Young Jason C, Lynch Renee, Boakye-Achampong Stanley, Jowaisas Chris, Sam Joel, Norlander Bree
Technology and Social Change (TASCHA), University of Washington, Seattle, WA USA.
African Library and Information Associations and Institutions, Accra, Ghana.
GeoJournal. 2021;86(5):2227-2243. doi: 10.1007/s10708-020-10184-6. Epub 2020 Apr 8.
The world is awash in data-by 2020 it is expected that there will be approximately 40 trillion gigabytes of data in existence, with that number doubling every 2 to 3 years. However, data production is not equal in all places-the global data landscape remains heavily concentrated on English-speaking, urban, and relatively affluent locations within the Global North. This inequality can contribute to new forms of digital and data colonialism. One partial solution to these issues may come in the form of crowdsourcing and volunteer geographic information (VGI), which allow Global South populations to produce their own data. Despite initial optimism about these approaches, many challenges and research gaps remain in understanding the opportunities and barriers that organizations endemic to the Global South face in carrying out their own sustainable crowdsourcing projects. What opportunities and barriers do these endemic organizations face when trying to carry out mapping projects driven by their own goals and desires? This paper contributes answers to this question by examining a VGI project that is currently mapping public libraries across the African continent. Our findings highlight how dramatically digital divides can bias crowdsourcing results; the importance of local cultural views in influencing participation in crowdsourcing; and the continued importance of traditional, authoritative organizations for crowdsourcing. These findings offer important lessons for researchers and organizations attempting to develop their own VGI projects in the Global South.
到2020年，全球数据泛滥——预计届时将存在约40万亿GB的数据，且该数字每两到三年就会翻一番。然而，各地的数据产出并不均衡——全球数据格局仍高度集中在全球北方讲英语的城市及相对富裕地区。这种不平等可能导致新形式的数字和数据殖民主义。解决这些问题的一个部分方案可能是众包和志愿地理信息（VGI），这使得全球南方的人们能够生成自己的数据。尽管最初对这些方法持乐观态度，但在理解全球南方特有的组织在开展自身可持续众包项目时所面临的机遇和障碍方面，仍存在许多挑战和研究空白。当这些特有的组织试图开展由自身目标和愿望驱动的地图绘制项目时，它们面临哪些机遇和障碍？本文通过研究一个目前正在绘制非洲大陆公共图书馆地图的VGI项目，为这个问题提供了答案。我们的研究结果凸显了数字鸿沟会如何严重影响众包结果；当地文化观念对影响众包参与的重要性；以及传统权威组织对众包的持续重要性。这些发现为试图在全球南方开展自身VGI项目的研究人员和组织提供了重要经验教训。
