Harnessing the Flow of Data: Fintech opportunities for ecosystem management

This report explores how fintech technologies—IoT, big data, AI, and blockchain—can be applied to ecosystem management to address complex environmental issues like toxic algal blooms. It argues that while these tools are mature in the financial sector, their adoption in environmental science is slowed by cultural barriers to data sharing. The author suggests that integrating these technologies can lead to 'authoritative open data' and more predictive, real-time environmental management.

• Environmental challenges like freshwater management are categorized as "wicked problems" characterized by uncertainty, conflicting stakeholder desires, and interdependencies that prevent simple solutions. In North America, this is exemplified by toxic algal blooms in Lake Erie, Lake Winnipeg, Lake Okeechobee, and Chesapeake Bay, with blooms in Lake Erie causing local homeowners to lose USD 152 million in land value over six years.
• The 'fintech gearbox' refers to the synergistic interaction between four key technologies: the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and blockchain. While powerful individually, their combined use increases the speed and efficiency of collecting, storing, and utilizing data for decision-making.
• The Internet of Things (IoT) enables broader environmental monitoring by using low-cost sensors and network protocols (such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 4G/LTE, and Iridium) to transmit data from remote locations. This technology supports citizen science initiatives, such as a Wilson Center project aiming to collect one billion data points on air and water quality, and has already informed policy in Beijing, where air quality sensors led to the closure of old coal electricity-generating stations in favor of natural gas plants.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) allows researchers to move beyond traditional mechanistic models by using high-performance computing to identify statistical relationships in big data without prior knowledge of real-world processes. AI is being used to predict toxic algal blooms and their impact on recreation areas and water treatment facilities, though its adoption is hindered by cultural barriers in academia and government regarding data sharing.
• Blockchain technology provides an 'immutable digital ledger' that can secure public environmental data and ensure sustainable supply chains by preventing the unauthorized alteration of data. An example of this is a project by the WWF in Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji that uses blockchain and QR codes to trace commercially caught fish from the ocean to the grocery store to verify sustainable and ethical processing.
• The report identifies a significant cultural barrier in ecology and government where data is often treated as a precursor to publication rather than an enduring research asset. A 2015 study found that 56% of open datasets from 100 ecology publications were incomplete and 64% were shared in ways that hindered reuse.

APA

Gunn, G., & Stanley, M. (2018). Harnessing the Flow of Data: Fintech opportunities for ecosystem management. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/harnessing-flow-of-data-fintech-opportunities.pdf

Chicago

Gunn, Geoffrey, and Madeline Stanley. Harnessing the Flow of Data: Fintech opportunities for ecosystem management. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2018. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/harnessing-flow-of-data-fintech-opportunities.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Gunn |first1=Geoffrey |last2=Stanley |first2=Madeline |title=Harnessing the Flow of Data: Fintech opportunities for ecosystem management |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=August 2018 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/harnessing-flow-of-data-fintech-opportunities.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{gunn2018harnessing, author = {Gunn, Geoffrey and Stanley, Madeline}, title = {{Harnessing the Flow of Data: Fintech opportunities for ecosystem management}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2018}, month = aug, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/harnessing-flow-of-data-fintech-opportunities.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }