Monday, March 30, 2020

Technology stewardship and social practice theory

Technology stewardship is like the two sides of a coin: there is a management side, let's call it "tails"; and there is a leadership side, let's call it "heads".  Both are inseparable and the prevalence of one over the other is situational and contextual.  In other words, sometimes a tech steward's role is more managerial; at other times, the role is more leadership-oriented.

However, the distinction between sides is often fuzzy, and it is up to the tech steward to ask themself what role needs to take precedence at any given point in time.  And, moreover (to extend our analogy a bit further), rather than flipping the coin and responding to a random outcome, the steward's responsibility, in consultation with others, is to make a deliberate decision about what side needs to be "up" in order to best serve to their community of practice at the moment and going forward in time.

In some respects, "technology" takes a backseat to the overall goal of stewardship, which includes two basic responsibilities.  On the management side, this is to identify, guide, and maintain effective existing social practice; On the leadership side, this is to identify, guide and facilitate transformation (adaptive) efforts when reconfiguring a social practice with ICTs.

A simple example: the practice of acquiring expert information in making an input decision for a small business.  To the extent that this practice includes or enrolls ICT, it can be described as an "ICT-related practice" if the individual uses, for example, an online directory to locate an authority to consult on a decision.  Another example would be using a video conference call for a group meeting to discuss an input decision.  These are practices that entail ICT as a key material element.


Notes for a short talk on digital inequality

I am delighted to have been invited to participate in this informal session hosted by Sociology on "Digital (In)equality, activism, and...