Digital transformation of agriculture and rural areas: A socio-cyber-physical system framework to support responsibilisation

Digital technologies are often seen as an opportunity to enable sustainable futures in agriculture and rural areas. However, this digital transformation process is not inherently good as it impacts on many aspects (e.g. economic, environmental, social, technological, institutional) and their relations. The responsible research and innovation approach calls for a better understanding and anticipation of the often unknown impacts. To meet this aim we have developed a framework that allows to gain insight on the relations between the social, the cyber and the physical, i.e. a socio-cyber-physical system and have described conditions for a successful digital transformation of such a system. These are design of, and creating access to digital technologies, and navigating system complexity. This framework allows for a better problematisation of digital transformation and has been illustrated through an example of digital dairy farming. It supports an enhanced understanding of moral responsibilities regarding digital transformation, fitting within the responsible research and innovation approach, as well as a better understanding who is responsible or accountable for the identified (positive or negative) impacts, i.e. responsibilisation.

Automated summary

Digital technologies are seen as an opportunity for sustainable development in agriculture and rural areas, but the transformation process can have various impacts that require responsible research and innovation approaches for better understanding and mitigation. A framework has been developed to gain insight on the relations between social, cyber, and physical aspects, and conditions for successful digital transformation have been described, focusing on design, access, and system complexity navigation. This framework provides a better understanding of moral responsibilities in digital transformation and helps identify who is responsible for the impacts.