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Designing information technology involves the responsibility to be aware of the possible consequences that arise from its use. This can hardly be achieved from a single discipline's viewpoint. The paper describes an approach that is currently being developed to support a multidisciplinary perspective on the reciprocity between society and computers. It is a work in progress that is being developed by a network of scholars located mainly at the University of Hamburg, Department of Informatics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to look at the computer and Intemet related beliefs among Estonian computer users and non-users. It uses data from two nationally representative surveys to analyze seven Internet and computer related beliefs. The paper also discusses how understanding the opinions of computer users and non-users should influence the policies of the information society. As a conclusion, policy suggestions on visibility of the technologies, digital literacy, and data monitoring needs are made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a model to assist in the ability to judge access by private persons to the Internet in general, and to Public Information Systems (PIS) particularly. It has its starting point in the Swedish Government's endeavour to turn Sweden into the first ‘information society for all'. When the available statistics concerning the access to a PC and the Internet in Swedish homes are studied it is easy to think that this vision may soon be realised. Of course, access to the technical equipment is a fundamental condition in order to be able to use the Public Information Systems, but unfortunately, is not the only one. Several studies have shown that it is not possible to equate possession and use. A number of access models or frameworks designed to judge whether or not a person has access to the ICTs do exist. However, it is my opinion that there is a deficiency in these models; they do not start out from the individual user's prerequisites, but rather judge the external conditions available for possible access. Assisted by four empirical studies, interviews and questionnaires, a number of access barriers experienced by the users have been identified. The studies show that in addition to the technological hindrances, a series of more elusive ones also exist originating from prevailing norms and values in the environment the user lives in. The barriers are categorised into five groups: to have, to be able, to will, to may and to dare. Together these notions form the User Centred Access Model, UCAM, which is suggested for use in charting and communicating the necessary considerations that must be taken into account in the development of Public Information Systems aimed for e-governmental issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses strategies and concepts of information and communication-support for knowledge-intensive work processes. The necessity of social informatics or organizational informatics according to Rob Kling results from the complementarity of formal (syntactic), product oriented and informal (semantic), process oriented, technical, and social view in informatics. The understanding of man/computer communication as a problem of linking syntactic and semantic information processing, led to the idea of information centers. The importance of social (organizational) informatics is illustrated in connection with the development of modern information and communication technology; new forms of communication to support international collective research; computer supported knowledge work, as a problem of linking syntactic and semantic information processing. The automated information processing, software use, must be organized, before and during knowledge-intensive work processes take place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper inquires into the possibility of the development of ICT at the Bottom of the Pyramid. Its focus is on philosophically founded methods and languages applicable on a universal and exemplary basis. The methods are taken to be based on abduction and sweeping-in-processes and the languages are taken to be based on categorical imperatives of Kant and the discourse ethics of Habermas/Apel. These ‘taken to be's' are contrasted with Jacques Derrida's ‘Deconstruction'. Paul Feyerabend's ‘Against Method' as well as complexity theory. The explicated monological/dialogical and formal / procedural methods and languages together with its counterparts are used to start a sweeping-in-process on ‘Social Informatics'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new approach to informatics and Social Informatics is introduced called Work Informatics. It is compared with Social Informatics, and it turns out that there is a high resemblance between their scopes and objectives. Work Informatics is more operational and therefore, we can use it more easily for practical purposes. Social, technical, and socio-technical aspects of both are analysed. The focus, unit of analysis and contents of Work Informatics are briefly outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rob Kling strongly advocated the term Social Informatics. He demonstrated that equipment, equipment vendors, technical specialists, upper-level managers, ICT policies, internal funding, and external grant funding with the people who will use information systems in the course of other work are not simply a static list but are interrelated within a matrix of social and technical dependencies. In Information Systems there has recently been heated debate about the core content of the discipline. In this paper we study whether Social Informatics and Information Systems are similar or not. According to the broad view on Information Systems, they appear quite similar. The few differences we identified are in research approaches, when most Social Informatics researchers use intensive case studies while most Information Systems researchers surveys. Such minor differences do not support the view that these two sciences should have different names. The researchers in both sciences seem to believe that people's behavior can be predicted, but we demonstrate that this is not true. Hence we propose that theories with people as a component must be adjusted accordingly in both sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents ongoing social changes related to the use of ICT. They are analyzed under the headings: workforce, organizational design and structure, psychosocial communication, and work content. A theoretical model entitled ‘The Convergence theory on ICT and Psychosocial Life Environment' is described, which reflects main ongoing processes in the Network society encompassing various spheres of life, environments, and human roles. A special section analyzes the ongoing changes in the home and home environment. Social Informatics is discussed related to the model and special attention is devoted to the individual level and humans. Concluding remarks deal with visions and actions. Figures with circles and converging circles are used to illustrate and summarize. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information system (IS) is a complicated structure of social and technical systems. They are part of every organization in western and developing countries. Uncertainty has always been a part of software and information system development, and working globally increases the uncertainty. To know some basic factors of the IS context, the interconnectedness of human and technological informatics in everyday work could be a way to decrease this uncertainty. In this paper, we present the theoretical basis of three context models to construct a framework to be used as one method when evaluating different IS contexts in IS use and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Designing enterprise architectures for accountability is to reason about options. Instead of taking enterprise architectures as products, the paper seeks to comprehend how they are produced. Considering enterprise architecture as an entangled category of sociological, political and democratic challenges provide an opportunity to determine the political topos of enterprise architectures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of informational capitalism and the network society, globalization and informatization play an increasingly crucial role for understanding technology and society. Informatization describes a qualitative leap in technology development which opens up new dimensions of productivity by information modelling on the one hand, but which demands new forms of knowledge of information workers on the other hand. Work is becoming more flexible, but also more precarious and more polarized socially. These tendencies create a contradictory situation for the subject: formalization and new scopes of autonomy exist side by side. This constellation allows for new approaches to the social shaping of technologies. But they presuppose a fundamental change in attitude by both, system developers and social scientists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The topic of this essay is if and how the use of information and communications technologies, (ICT), as well as the use of free open source software, can change the prerequisites of third world countries. Many people consider that the Internet is not only access to unlimited information, but also has a potential to make a difference in the development of human rights and democracy. Information and communications technologies, free software, and open source have a big role to play in this context. The importance of access is an issue: one tends to focus mainly on the physical access, which is only a small part in this connection. There are other types of limitations to access: the technology should be appropriate, be affordable, and a political will to provide all citizens with equal possibilities should support the introduction of the technologies. Who has access to these new technologies? Who does not have such access? Finally, we discuss a field study of an open source project in Namibia and their conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most common measures so far to reduce the digital divide has been the development of telecentres (Internet public access points) that provide Internet access and specific training. However, the extremely poor very rarely enter the telecentres. In this paper, we propose a more specific approach suited to this population. We first describe the social-digital exclusion process facing the extremely poor, its inputs, its outputs, and our approach to help the poor to start to integrate the information society. We then present stories collected during our field actions in our Internet in the street project. We conclude by presenting what we have learnt so far. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuous developments in information and communication technologies (ICT) have resulted in an increasing use of these technologies in the practice of medicine and in the provision of medical care. This paper presents a series of perspectives from different areas of expertise on some of the ways in which ICT has changed the social picture in respect of the practice of medicine. The aim of the paper is to provide a context for further debate, in the form of a Panel Session, where the issue of Human Choice and Computing can be discussed with reference to a set of specific scenarios. The authors of this paper represent a wide variety of disciplines including law, ethics, medicine, philosophy and computer science, thus bringing a broad perspective to begin the discussions. The aim of the session is to provoke further discussion, encouraging input from other disciplines respresented by the participants, with a view to identifying the level of human choice in a social arena, which has at its heart a vulnerable community. In this environment, and in this era, the ‘social' in social informatics has never been more important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Web sites of Slovenian political parties do not fully exploit the Internet's potential for interactive and deliberative communication on political issues with citizens, because they favour a competitive-elitist perception of democracy. As result, political party's web sites are mainly used for political mobilization, agitation in persuasion. Supporting this model of democracy via web pages enables political parties to strengthen their position of power and control in decision-making process, to legitimise a hegemonic position of representative democracy within political system, to impose the perception of citizens as consumers of political information and to provide democratic legitimization for capitalist mode of production. In order to strengthen citizen's e-participation on political issues, a conceptual shift in designing political party's web sites according to participatory and deliberative model of democracy is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to address the relation between a user-centred objective and social constructionism and the possibility to refine user-centred fundamentals by enhancing the awareness of the relation between humans and the constructed environment. Through social constructionism we could enter a bit deeper into questions like; (1) reality's subjective character especially concerning technology development, (2) the importance of a power analysis while creating technological artefacts, (3) the importance of analysing our own role in technology's construction and (3) we are made aware of the importance of how technology is communicated to others. The article is in a way an extension of an argument put forward by Jacob Nielsen about usability as empiricism and/or ideology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses what the research community in the field of information technologies can do to improve quality of life by offering more alternatives both to individuals and to the society. Moreover, attention is given to the present IT tools which can be used to support decision making and choice among possible alternatives in complex settings. The role of ITS in achieving this goal is explained and illustrated by examples in different fields, including environmental decision-making and health care. Enhanced possibilities of choice in collaborative settings supported by new media and computer networks are also shown. Besides the role of ITS that support this enhancement, the importance of non-technological aspects is presented with special emphasis on responsibility and network intelligence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key insights revealed by social informatics studies have come from the new light they have shone on the social dynamics underlying broad changes tied to technological innovations. In particular, they have shown how major developments in computing and other information and communication technologies (ICTs), such as the Internet, are often the outcome of complementary or conflicting social movements, and their intersections. This paper focuses on an important supportive and complementary framework that helps to further understanding of these social dynamics: the concept of an ‘ecology of games'. The focus of this approach is on examining the unfolding interaction of various actors pursuing a diverse array of goals and objectives in a variety of interrelated arenas where everyday and strategic decisions are taken about whether to use — or not use — various ICTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors discuss eGovernment as a computerization movement, and present a case study of a small project that was part of a modernising government initiative in a UK municipality. The case is analysed by means of an analytic construct, the technological action frame or TAF, that was developed by Iacono and Kling in 1998. This socio-technical approach provides distinctive insights at a number of different organizational levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to discuss the notion of sustainability in relationship to the idea of the information society. In the first part the relationship is on ecological aspects of a sustainable information society. In the second and third part of this paper I introduce a broad notion of sustainability that consists of multiple dimensions. The concept of a sustainable information society is developed, it is conceived as a society in which new information- and communication technologies (ICTs) and knowledge are used in order to advance a good-life for all individuals of current and future generations. This idea is conceived in a multidimensional way, identifying ecological, technological, economic, political, and cultural aspects and problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the modernization process of public administration, information technologies are used as a tool to transform both its practices and its relations with its users. The new user-centric pattern comes from the market world: Customer Relationship Management becomes Citizen Relationship Management. Are the devices and tools of e-commerce convenient with the goals and practices of e-administration? Analyzing characters such as identification, deliberation, personalization and trust building reveals the limits of such a comparison and the need for a renewal of mediation functions between public and private spheres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to discuss issues related to communication and exploitation of Information Society related project results emanating from RTD and deployment projects funded by EU programmes such as IST programme, eTen, eContent and eContent plus etc. In particular it will examine how these results may impact other major EU policies e.g. public health, environment, education etc. First, it presents the different EU programmes and initiatives aiming at greater economic growth, sustainable development and social cohesion through ICTs and their pervasive role in economy and society. Then it discusses the role that communication of RTD results may have on transferring knowledge, influencing action and more important creating public appreciation of the benefits obtained. To illustrate this dimension it presents in detail the ‘Information Society Policy Link' initiative of Information Society and Media Directorate-General (DG INFSO) and its first collection of successful project results (policy cases) having positively impacted different EU policy areas and in particular Environmental policies. Finally it draws some conclusions regarding the inclusion of such approaches for effective dissemination of research and deployment results in the EU funded programmes as well as in national initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with online censorship and its relation to user autonomy. By presenting censorship practices and activities of groups helping to circumvent censorship this article shows that the regulation of online material is an ongoing process between the regulator and the regulated. The result of this process is the way in which a society defines itself in terms of a free and vibrant democratic public space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the two last decades, speeded up by the development of the Internet, several types of commons have been opened up for intellectual resources. In this article their variety is being explored as to the kind of resources and the type of regulation involved. The open source software movement initiated the phenomenon, by creating a copyrightbased commons of source code that can be labelled ‘dynamic': allowing both use and modification of resources. Additionally, such a commons may be either protected from appropriation (by ‘copyleft' licensing), or unprotected. Around the year 2000, this approach was generalized by the Creative Commons initiative. In the process they added a ‘static' commons, in which only use of resources is allowed. This mould was applied to the sciences and the humanities in particular, and various Open Access initiatives unfolded. A final aspect of copyright-based commons is the distinction between active and passive commons: while the latter is only a site for obtaining resources, the former is also a site for production of new resources by communities of volunteers (‘peer production'). Finally, several patent commons are discussed, which mainly aim at preventing patents blocking the further development of science. Throughout, attention is drawn to interrelationships between the various commons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developments within bioinformatics and software for data exchange in the life sciences raise important new questions for social informatics. In this paper, I analyse the role of property rights in information in directing these technological developments in the direction of certain social values. In particular, I focus on initiatives for networking distributed databases, operating both on a global scale (such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility) and in more single-issue networks (such as the European Human Frozen Tumour Tissue Bank). Three institutional models for developing such distributed networks for sharing information are presented and briefly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wide diffusion of information and communication technologies (ICT) over the last few decades has modified the way in which individuals and institutions interact and conduct social and business activities. We analyze the importance of a firm's information transparency, defined as the degree of completeness of information, regarding their own business activities, provided by each company to the market, and the related role of ICT. First, we present a brief historical perspective of information transparency of business organizations. Then, we analyze the actual role and possibilities offered by ICT to contemporary firms and to society. We develop a model that integrates the ethical and economical/financial forces affecting information transparency applying it to the case study of a famous multinational company. Finally, useful insights for scholars and practitioners are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to contribute to the debate about relationships between technology and society, or technology in society, starting from the categories of ubiquity and pervasivity. The analysis will try to understand ubiquitous/pervasive computing as a new frontier in contemporary movements of computerization [cf. Iacono and Kling, 2001], framing it in the interrelationships between different interests expressed in public discourse. Convergence in hi-tech industry and technological artefacts emerging from organizational and socio-cultural arrangements put forward the categories of ubiquity and pervasivity as key-words in design, functionality and perception of technological artefacts. The concept of ubiquity focuses on both the mobility and the pervasivity/embeddedness of technological artefacts that support the emergence of mobile Internetworking in a mobile society. Mobility and a set of affiliated concepts (e.g, miniaturization, portability, integration) constitute the main discursive frame in mobile and ubiquitous computing. Different layers of public discourse emerge as pertinent to this technology: a technology-driven and a social software perspective, both featured in the media discourse. All of them frame, eventually, inclusionary and exclusionary patterns of sociotechnical action, emerging from different politics of signification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This empirical paper shows how free/libre open source software (FLOSS) contributes to mutual and collaborative learning in an educational environment. However, unlike proprietary software, FLOSS allows extensive customisation of software and supports the needs of local users better. In this paper, we observes how implementing FLOSS in an Italian high school challenges the conventional relationship between end users themselves (e.g. teachers and students) and that between users and developers. The findings will shed some light on the social aspects of FLOSS-based computerization -- including the roles of FLOSS in social and organizational change in educational environments and the ways that the social organization of FLOSS are influenced by social forces and social practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to argue for the need for systematic empirical information systems research within the field of digital child pornography. This research area is today primarily driven by non-technical disciplines. This paper argues that without the IS perspective an adequate understanding of the role of ICT, its use and effects for child pornography cannot be obtained. The IS perspective is an important complement to the existing body of research attempting to understand the area of digital child pornography. The paper is based on the argument that the research area of digital child pornography is well suited to the application of critical information systems research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

‘E-medicine', i.e. the possibilities for patients to have access to medical information and medical consultation at Internet raises new ethical issues. In this paper e-medicine is discussed in terms of how it will affect the patient-doctor-relation, patient autonomy and the moral and professional responsibility of doctors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When Internet in the middle of the 1990s made its breakthrough a revolution occurred compared to the industrial revolution. Suddenly the cost for information transport was reduced to almost zero and genuinely new opportunities arose. Work, that can be performed by unskilled workers, are outsourced and the focus is on the business process. This requires a genuine new way of doing business; we see a need for trust, loyalty, and sharing of values. Education of users at the workplace will be a major concern and a common language and a mutual and deep understanding of the concepts and social contexts used is a prerequisite. A 3D apple model for context is described. For defining the social context, a user centred approach must be used. We need genuinely new informatics paradigms adapted to the network economy. This requires a massive re-education of all workers, both white and blue collar. To sum it all up: Reliable and sustainable production, availability of reliable information, trust, and flexibility are the means for us to survive in this new economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of Social Informatics emerged along with the growing role of information and communication technologies (‘ICT') in the 1970s and was articulated in Rob Kling's work in the 1980s and 1990s. In recent years, the notion of Social Informatics has been rapidly expanding in various contexts. Following an overview of related activities on the University of Ljubljana website (http://social-informatics.org) we can identify three broad contexts of Social informatics. The first area is the interaction of ICT with humans at the personal, organizational and society levels. The second direction involves ICT applications in the public/social sphere, encompassing modelling, simulations and information systems through to various e-applications and information architecture. The third segment relates to ICT as a tool in social science research ranging from ICT-supported statistical analysis, computer-assisted data collection to virtual collaboration and cyber-infrastructure. Within this scope we encounter numerous research activities (i.e. journals, events, associations, research institutes, projects...) related to Social Informatics, including a growing number of university study programmes. However, the dynamics, dispersion, fragmentation and lack of common framework, as well as the increasing number of competitive concepts (e.g. e-social science) could prevent Social Informatics effectively establishing itself as a discipline with all the necessary formal attributes and well-defined boarders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Courses on Social Informatics at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics have been offered since 1992. After 25 semesters, with more than 1200 students (mainly electrical engineering majors) who have taken the courses, our views on the subject, together with a comprehensive report on teaching experiences are now presented in a two volume handbook. We would like to share our notions on Social Informatics as a subject in its own right through an in-depth analysis of our curriculum philosophy and teaching methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through this paper we make two contributions to social informatics: the interdisciplinary study of the design, development, uses and consequences of information and communication technologies that takes into account their interaction with institutional and cultural contexts. Our first contribution is to make a connection from social informatics to general principles of socio-technical theories. We do this to both connect social informatics scholarship more directly to the large and growing literature(s) that engage socio-technical theorizing and to advance these principles more directly through social informatics. Our second contribution to social informatics is to engage two contemporary theoretical approaches that draw on social informatics principles: socio-technical interaction networks and principles of social actors and apply them to current practice. We do so to demonstrate that these analytic approaches are the needed tools to help scholars and reflective professionals in practice engage social informatics analyses. By doing this we highlight the potential of social informatics while honouring Rob Kling's legacy in helping to establish this transdiscipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Socio-Technical Interaction Network (STIN) strategy for social informatics research was published late in Rob Kling's life, and as a result, he did not have time to pursue its continued development. This paper aims to summarize existing work on STINs, identify key themes, strengths, weaknesses and limitations, and to suggest trajectories for the future of STIN research. The STIN strategy for research on socio-technical systems offers the potential for useful insights into the highly intertwined nature of social factors and technological systems, however a number of areas of the strategy remain underdeveloped and offer the potential for future refinement and modification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore Rob Kling's conceptual scaffolding for Social Informatics: his integration of theory, method and evidence and philosophical underpinnings and moral basis of his commitment to a critical stance towards computers and social life. He extended his focus on organizational practices and a lifelong meditation on democracy, value conflicts and social choices to the discourses of computerization and social transformation and to the education of the information professional. He came to his project through careful observation of organizational life and a critical reading of research conducted by other scholars and the rhetoric about ICTs, As Kling conceptualized it, the project of Social Informatics was to intervene in the social construction of the meaning, value, use and even design of technologies as shaped by discourse and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]