Symposium on Mobile computing, citizen science and conservation recording: Embracing the potential of smartphones, crowd-sourcing and other web-based technologies

On Thursday the 13th of January, 2010, the Biodiversity Institute of Oxford hosted the Symposium on Mobile computing, citizen science and conservation recording: Embracing the potential of smartphones, crowd-sourcing and other web-based technologies.

The purpose of this symposium was to bring together a group of people who are thinking and working at the cutting edge of these technologies to take stock of the current state of play and look ahead. The symposium had a strong bird theme because birds represent a number of interesting developments in the field, strong traditions of citizen engagement and a large potential commercial market. In short, birds create an umbrella to bring together people from a variety of backgrounds that could create novel synergies leading to rapid and effective innovation in the area of mobile computing, web-technologies and conservation science.

The day was organized into four sessions that addressed each of the following questions.

1.     What is the future of these technologies? Where is mobile computing going?

2.     How could mobile computing and crowd-sourcing technologies be deployed to do what we are already doing, but do it better?

3.     How might these technologies transform the practice and science of biodiversity recording and monitoring?

4.     How could smartphones, crowd sourcing and other web-platforms be used to extend citizen engagement with biodiversity recording and nature appreciation more generally?

The symposium convenors were Paul Jepson (School of Geography and the Environment), Andy Musgrove (British Trust for Ornithology) and Fiona Barclay (BirdGuides Ltd). The symposium was hosted by the Oxford Martin School’s Biodiversity Institute.

Further information, including a synopsis by Paul Jepson and presentations made by speakers, is available from the Digital Conservation webpage.