From Responsible Innovation to Responsible Scaling: governing the digital transition in Italian agriculture_Dataset

This dataset was developed as part of a study aiming at investigating the digital transition in agriculture through the lens of responsible scaling. The study examines how the diffusion of Smart Farming Technologies (SFT) may reshape socio-technical systems and generate uneven benefits, risks, and governance needs. Italy, characterised by structural heterogeneity and sectoral pressures, is used as an illustrative case to explore how responsible scaling dynamics may unfold in practice. The research follows a Delphi methodology, which ensures that the identity of each participant remains anonymous to all other participants, in order to preserve the impartiality and independence of responses. Within this framework, a range of 25 stakeholders and sector experts have been selected to participate in the study, which was conducted in two sequential phases. The first phase consists of a semi-structured interview lasting approximately 30–40 minutes. This phase has a dual purpose: a) to elicit and anticipate the main opportunities and risks associated with the diffusion of digital technologies in agriculture; b) to stimulate discussion on the key ethical and social issues that emerge, and to identify potential interventions aimed at fostering a socially sustainable diffusion of digital technologies in the agricultural sector. The second phase involves a short questionnaire, developed on the basis of the analysis of the results obtained in Phase 1. This phase is intended to synthesise the findings and to facilitate the emergence of shared priorities and areas of consensus around the main issues and interventions identified through the study. Between the first and second phases, the feedback collected have been anonymised, synthesised, and shared with all participants in the form of a report. This report served both as a basis for reflection and as a platform for comparing and discussing the different perspectives expressed. Only the researchers conducting the study had access to the identities of the participants. Participants’ identities remained fully anonymous in any public dissemination of the study results. Content of the files File “RS SFT_interview protocol.txt” contains the protocol used for the semi-structured interviews of the first round of Delphi method; File “RS SFT_report round 1.txt” contains the report obtained from the transcription and selection of the most representative answers from the interviewed; File “RS SFT_survey protocol.txt” contains the protocol used the questionnaire run for the second round of the Delphi method; File “RS SFT_survey data.csv” contains the data collected from the responses to the questionnaires circulated in the second round of the Delphi; “RS SFT_Read Me.rtf” is a “readme” file containing the study context, description of the datasets and their contents.