Look Who it Was Random video

Emerging Tech Speaker Series Talk with Rian Wanstreet

129 views · Published 19 April 2018 · 52:53 · Indexed 22 September 2026

Channel: Mozilla · 2018 · Film & Animation

Watch on YouTube

Precision Agriculture, or high tech farming, is being heralded as a panacea solution to the ever-growing demands of an increasing global population - but the speed with which these technologies are being adopted should give anyone familiar with the Internet of Things pause. Data-driven algorithmic decisions are supplanting generational human knowledge, and grave security issues leave our food supply at-risk. 

For those concerned about data justice this is also problematic, as agreements about data availability, liability, ownership, privacy, access, and openness are being encoded in systems created largely without public input.  Farmers are aware of the potential for exploitation, and there is a growing insurgency against proprietary systems. This is evident in their involvement in the Right to Repair fight playing out in state legislatures.  

This is an opportunity for the open source community, as alternative technologies and platforms are being developed which provide farmers the ability to farm outside of walled gardens. From open source seed initiatives, to open farm technologies, to data platform cooperatives, there is a small, but growing, collaborative movement that recognizes that farmers are at a critical moment: they can  help to establish tools that advance freedom, or accept machines that foster dependencies.

In this talk, University of Washington PhD student Rian Wanstreet will discuss the the growth of precision agriculture across the globe, and the risks and opportunities it presents.

More from this channel