Guest lecture 4 : Katarina Elevant (Thu Dec 2 at 14.00-15.00)

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Guest lecturer: Katarina Elevant, Meteorologist and Ph.D. student in Media technology

Title: Weather web 2.0 and collaborative observations of weather - a bottom-up practice for sustainability?

Place: Lecture hall D2 (14.00 - 15.00 - please be on time!)

Abstract:

Climate change is a manifestation of globalization of environmental problems. Future challenges thus include global perspectives and policies addressing growth and sustainability at the same time. Recent developments within communication technologies, raising mass communication to a global level, may be regarded as an opportunity for new practices.

Based on cases from Sweden and Sudan, Katarina will discuss possible bottom-up activities for sustainability, growth and equality. These activities are based on organized performances of citizens on a local level who at the same time contribute to the collection of climatic data requested by the global community.

How to prepare for the lecture:

Katarina suggests you read your Benkler - a book she is very familiar with herself. Furthermore, if you are interested in weather and/or weather services, please also visit www.shareweather.com.

Katarina would also like to encourage discussions on the following topics:

• What opportunities may arise due to changes in information ownership and shifts of power induced by transformations of markets for information services and due to new rules governing the networked information economy?
• Can traditionally marginalized groups be empowered and strengthened economically while offering services - collection of environmental data - of value to those who are in power?
• What can this mean for the future market for weather information services and weather information networks (owned by governments)? How will social media impact those markets and the roles of governments, service providers and individuals?
• Can we identify other cases where individuals may be empowered by new technologies as their knowledge may become regarded as a valuable resource and perhaps even a service with a price tag?

About Katarina:

This work is part of Katarina's Ph.D. studies at KTH/Media technology. She is a meteorologist with long practical experience of weather services and the market for weather-related services (media, transportation, energy, agriculture).

Prior to her becoming a Ph.D. student at KTH, Katarina started and ran two companies (Foreca Sverige AB and her own consultancy business), including marketing, sales, strategy and development of new weather services.

Currently, she aims at introducing weather web 2.0 services (see www.shareweather.com) as a practice within transportation and maintenance, for increased efficiency of the Stockholm transportation system. Additionally and with sustainability as an important driver, Shareweather may be applied to environmental data, contributing to increased knowledge of the impacts of climate change on for example agriculture.

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