Since 2019, I have been co-leading the Community Technology Adoption Team in the MaaraTech Project—a five-year, multi-university, transdisciplinary collaborative design (co-design) project developing robotic and human-assist technologies with artificial intelligence (AI)-capabilities for use in viticulture and horticulture in Aotearoa New Zealand. The project was awarded $16.8 million NZD through the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s (MBIE’s) Endeavour Fund.
My current research agenda for MaaraTech involves understanding the technological needs of farming communities, ensuring the experiences of growers and agricultural workers are meaningfully included in the project’s co-design processes, critically exploring the material politics of robot ontologies, understanding the role of hype in facilitating/hindering equitable co-design processes, finding opportunities for strengthening frameworks for responsible innovation in Aotearoa, and articulating the role of social scientists in the responsible innovation of new digital technologies.
RELATED PUBLICATIONS
- Burch, K. A., & Legun, K. (2021). Overcoming Barriers to Including Agricultural Workers in the Co-Design of New AgTech: Lessons from a COVID-19-Present World. Culture, Agriculture, Food and Environment. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/cuag.12277
- Legun, K., & Burch, K. (2021). Robot-ready: How apple producers are assembling in anticipation of new AI robotics. Journal of Rural Studies, 82, 380-390. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.01.032
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KARLY BURCH, PHD 