Interspecies information systems

04/25/2020

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by   Dirk van der Linden, et al.

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This article introduces a new class of socio-technical systems: interspecies information systems (IIS) by describing several examples of these systems emerging through the use of commercially available data-driven animal-centered technology. When animal-centered technology, such as pet wearables or farm animal welfare monitoring solutions capture animal data and inform humans of actions to take towards animals, interspecies information systems emerge. I discuss the importance of understanding them as information systems rather than isolated technology or technology-mediated interactions, and propose a conceptual model capturing the key components and information flow of a general interspecies information system. I conclude by proposing multiple ongoing research challenges towards the successful engineering and use of any interspecies information systems where animal data informs human actions.