Empowering communities through digital innovation: evaluating FeralScan adoption by Australian rural landholders

Digital technologies have revolutionised the way we engage with our surroundings, opening new avenues for collaborative monitoring and rapid information sharing. This article evaluates the adoption of one such digital innovation, FeralScan, an Australian web-based platform and purpose-built mobile application aimed at invasive species management. The article focuses on one of the components of FeralScan, WildDogScan(WDS), and uses a mixed methods approach to measure the current uptake of WDS by rural landholders across our study area and to identify the factors influencing this adoption. We found that since its introduction in late 2015, there has been an increase in the number of rural landholders using WDS, with just over half (51 per cent) of the 89 rural landholders who responded to our online survey having reported using WDS on at least one occasion. Factors influencing landholders’ adoption of WDS included being unsure how to use WDS, finding it difficult to use, not wanting to report wild dogs, preference for personal contact and not perceiving the benefits. We use these insights to make recommendations on how to improve WDS promotional, educational and support services.