The role of data governance in addressing potential risks associated with agricultural data exchanges: A systematic literature review

Digitalisation in agriculture is expected to play a pivotal role in achieving global food production targets by 2050. Digital agricultural operations have a symbiotic relationship with data - it generates data but also relies on data. Consequently, the better the quality of data, the better the outcomes. Data exchanges are a practical way to guarantee access to verifiable quality data along a supply chain. However, in spite of its relevance, agricultural data
exchanges (ADXs) are beset by a variety of social and technological issues. Consequently, agriculture lags behind in addressing these challenges in comparison with other industries. One such key issue relates to the techno socio-economic and ethical risks associated with coordinated multiparty sharing of agricultural data.
This work investigates the potential risks associated with ADXs; and the data governance structures available to mitigate those risks. The study adopts the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) approach. Notably, 24 articles of the 115 articles collated represents the state-of-the-art research on the subject. However, none comprehensively discusses the risks associated with an ADX vis-a-vis the existing data governance structures to mitigate these risks accordingly. This work, to the best of our
knowledge, represents the first attempt to synthesise the potential risks associated with ADXs, and analyse the role of data governance structures in mitigating these risks. As a result, a comprehensive mapping between existing data governance structures and the potential risks associated with a data exchange is developed in this work.