The Digital Revolution in the Urban Water Cycle and Its Ethical–Political Implications: A Critical Perspective

The development and application of new forms of automation and monitoring, data mining, and the use of AI data sources and knowledge management tools in the water sector has been compared to a ‘digital revolution’. The state-of-the-art literature has analysed this transformation from predominantly t...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Popartan, Lucia Alexandra, Cortés, Àtica, Garrido Baserba, Manel, Verdaguer Planas, Marta, Poch, Manuel, Gibert, Karina
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Recursos:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:10256/20679
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/10256/20679
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Intel·ligència artificial -- Aspectes ètics i morals
Intel·ligència artificial -- Moral and ethical aspects
Aigua -- Abastament urbà
Municipal water supply
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spelling The Digital Revolution in the Urban Water Cycle and Its Ethical–Political Implications: A Critical PerspectivePopartan, Lucia AlexandraCortés, ÀticaGarrido Baserba, ManelVerdaguer Planas, MartaPoch, ManuelGibert, KarinaIntel·ligència artificial -- Aspectes ètics i moralsIntel·ligència artificial -- Moral and ethical aspectsAigua -- Abastament urbàMunicipal water supplyThe development and application of new forms of automation and monitoring, data mining, and the use of AI data sources and knowledge management tools in the water sector has been compared to a ‘digital revolution’. The state-of-the-art literature has analysed this transformation from predominantly technical and positive perspectives, emphasising the benefits of digitalisation in the water sector. Meanwhile, there is a conspicuous lack of critical literature on this topic. To bridge this gap, the paper advances a critical overview of the state-of-the art scholarship on water digitalisation, looking at the sociopolitical and ethical concerns these technologies generate. We did this by analysing relevant AI applications at each of the three levels of the UWC: technical, operational, and sociopolitical. By drawing on the precepts of urban political ecology, we propose a hydrosocial approach to the so-called ‘digital water ‘, which aims to overcome the one-sidedness of the technocratic and/or positive approaches to this issue. Thus, the contribution of this article is a new theoretical framework which can be operationalised in order to analyse the ethical–political implications of the deployment of AI in urban water management. From the overview of opportunities and concerns presented in this paper, it emerges that a hydrosocial approach to digital water management is timely and necessary. The proposed framework envisions AI as a force in the service of the human right to water, the implementation of which needs to be (1) critical, in that it takes into consideration gender, race, class, and other sources of discrimination and orients algorithms according to key principles and values; (2) democratic and participatory, i.e., it combines a concern for efficiency with sensitivity to issues of fairness or justice; and (3) interdisciplinary, meaning that it integrates social sciences and natural sciences from the outset in all applicationsMDPI (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)2022info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionpeer-reviewedapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10256/20679http://hdl.handle.net/10256/20679Applied Sciences, 2022, vol. 12, núm. 5, p. 2511Articles publicats (D-EQATA)reponame:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunyainstname:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)Inglésinfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.3390/app12052511info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/eissn/2076-3417Attribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:recercat.cat:10256/206792026-05-29T05:05:01Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv The Digital Revolution in the Urban Water Cycle and Its Ethical–Political Implications: A Critical Perspective
title The Digital Revolution in the Urban Water Cycle and Its Ethical–Political Implications: A Critical Perspective
spellingShingle The Digital Revolution in the Urban Water Cycle and Its Ethical–Political Implications: A Critical Perspective
Popartan, Lucia Alexandra
Intel·ligència artificial -- Aspectes ètics i morals
Intel·ligència artificial -- Moral and ethical aspects
Aigua -- Abastament urbà
Municipal water supply
title_short The Digital Revolution in the Urban Water Cycle and Its Ethical–Political Implications: A Critical Perspective
title_full The Digital Revolution in the Urban Water Cycle and Its Ethical–Political Implications: A Critical Perspective
title_fullStr The Digital Revolution in the Urban Water Cycle and Its Ethical–Political Implications: A Critical Perspective
title_full_unstemmed The Digital Revolution in the Urban Water Cycle and Its Ethical–Political Implications: A Critical Perspective
title_sort The Digital Revolution in the Urban Water Cycle and Its Ethical–Political Implications: A Critical Perspective
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Popartan, Lucia Alexandra
Cortés, Àtica
Garrido Baserba, Manel
Verdaguer Planas, Marta
Poch, Manuel
Gibert, Karina
author Popartan, Lucia Alexandra
author_facet Popartan, Lucia Alexandra
Cortés, Àtica
Garrido Baserba, Manel
Verdaguer Planas, Marta
Poch, Manuel
Gibert, Karina
author_role author
author2 Cortés, Àtica
Garrido Baserba, Manel
Verdaguer Planas, Marta
Poch, Manuel
Gibert, Karina
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Intel·ligència artificial -- Aspectes ètics i morals
Intel·ligència artificial -- Moral and ethical aspects
Aigua -- Abastament urbà
Municipal water supply
topic Intel·ligència artificial -- Aspectes ètics i morals
Intel·ligència artificial -- Moral and ethical aspects
Aigua -- Abastament urbà
Municipal water supply
description The development and application of new forms of automation and monitoring, data mining, and the use of AI data sources and knowledge management tools in the water sector has been compared to a ‘digital revolution’. The state-of-the-art literature has analysed this transformation from predominantly technical and positive perspectives, emphasising the benefits of digitalisation in the water sector. Meanwhile, there is a conspicuous lack of critical literature on this topic. To bridge this gap, the paper advances a critical overview of the state-of-the art scholarship on water digitalisation, looking at the sociopolitical and ethical concerns these technologies generate. We did this by analysing relevant AI applications at each of the three levels of the UWC: technical, operational, and sociopolitical. By drawing on the precepts of urban political ecology, we propose a hydrosocial approach to the so-called ‘digital water ‘, which aims to overcome the one-sidedness of the technocratic and/or positive approaches to this issue. Thus, the contribution of this article is a new theoretical framework which can be operationalised in order to analyse the ethical–political implications of the deployment of AI in urban water management. From the overview of opportunities and concerns presented in this paper, it emerges that a hydrosocial approach to digital water management is timely and necessary. The proposed framework envisions AI as a force in the service of the human right to water, the implementation of which needs to be (1) critical, in that it takes into consideration gender, race, class, and other sources of discrimination and orients algorithms according to key principles and values; (2) democratic and participatory, i.e., it combines a concern for efficiency with sensitivity to issues of fairness or justice; and (3) interdisciplinary, meaning that it integrates social sciences and natural sciences from the outset in all applications
publishDate 2022
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2022
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
peer-reviewed
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10256/20679
http://hdl.handle.net/10256/20679
url http://hdl.handle.net/10256/20679
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.3390/app12052511
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/eissn/2076-3417
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv Attribution 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv Attribution 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv MDPI (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)
publisher.none.fl_str_mv MDPI (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv Applied Sciences, 2022, vol. 12, núm. 5, p. 2511
Articles publicats (D-EQATA)
reponame:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
instname:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
instname_str Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
reponame_str Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
collection Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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score 15,812455

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