Oral Theme 4: Building confidence and trust, people and skills

Kingston, R. (1), Topping, D. (2), Heysham, N. (3)

1. Dept of Planning and Environmental Management & Manchester Urban Institute, University of Manchester
2. Dept of Earth and Environmental Sciences & Manchester Environment Institute, University of Manchester
3. NERC Digital Solutions Programme & Manchester Urban Institute, University of Manchester

The NERC Digital Solutions Hub (DSH) offers the potential to harnesses the breadth of data held by NERC with the power of a suite of computational tools. This presentation highlights findings from user research conducted with potential users of DSH over a 3-month period. The aim was to discover who potential users are and what their needs are, gathered through a set of 15 in person and online workshops across the UK with over 100 people with an interest in using environmental data. To make the DSH a success, it is important to start by understanding who the potential users of the Hub are and what their needs are. For the Hub to work well, it cannot be just a stand-alone product, but must sit within a community of people who are aware of it, use it, and help shape its development. Our approach was designed to also help develop this community – raising awareness of the Hub and forming links with potential users who could shape its ongoing development. The workshops focused on participants’ experiences of utilising environmental data in their current job roles and the challenges that come with its use. This was then used as a basis to discuss potential solutions and future developments. Some of the main outputs from this work include: • set of user stories describing the needs of users throughout their journey of using environmental data. These provide an overview of the needs found across those we spoke with, as well as the challenges currently faced with fulfilling these needs. • set of user archetypes that provide a way of thinking about the different users of the hub. These describe what different users are setting out to achieve, what steps they go through to achieve these, and important challenges faced by these groups.

Halford, A (1), Gaura, E (1), Bagshaw, E (2)

1. Coventry University
2. Bristol University

Sensors and their data are key enablers of the digital transformation that is reimaging the way people connect with their surroundings, their community, and society at large. To continue to unlock the benefits of sensors for the environment there needs to be a sensing ecosystem that cuts across disciplines, sectors, and technologies to build a community of practice that fully considers people, places, and ethics. Yet, the presence of so many fields, processes, and industries working in the sector results in siloing of expertise and fragmentation of innovation. This impacts on the ability for those working with sensors to adopt a whole systems approach to research that articulates and explores present and future sensing challenges and can influence funding direction and policy. Funded by NERC Constructing a Digital Environment, academics from Coventry University and Bristol University sought to build a connected landscape of researchers by co-creating a briefing paper that explored new ways of understanding around environmental sensors and sensing. This presentation is an overview of some of the findings that emerged from the writing retreat, in particular how to achieve successful translation from theory to products that promotes best techno-social practice in the development and field deployment of environmental sensor systems. By reflecting on the benefits of providing an interdisciplinary space to disrupt established thinking around sensors and sensing, this will demonstrate how an inclusive sensor ecosystem can support design, deployment, application, and uptake that respects the dignity, rights, safety, and well-being of all.

Gabriela Lopez-Gonzalez (1), Richard Ostler (2), Katarzyna Kamieniecka (3) , Xènia Pérez Sitjà (3) , Emily Delva (4), Catherine Knox (4), Munazah Andrabi (5), Nick Juty (5), Shoaib Sufi (5), Susanna-Assunta Sansone (6), Carole Goble (6), Robert Andrews (7), Krzysztof Poterlowicz (3)
Affiliation
1 University of Leeds, UK
2 Rothamsted Research, UK
3 University of Bradford, Uk
4 Earlham Institute, UK
5 University of Manchester
6 University of Oxford
7 Cardiff University

In 2021, ELIXIR-UK was granted a UKRI award for the ELIXIR-UK Data Stewardship Training Fellowship. The University of Bradford leads the project, along with a delivery team at Cardiff University, Earlham Institute, the University of Manchester and the University of Oxford.

The project aims to build capacity in FAIR data stewardship and Research Data Management (RDM), using ELIXIR knowledge and resources and build the grassroots of local communities of practices in UK-research-performing organisations. With a Fellowship model, the project is leveraging the local expertise of diverse UK universities and research institutes – creating a data management culture change from within the institutions.

Since 2021, the project has recruited 24 Fellows from across 19 different UK organisations who are acting ambassadors. The materials and impact of Fellows from the project’s first cohort are open to trainers, researchers and life science professionals working with data. These focus on diverse topics, including domain-agnostic best practices, and specialised topics such as REDCap and OMERO demos, and RNAseq data management guidance. The second cohort of the Fellowship is expanding the topics of the first cohort and tapping into other life sciences domains such as epidemiological, and NERC-related agricultural and ecological data.

The NERC-related fellows are developing RDM short videos and training material for long-term monitoring of agricultural experiments and peatland monitoring. The fellowship training programme and learning opportunities allow members to improve their RDM skills and identify pathways to improve RDM and FAIR practices in their research communities.

Gabriela Lopez-Gonzalez (1), Richard Ostler (2), Katarzyna Kamieniecka (3) , Xènia Pérez Sitjà (3) , Emily Delva (4), Catherine Knox (4), Munazah Andrabi (5), Nick Juty (5), Shoaib Sufi (5), Susanna-Assunta Sansone (6), Carole Goble (6), Robert Andrews (7), Krzysztof Poterlowicz (3)
Affiliation
1 University of Leeds, UK
2 Rothamsted Research, UK
3 University of Bradford, Uk
4 Earlham Institute, UK
5 University of Manchester
6 University of Oxford
7 Cardiff University

In 2021, ELIXIR-UK was granted a UKRI award for the ELIXIR-UK Data Stewardship Training Fellowship. The University of Bradford leads the project, along with a delivery team at Cardiff University, Earlham Institute, the University of Manchester and the University of Oxford.

The project aims to build capacity in FAIR data stewardship and Research Data Management (RDM), using ELIXIR knowledge and resources and build the grassroots of local communities of practices in UK-research-performing organisations. With a Fellowship model, the project is leveraging the local expertise of diverse UK universities and research institutes – creating a data management culture change from within the institutions.

Since 2021, the project has recruited 24 Fellows from across 19 different UK organisations who are acting ambassadors. The materials and impact of Fellows from the project’s first cohort are open to trainers, researchers and life science professionals working with data. These focus on diverse topics, including domain-agnostic best practices, and specialised topics such as REDCap and OMERO demos, and RNAseq data management guidance. The second cohort of the Fellowship is expanding the topics of the first cohort and tapping into other life sciences domains such as epidemiological, and NERC-related agricultural and ecological data.

The NERC-related fellows are developing RDM short videos and training material for long-term monitoring of agricultural experiments and peatland monitoring. The fellowship training programme and learning opportunities allow members to improve their RDM skills and identify pathways to improve RDM and FAIR practices in their research communities.

Nakata, K. (Henley Business School)

In enabling digital transformation in organisations, the alignment of people, process and technology has been considered essential. Where new disruptive technologies such as AI-based systems are introduced, it will require systems thinking to maintain the alignment to make sense of the technology and mitigate its negative impacts. Organisational semiotics, developed by Stamper, offers methods and approaches to address the alignment of technical and social systems. In this talk, a perspective from organisational semiotics is introduced in relation to making sense of disruptive technologies and in systematic thinking in co-designing technical and social systems using an example from resilience engineering.