Paper Number
ICIS2026-2211
Paper Type
Short
Abstract
Data governance research has largely conceptualized data as abstract organizational assets or outcomes of sociomaterial data work practices. Based on a longitudinal qualitative case study of Parmigiano Reggiano production in Northern Italy, I investigate what happens when the biological variability of material referents shapes what counts as valid data and how data must be governed. Early results highlight that more-than-human data governance is oriented to: (i) potentiality, where breeding decisions preconfigure which future data and material phenomena can be generated; (ii) balance, where real-time calibration of microbial and process data sustains conditions for meaningful records; and (iii) judgment, where sensory assessments validate the data trail attached to each wheel. I propose understanding more-than-human data governance as a concerted effort involving material referent stewardship to decide about data through embodied collaboration between human and non-human actors embedded in biological, technological, and institutional processes.
Recommended Citation
Parmiggiani, Elena, "More-than-human Data Governance: The Case of Parmigiano Reggiano" (2026). ICIS 2026 Proceedings. 7.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2026/datamgmt/datamgmt/7
More-than-human Data Governance: The Case of Parmigiano Reggiano
Data governance research has largely conceptualized data as abstract organizational assets or outcomes of sociomaterial data work practices. Based on a longitudinal qualitative case study of Parmigiano Reggiano production in Northern Italy, I investigate what happens when the biological variability of material referents shapes what counts as valid data and how data must be governed. Early results highlight that more-than-human data governance is oriented to: (i) potentiality, where breeding decisions preconfigure which future data and material phenomena can be generated; (ii) balance, where real-time calibration of microbial and process data sustains conditions for meaningful records; and (iii) judgment, where sensory assessments validate the data trail attached to each wheel. I propose understanding more-than-human data governance as a concerted effort involving material referent stewardship to decide about data through embodied collaboration between human and non-human actors embedded in biological, technological, and institutional processes.
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07_Data_management