The PescaData app: Mobilizing knowledge and creating a more just digital economy for small-scale fishers

Summary

We were all shocked in 2020 when Microsoft introduced Productivity Score which collects workplace data on employees. Nobody likes to feel that their telephone or computer is spying on them. Yet we often design technology for fisheries where data collected by a fisher disappears into the cloud, never to be seen by the fisher again. Now is the time to create a more just digital economy where all participants reap the benefits of their actions. In this webinar we present Innovación Azul, a digital ecosystem that connects 300,000 small-scale fishers in Mexico and mobilizes knowledge, innovation, and solutions that can be adopted in Mexico, Latin America, and beyond. Innovación Azul includes PescaData, a free and interactive mobile application that helps fishers and fishing organizations offer their products and services in the marketplace; share knowledge and seek solutions to common problems; and record catch, fishing effort, expenses, product prices, and more. We will also discuss the principles of data sovereignty in small-scale fisheries; how data could be used for management, research, and value creation; and the benefits – and challenges – of designing technology for small-scale fishers.