E-Infrastructures: How Do We Know and Understand Them? Strategic Ethnography and the Biography of Artefacts

32 Pages Posted: 29 May 2010

See all articles by Robin Williams

Robin Williams

University of Edinburgh - Institute for the Study of Science, Technology and Innovation

Neil Pollock

University of Edinburgh

Date Written: May 27, 2010

Abstract

In health research and services, and in many other domains, we note the emergence of large-scale information systems intended for long-term use with multiple users and uses. These e-infrastructures are becoming more widespread and pervasive and, by enabling effective sharing of information and coordination of activities between diverse, dispersed groups, are expected to transform knowledge-based work. Social scientists have sought to analyse the significance of these systems and the processes by which they are created. Much current attention has been drawn to the often-problematic experience of those attempting to establish them. By contrast, this paper is inspired by concerns about the theoretical and methodological weakness of many studies of technology and work organisation – particularly the dominance of relatively short-term, often single site studies of technology implementation. These weaknesses are particularly acute in relation to the analysis of infrastructural technologies. We explore the relevance to such analysis of advances in what we call the Biography of Artefacts (BoA) perspective – which emphasises the value of theoretically-informed, multi-site and longitudinal studies: strategic ethnography. We seek to draw insights here from a programme of empirical research into the long-term evolution of corporate e-infrastructures (reflected in current Enterprise Resource Planning systems) and review some new conceptual tools arising from recent research into e-Infrastructures (e-Is). These are particularly relevant to understanding the current and ongoing difficulties encountered in attempts to develop large-scale Health Infrastructures.

Suggested Citation

Williams, Robin and Pollock, Neil, E-Infrastructures: How Do We Know and Understand Them? Strategic Ethnography and the Biography of Artefacts (May 27, 2010). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1616593 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1616593

Robin Williams

University of Edinburgh - Institute for the Study of Science, Technology and Innovation ( email )

United Kingdom

Neil Pollock (Contact Author)

University of Edinburgh ( email )

Old College
South Bridge
Edinburgh, Scotland EH8 9JY
United Kingdom

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
174
Abstract Views
1,208
Rank
309,726
PlumX Metrics