Decontextualised? Dissociated? Detached? Mapping the Networks of Bioinformatics Exchange

2006 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 445-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beth Greenhough

The author reviews debates surrounding the Icelandic government's Act on a Health Sector Database (139/1998), which provided for the licensing of a private company to build and operate a centralised database of Icelandic medical records for use in gene-discovery research. Using the concept of the ‘boundary object’ drawn from actor-network theory, the author argues that, through their exploitation as bodily commodities, medical records are actively engaged in redefining existing boundaries between medical and scientific space, between civic and individual concerns, and between human subjects and scientific objects.

Author(s):  
Huda Ibrahim ◽  
Hasmiah Kasimin

An effi cient and effective information technology transfer from developed countries to Malaysia is an important issue as a prerequisite to support the ICT needs of the country to become not only a ICT user but also a ICT producer. One of the factors that infl uences successful information technology transfer is managing the process of how technology transfer occurs in one environment. It involves managing interaction between all parties concerned which requires an organized strategy and action toward accomplishing technology transfer objective in an integrated and effective mode. Using a conceptual framework based on the Actor Network Theory (ANT), this paper will analyse a successful information technology transfer process at a private company which is also a supplier of information technology (IT) products to the local market. This framework will explain how the company has come up with a successful technology transfer in a local environment. Our study shows that the company had given interest to its relationships with all the parties involved in the transfer process. The technology transfer programme and the strategy formulated take into account the characteristics of technology and all those involved.  


Author(s):  
Patricia Deering ◽  
Arthur Tatnall ◽  
Stephen Burgess

ICT has been used in medical General Practice throughout Australia now for some years, but although most General Practices make use of ICT for administrative purposes such as billing, prescribing and medical records, many individual General Practitioners themselves do not make full use of these ICT systems for clinical purposes. The decisions taken in the adoption of ICT in general practice are very complex, and involve many actors, both human and non-human. This means that actor-network theory offers a most suitable framework for its analysis. This article investigates how GPs in a rural Division of General Practice not far from Melbourne considered the adoption and use of ICT. The study reported in the article shows that, rather than characteristics of the technology itself, it is often seemingly unimportant human issues that determine if and how ICT is used in General Practice.


Author(s):  
Juha Koivisto ◽  
Pasi Pohjola

This article examines a systemic innovation model into which the relational approach of actor-network theory (ANT) has been incorporated. The article examines what the relational approach can contribute to the conceptualization of services and to the co-development and co-design activities of them. The article operates in the context of public welfare and health services, but its analysis might be applied in any other sector and with any other object of development as well. The article presents the systemic innovation model developed in a national Innovillage project in 2009-2013 in Finland. Further, the article studies how the model has been translated into practice in the design activities of a strategic development program of social and health sector run by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Finland. In the discussion analytical and practical challenges of the model are specified and its further development is discussed.


Author(s):  
Patricia Deering ◽  
Arthur Tatnall ◽  
Stephen Burgess

ICT has been used in medical General Practice throughout Australia now for some years, but although most General Practices make use of ICT for administrative purposes such as billing, prescribing and medical records, many individual General Practitioners themselves do not make full use of these ICT systems for clinical purposes. The decisions taken in the adoption of ICT in general practice are very complex, and involve many actors, both human and non-human. This means that actor-network theory offers a most suitable framework for its analysis. This article investigates how GPs in a rural Division of General Practice not far from Melbourne considered the adoption and use of ICT. The study reported in the article shows that, rather than characteristics of the technology itself, it is often seemingly unimportant human issues that determine if and how ICT is used in General Practice.


2015 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 387-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorraine Dong

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an argument for taking the long view of the retention and preservation of inactive medical records. Design/methodology/approach – Using the theoretical framework of Actor-Network Theory, the author examines medical records, and especially mental health records, as actants that participate in the classification and treatment of patients, and in the development of psychiatry and mental hospitals as social institutions. Findings – The varied and profound roles of medical records demonstrate the ability for records to have multiple “lives” that can touch many individuals beyond a single human lifetime. Practical implications – As the current and future custodians of historical medical record collections, information professionals are in a position to be greater advocates for the increased preservation of and mindful access to these materials. Social implications – Medical records have potential to be cultural heritage documents, especially for emergent communities. Originality/value – This paper articulates the ways in which medical records are an embedded part of many societies, and affect the ways in which illness is defined and treated. It thus suggests that while laws regarding the retention and destruction of and access to medical records continue to be deliberated upon around the world, such records can have enduring value as information artifacts.


2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-121
Author(s):  
Michel Chambon

This article explores the ways in which Christians are building churches in contemporary Nanping, China. At first glance, their architectural style appears simply neo-Gothic, but these buildings indeed enact a rich web of significances that acts upon local Christians and beyond. Building on Actor-Network Theory and exploring the multiple ties in which they are embedded, I argue that these buildings are agents acting in their own right, which take an active part in the process of making the presence of the Christian God tangible.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 94-106
Author(s):  
Y.M. Iskanderov ◽  
◽  
M.D. Pautov

Aim. The use of modern information technologies makes it possible to achieve a qualitatively new level of control in supply chains. In these conditions, ensuring information security is the most important task. The article shows the possibilities of applying the spatial concepts of the actor-network theory in the interests of forming a relevant intelligent information security management system for supply chains. Materials and methods. The article discusses a new approach based on the provisions of the actor-network theory, which makes it possible to form the structure of an intelligent information security control system for supply chains, consisting of three main functional blocks: technical, psychological and administrative. The incoming information security threats and the relevant system responses generated through the interaction of the system blocks were considered as enacting the three Law’s spaces: the space of regions, the space of networks and the space of fl uids. Results. It is shown that the stability of this system in the space of networks is a necessary condition for its successful functioning in the space of regions, and its resilience in the space of fl uids gained through the dynamic knowledge formation helps overcome the adverse effects of the fl uidity. The problems of the intentional / unintentional nature of information security threats, as well as the reactivity / proactivity of the corresponding responses of the intelligent information security management system for supply chains are investigated. Conclusions. The proposed approach showed the possibility of using such an interdisciplinary tool in the fi eld of information security as the concepts of the actor-network theory. The intelligent information security control system built on its basis ensures that almost all the features of solving information security problems in supply chains are taken into account.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milena Heinsch ◽  
Tania Sourdin ◽  
Caragh Brosnan ◽  
Hannah Cootes

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