEO Data Ethics Working Group (The WG was  closed this month by GEO Secretariat due to ?resource constraints? ) where I have been raising the issue of vendor sponsorship for Group on Earth Observations (GEO) conferences, projects etc and the need to have clear guidelines.
> 
> 
> 
> I will appreciate advice and guidance from colleagues on this. Thanks.
> 
> 
> Best wishes
> 
> 
> Suchith
> 
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: Suchith Anand <ezasa7 at exmail.nottingham.ac.uk>
> Sent: 26 July 2022 17:34
> To: geoethics at lists.opengeospatial.org <geoethics at lists.opengeospatial.org>
> Subject: GIS Education
> 
> Dear colleagues
> 
> 
> I am now writing an article on GIS Education and I will appreciate your advice and guidance.
> 
> 
> Is it ethical for GIS Vendors (Vendor X or Y , it doesn?t matter)   to trademark/sales/market their products/brand/services as ?the science?? It might be a profit /sales/marketing strategy for the vendors to help increase market share for their products, add more credibility for their brand/products/services etc . But what will be the affects for the credibility of science and scientific community in the future?
> 
> 
> 
> If any Vendor is ?sponsoring?  Scientific conferences or education initiatives ("free" licences etc) in return for promoting the vendor products/brand as ?the Science? in the conference website etc ,  what is its impact for the discipline? Is it ethical?  If so,  what happens when then the vendors can use this framework ?sponsorship ? model for promoting their product/brand as ?The Science?  and advance the vendor Education agenda to the student and user communities ? Are there any guidelines on vendor lobbying in GIS Education initiatives?
> 
> What is the ethical impact of this for the discipline as a whole?   What is the impact of this for Humanity?
> 
> 
> Are there university policies and code of conduct to follow if any academics/researchers are funded by any vendor (for example, through GIS vendor funded faculty posts , research funding by any GIS vendors)?   Can academics and researchers publish articles on GIS education promoting the vendor products (either directly or indirectly)?
> 
> 
> I am interested to learn more on what policies and curriculum are universities, educators adopting to reduce Digital Feudalism in GIS education? Do your courses cover topics on data rights, digital citizenship ?
> 
> 
> 
> I will appreciate your advice and guidance. Please send your reply to Suchith.Anand at nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:Suchith.Anand at nottingham.ac.uk>
> 
> 
> You might be interested in the Data Values article that myself and Kathryn Bailey wrote , which looks into the Ethics of Digital Feudalism in Earth Observation (EO) data. I thank the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD) and Data Values initiative for inviting us to write this article.
> 
> 
> More details at https://datavaluesdigest.substack.com/p/how-digital-feudalism-hurts-farmers
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Best wishes
> 
> 
> Suchith
> 
> 
> 
> Dr Suchith Anand
> 
> Senior Adviser to Governments and International Organisations | Scientist | Board member | Governance | Policy | Consultant in Data Science and Data Ethics | Global Citizen | SDG Volunteer and Advocate
> 
> 
> https://council.science/profile/suchith-anand/
> 
> https://www.rd-alliance.org/users/suchith-anand
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