[OSGeo-Discuss] Fw: GIS Education

Mon Aug 1 06:46:54 PDT 2022

Hi Suchith, all.

A geo-ethics discussion is always a good thing!

I hope the geoethics list decides to have an open, public archive soon.

It is my view that ideally we discuss geo-ethics as a really broad
community - and I also see that not everyone on this discuss list wants to
get involved all the time.

So it is necessary to be able to link important geo-ethics conversations
from, for example, this list as needed.

After all, all of us doing geospatial stuff are involved in the ongoing
conversation about the ethics of our work, whether we think we want to be
or not ;)

For some input to a geo-ethics conversation, I helped author a book chapter
a few years ago which attempted to lay out some ideas about what ethical
geo-data means - a "Good Data Manifesto". It tries to cover a lot of
ground! It is surrounded in a free, open book by other stellar authors
writing about ethics and data:

https://networkcultures.org/blog/publication/tod-29-good-data/

While a lot has changed since 2018/19 I hope that book is useful reading.
Of course these works always carry the biases of their authors, and reflect
examples we've had time to find and consider ;)

Kind regards,

Adam

On Sat, Jul 30, 2022, 18:56 Suchith Anand via Discuss <
discuss at lists.osgeo.org> wrote:

> 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
>
>
> 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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