Citizen Science (CS) significantly contributes to the study and management of biological invasions. Technological developments such as social media, internet scraping, eDNA, apps, sensors, search engines and predictive analytics can foster projects and increase the reach of CS. The list of tech is long and their potential for alien species CS is unclear. To help research funders and project initiators we performed a horizon scan on the value of emerging technologies for alien species CS.
A network of 44 experts from the COST Action Alien-CSI identified and assessed 39 technologies. Assessors rated their usefulness on a 5-point Likert scale with respect to their potential to attract new audiences, improve inclusivity, applicability in daily life, ability to increase engagement, provide feedback, improve data quality and gather new data.
The results of the scoring were discussed at a consensus workshop. Consistency among ratings was explored using inter-rater reliability metrics and ordination techniques. Experts were asked to explain and discuss the reasons for inconsistent rating across technologies or criteria, focusing on the evidence used or differences in interpretation of criteria. After this, one new round of individual re-evaluation of technologies followed. The discussions resulted in increased consensus on the potential of the different technologies.
Mobile-based data collection platforms and social media (both their use to interact with CS participants as well as their potential for scraping new occurrence records) were the top-ranking technologies for IAS CS, followed by machine learning techniques, the application of AI and collective intelligence. Technologies differed considerably in their potential when different criteria were individually considered. For instance, DNA-based technologies ranked high on acquiring new data, open data technologies scored high on their potential to improve the quality of collected data. Virtual reality and gamification scored high on their potential to increase engagement in IAS CS.