Oluoch Isaac O
Department of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences University of Twente Enschede Netherlands.
J Conting Crisis Manag. 2022 Mar;30(1):41-49. doi: 10.1111/1468-5973.12397. Epub 2022 Feb 7.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, a range of technological as well as legislative measures were introduced to monitor, track and prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus across the world. The measures taken by governments across the world have relied upon the use of geoinformation from satellites, drones, online dashboards and contact tracing apps to render the virus more visible, which has been instrumental in two ways. First, geoinformation has been helpful in organizing efforts for capacity building, in mapping communities living in deprived urban areas (referred to commonly as 'slums') and their response to COVID-19 measures. These efforts have been part of initiatives by the United Nations as well as NGOs, using geoinformation to inform urban policymaking by representing the social, political and environmental issues facing those living in deprived urban areas. And secondly, geoinformation has also been used to control the spread of the pandemic by monitoring and limiting the behaviour of citizens through various technologies. This form of geoinformation-driven governmentality, I will contend from critical geography and surveillance studies perspective endangers ethical values such as trust and solidarity, agency, transparency along with the rights and values of citizens.
在新冠疫情之后，一系列技术和立法措施被引入，以监测、追踪和防止新冠病毒在全球传播。世界各国政府采取的措施依赖于使用来自卫星、无人机、在线仪表板和接触者追踪应用程序的地理信息，以使病毒更易被察觉，这在两个方面发挥了作用。首先，地理信息有助于组织能力建设工作，绘制生活在贫困城市地区（通常称为“贫民窟”）的社区及其对新冠疫情措施的反应。这些努力是联合国和非政府组织倡议的一部分，利用地理信息通过呈现生活在贫困城市地区的人们所面临的社会、政治和环境问题来为城市政策制定提供信息。其次，地理信息还被用于通过各种技术监测和限制公民行为来控制疫情传播。我将从批判地理学和监视研究的角度认为，这种由地理信息驱动的治理方式危及信任、团结、能动性、透明度等伦理价值以及公民的权利和价值观。
