The Use of Digital Platforms for Community-Based Monitoring

Environmental observing programs that are based on Indigenous and local knowledge increasingly use digital technologies. Digital platforms may improve data management in community-based monitoring (CBM) programs, but little is known about how their use translates into tangible results. Drawing on published literature and a survey of 18 platforms, we examine why and how digital platforms are used in CBM programs and illuminate potential challenges and opportunities. Digital platforms make it easy to collect, archive, and share CBM data, facilitate data use, and support understanding larger-scale environmental patterns through interlinking with other platforms. Digital platforms, however, also introduce new challenges, with implications for the sustainability of CBM programs and communities' abilities to maintain control of their own data. We expect that increased data access and strengthened technical capacity will create further demand within many communities for ethically developed platforms that aid in both local and larger-scale decision-making.

Automated summary

Digital platforms in community-based monitoring programs provide convenience for data management, facilitate data use, and support understanding of larger-scale environmental patterns, but also introduce new challenges affecting the sustainability of the programs and communities' data control abilities. Increased data access and technical capacity may lead to a greater demand for ethically developed platforms to aid in decision-making at both local and larger scales.