Digital Transformation of Scientific Communities in the UK: Exploring Its Social Impact through Two Case Studies

This paper aims to contribute to the conceptualization of digital transformation using insights from two case studies of scientific communities: the UK SKA Regional Centre (UKSRC), which is developing an interoperable Digital Research Infrastructure (DRI) to enable astronomers to access, analyse and visualise data; and the ARINZRIT project which designed cultural policies and recommendations to enable a Net Zero transition for the DRI system. These cases are illustrative of new interactions between social change and social reproduction as DRI are implemented in science. We emphasise how changes in epistemic practices, such as data sharing and sustainable collaboration, impact those who are more "vulnerable" within the social hierarchies of science. For example, Early Career Researchers are being affected by changes in data reduction processes (Durán del Fierro et al., 2024) and the increasing levels of computationally-specific skills involved in science. Similarly, female scientists often feel hesitant to share their data due to fears of criticism and harassment in the public arena. This evidence shows how the implementation of DRIs triggers social change while also perpetuating existing epistemic injustices within science communities (Bacevic, 2023). Based on these insights, we offer a conceptualization of digital transformation that focuses on two key ideas. Firstly, the need to understand the individual as the carrier of practices that flux as they are redefined by, and redefine, DRI over repeated enactments over time. Secondly, the importance of focusing on resistance practices; that is, the multiple and sometime creative ways people refuse to be governed in the name of normative principles (Foucault, 2007) such as sharing and sustainability. This examination enables us to conceptualise digital transformation beyond the “best practices model” typically used to inform policy and instead emphasises the alternative ways of doing science which in turn impact the digitalisation of scientific practices, knowledge and social life.