Digital Research Infrastructures As a Scientific Reform Movement: Leveraging Sociological Resources for More Equitable and Sustainable Scientific Futures

Digital research infrastructures (DRI) have transformed the field and potentials of scientific research, embedding increasing amounts of data and computation, whilst changing what it means to do science. Though policy and practice is taking note of the reformation influence of DRI, sociological accounts of this phenomena remain scarce. This is unsurprising. Whilst DRI has changed the contours of the social sciences, it is – arguably – in the natural and physical sciences that the most transformational changes have occurred. Given that it is already well established that the social cannot be separated from the technical, the current lack of involvement of the social sciences in this reform could prove detrimental to resulting policies and interventions.

We attend to this gap, reporting the results and implications of two projects which are embracing social scientific approaches to better understand this reformational movement. The first (ARINZRIT) mobilises theories of practice as a framing mechanism to understand the changing role and significance of DRI in scientific research, using interviews and practice-based concepts to understand this change. The second (FAIR Data Accelerator Project) zooms in specifically to data sharing, understanding this in the context of astronomy; using digital ethnology (interviews, mobile ethnography, online participant observation) to make visible the hidden cultural barriers to data sharing. By engaging both a broad and specific view, this paper recognises the potential pitfalls of omitting social approaches to a movement which not only technological, but also cultural. We argue, here, that we must embrace this topic to ensure that the policies that are being designed to catch up with the rapid changes to scientific practice, are not only sustainable but also equitable. Finally, we discuss how social science approaches that already permeate existing policy discourses around sustainability and equity should be leveraged to challenge monolithic views of science.