Digital twins in agri-food : Societal and ethical themes and questions for further research

Abstract

Digital Twins are computational representations of both living and non-living entities and processes, which can be used to analyse and simulate interventions in these entities and processes. When developing Digital Twins, it is important to anticipate on the societal, ethical and safety impacts they may have. Since in the agri-food domain Digital Twins are still in its infancy, it is possible to include societal values from the beginning onwards, during the research and development process. In this paper, we present four themes (i.e. resources, representations, actions and implementations) to organise the anticipation of and reflection on potential impacts of Digital Twins in the agri-food domain. Using insights from the smart farming literature, we assess for each theme which issues and questions require further research and attention, in order to develop an agenda for responsible research and innovation on Digital Twins.