Studying DNA

Feminist methodologies and Actor-Network Theory (ANT) have often been considered opposing theoretical and intellectual traditions. This chapter imagines a conversation between these seemingly divergent fields and considers the theoretical and methodological challenges that ANT and particular branches of feminist thought raise for the other. This chapter examines an empirical project that calls for an engagement with both ANT and feminist methodologies. Through the lens of this empirical project, four methodological questions are considered, which an alliance between ANT and feminist methodologies would raise for any research project: 1) Where do we start our analysis? 2) Which actors should we follow? 3) What can we see when we begin to follow the actors? 4) What about politics? The potential places where ANT and feminist methodologies can meet and mutually shape research on scientific practice and technological innovation are explored. In doing so, this chapter moves towards envisioning new intersections between feminist methodologies and ANT.

E-Health in Australia and Germany

This chapter focuses on two specific e-health solutions, the PCEHR in Australia and the German EHC. National e-health solutions are being developed by most if not all OECD countries, but few studies compare and contrast these solutions to uncover the true benefits and critical success criteria. The chapter provides an assessment of these two solutions, the possibility for any lessons learnt with regard to designing and implementing successful and appropriate e-health solutions, as well as understanding the major barriers and facilitators that must be addressed. Finally, ANT is used to provide a rich lens to investigate the key issues in these respective e-health solutions.

Web Tools as Actors

Often actor-network theory studies find that technology has been translated through its relationships with human actors. This chapter reports on a study of online investing that found that the human actors were translated to more active and involved investors due to the changes, over time, in the online services that are available: the non-human actors. The Internet is a constantly evolving technological actor. New tools have the potential to change interactions with users. In this study, it became evident that new services had a noticeable effect on the behaviour of investors. Not only did investors report changes in their behaviour when they moved from offline to online investing, but they also reported changes in their investing strategies over time as new services became available. This study showed a new and interesting confirmation of the value of allowing non-human actors to be heard.

Evolving Digital Communication

This chapter analyses elements of social networking sites to establish how a combination of heterogeneous elements of technology, media, language, users, data, and information are networked together to provide this new communication media. Social networking sites are also referred to as social media sites, which can be explained using the Actor-Network Theory. Social networking sites have clearly achieved widespread adoption as a new means of communication in a very short time around the globe. An analysis of literature on social networking sites is included in this chapter to reflect the new social networking language and style, the content shared via this media, the mode of use, and the language used for communication, which is a combination of a number of technological and social entities. This chapter explains how the Actor-Network Theory (ANT) can be used to explain social networking and includes some issues for research on this topic.

School Management Software in Australia and the Issue of Technological Adoption

Approaches to innovation adoption often fail to explain why similar technologies in a single environment can have very different adoption outcomes. In this chapter, the single environment of education management systems in one country (Australia) are used to show how outcomes of similar technologies can be very different. An Actor-Network approach is used to explain how some technologies succeeded and others failed. Understandings reached in this case illuminate the power of the approach that includes listening to the technological actors in addition to the human. The chapter identifies actors and interactions and shows the connection between those interactions and the final outcomes of the innovations.

How the Rich Lens of ANT Can Help us to Understand the Advantages of Mobile Solutions

The WHO has labelled diabetes the silent epidemic. This is because the instances of diabetes worldwide continue to grow exponentially. In fact, by 2030 it is expected that there will be a 54% global increase. Thus, it behooves all to focus on solutions that can result in superior management of this disease. Hence, this chapter presents findings from a longitudinal exploratory case study that examined the application of a pervasive technology solution, a mobile phone to provide superior diabetes self-care. Notably, the benefits of a pervasive technology solution for supporting superior self-care in the context of chronic disease are made especially apparent when viewed through the rich lens of Actor-Network Theory (ANT), and thus, the chapter underscores the importance of using ANT in such contexts to facilitate a deeper understanding of all potential advantages.

Climate Information Use

This chapter employed an interdisciplinary attempt to investigate agricultural climate information use, linking sociology of translation (actor-network theory) and actor analysis premises in a qualitative research design. The research method used case study approaches and purposively selected a sample consisting of wheat growers of the Fars province of Iran, who are known as contact farmers. Concepts from Actor-Network Theory (ANT) have been found to provide a useful perspective on the description and analysis of the cases. The data were analyzed using a combination of an Actor-Network Theory (ANT) framework and the Dynamic Actor-Network Analysis (DANA) model. The findings revealed socio political (farmers' awareness, motivation, and trust) and information processing factors (accuracy of information, access to information, and correspondence of information to farmers' condition) as the key elements in facilitating climate information use in farming practices.

Human Interactions in Software Deployment

Software is intended to enable and support organisations, in order for them to function effectively and efficiently, towards achieving their strategic objectives. Hence, its deployment is critically vital to the focal actors (managers and sponsors). Software deployment involves two primary components, technology and non-technology actors. Both actors offer vital contributions to software deployment from different perspectives. Unfortunately, there has been more focus on the technological actors over the years. This could be attributed to why the same types of challenges, such as disjoint between development and implementation, persist. This chapter holistically examines the roles of non-technology actors in the deployment of software in organisations. The Actor-Network Theory (ANT) provides a lens in the analysis of the empirical data.

Actor-Network Theory

Public sector institutions continue to significantly invest in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a solution for many of their service provision challenges, for example, greater efficiency and quality of services. However, what has come to light is that there is a lack of research on understanding the contributory value or “success” of technological innovations. This chapter introduces a socio-technical view of public service innovation. The aim of this research is to extend on the notion of bureaucracy, which is traditionally focused on the politics of office environments. This socio-technical view extends this traditional view to include the politics of service networks, particularly within IT-enabled public service innovation. The chapter focuses on how service innovation is exploited to align specific interests through the process of translation and shifts the focus from value co-creation to value co-enactment. In essence, this chapter explains how public service technological innovations act as an agent of bureaucracy that alters the relational dynamics of power, risk, responsibility, and accountability. For demonstrative purposes, this chapter describes a case study that examines IT-enabled service innovation with an academic service environment.

Information and Communication Technology Projects and the Associated Risks

Organisational reliance on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) continues to increase. This is informed and triggered by the premise that ICT will help them to yield solutions that will fulfil or exceed their expectations, thereby making the organisation realise the required return on investment. In order to realise return on ICT investment, many organisations deploy ICT solutions through projects. However, not all ICT projects realise their goals and objectives, due to associated risks. Unfortunately, risks are never easy to identify or managed. This chapter explores and examines the risks factors in the deployment of ICT projects in organisations. Using the case study method, the research employs actor-network theory in the analysis of the data to understand the factors that manifest themselves into risks during the deployment of ICT projects in organisations. The study reveals that factors, such as knowledge base, performance contract, and communicative structure, are used to enable and support and at the same time to constrain the deployment of ICT projects in organisations.