Digital innovations for monitoring sustainability in food systems

Abstract

Monitoring systems that incentivize, track and verify compliance with social and environmental standards are widespread in food systems. In particular, digital monitoring approaches using remote sensing, machine learning, big data, smartphones, platforms and blockchain are proliferating. The increasing use and availability of these technologies put us at a critical juncture to leverage these innovations for enhanced transparency, fairness and open access, rather than descending into a dystopian landscape of digital surveillance and division perpetuated by a powerful few. Here we discuss opportunities and risks, and highlight research gaps linked to the ongoing digitalization of monitoring approaches. The increasing availability of digital technologies for monitoring food systems creates an opportunity for enhanced transparency, fairness and open access. This Perspective discusses these issues, as well as eventual risks and research gaps associated with them.