Information infrastructure and ANT

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Information infrastructure and ANT
Eric Monteiro NTNU and Univ. of Oslo INF
5210 Information Infrastructure
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Outline

• Background
• how to think about the socio-technical
• Selected, key notions ideas
• ANT in relation to information systems
• Challenges
• holes, weaknesses, blind spots ?

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AC vs. DC
?
Altern. current cheap transport
Direct current motor
Do you want those deadly currents in your home?
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Socio-technical (aka constructivsm)
technological determinism
social determism
1. Actors/ groups 2. Agendas/ interests 3.
Translations 4. Negotiations
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Translate Inscribe
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Inscribing behaviour
ltltLeave the key!gtgt
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Leave the key
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(No Transcript)
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Electronic prescriptions
pharmacy
physician
prescription
ident.
EHR.
Inventory syst
List of products
vendor
Felleskatalogen
NMD
Fabritius
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Inscriptions

• WHO inscribes
• WHAT is inscribed (which scenario)
• HOW is it inscribed (the material)
• STRENGTH of an inscription - does it succeed?

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Life cycle diffusion, traditional
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Ex. Lotus Notes in Statoil
20.000
Norne
10.000
ISO 9000
Oil
5.000
1994
1996
1998
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Irreversibility

• Irreversibilitet - measuring how well-aligned the
  actor-network is
• How difficult it is to undo an earlier
  inscription
• To what extent future action is determined

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QWERTY
Q W E R T Y U I O P Å A S D F G H J K L Ø Æ
Z X C V B N M
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Grindleys model for innovation
Increased installed base More complementary
products Increased trust Increased value for
users
Incrased spread
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The video player

• Betamax
• Sony first mover
• Sonys name and reputation
• Proprietary
• VHS
• JVC small, compentence primarily on audio
• open standards
• persuading Philips

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Changing a Jumbojet - in the air
Keep stable
secure investments Users skills
new requirements and new users
Change
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Ex. Microsoft

• One application vs. a suite of applications
• OS vs. application (ex. Windows with IE)
• Habits, customs, expectations
• Future updates

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Standards a typology

• Quality
• max. level of salt in mineral water is
• Compatability standards
• Deals only with the interface

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The logic of compatibility standards
versus
O(n) vs.
O(n2)
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Standards typology

• Formal (by standardization bodies)
• De jure (imposed by law)
• De facto

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Actors
CEN TC 251
ISO
IETF
UN
IEEE
W3C
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Stabilization (standardisation)
Big wheel
Young men of nerves
speed
air
Women, Children, elderly
safety
springs
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What kind of animal is ANT?

• Alternatives exist
• Giddens, ethnografy, grounded theory, activity
  theory,...
• A theory?
• A methodology?
• A perspective?
• A vocabular!

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Problem areas

• Actant
• Centered, drifting
• Flat actors
• Only micro studies
• A grand theory of everything
• Design intervention, not from scratch

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Actant

• Just a fake? A play with words?
• Who interpretes the actants?
• Reasonable interpretations
• Unsolvable problem!

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Centered

• Goal oriented
• Managerialism
• No drifting
• A mastermind, an origo

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Flat actors

• Goal directed
• Machiavelli
• No soul
• Symbolic aspects

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Only micro?

• what about larger structures
• Institutions?
• move up and down! (Callon, Latour 1986)

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Grand theory of everything

• what is NOT an actor-network?
• None talks about boudaries - do they exist?
• The neverending networks
• The world in your lap
• How to delimit them
• Methodological issues
• There is never only one network (Leigh Star)

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Design

• Till now - networks from scratch
• Infrastructure
• Gradual change of networks
• Polyvalent networks