Smart Environments? Reflections on the role of metaphors in IS

Our cities, landscapes, institutions, and homes are increasingly being equipped with sensors that glean information that is being processed by algorithms and visualized to serve as a basis for decision making. Such Internet of Tings (IoT) infrastructures are shaping our societies in novel ways. Tey also facilitate new ways of engaging with the natural environment. Tis calls for attention to how they are brought into being. In this essay, I will refect on the role of metaphor in developing IoT infrastructures for governance in public sector. Te afnity for metaphor among IS scholars was one of the frst things I noticed as a Ph.D. fellow entering the IS feld from a background in social science and the humanities. I found that metaphors have a prominent role in IS, both as tools for thinking about complex phenomena and as aids for guiding the development of information systems and information infrastructures. Te dual agenda of IS— seeking to understand and explain as well as informing practice—accentuates the importance of attending to metaphor in this domain. Tis insight was the motivation for a discussion about metaphors among IS scholars in the 1980’s, which I will elaborate on below. I will, however, argue that the time is due for rekindling this conversation both because the understanding of the relation between technology and society has evolved and because the objects of IS studies itself has changed considerably, from small information systems to information infrastructures that are near-ubiquitous. I will make two main claims. The frst is that metaphors are analytical devices that help us make sense of the world, but they become normative devices when being used to design and implement new systems and technologies. Therefore, we must refect on the relationship between constructivist and normative aspects of metaphors. The second claim I will make is that many of the metaphors used in IS generate dualistic views of the world. Tis was problematic already in the 1990s when the ‘organization’ was the main analytical entity and is today even more so because of the emergence of IoT infrastructures that increasingly blur the boundaries between public and private, work and leisure, and bodies and machines. I use the metaphor ‘information is intelligence’ in the context of design of IoT infrastructures for public sector governance to show the implications of this, and eventually suggest alternative metaphors. © 2017 Scandinavian Journal of Information System

Repair = care: system stories from Norway and Ghana

Sustainable production and consumption is one of the seventeen Sustai- nable Development Goals (SDGs) (United Nations, 2015). The mobile phone is an important example of unsustainable production and consumption. There are widespread social and environmental impacts in its life cycle (van der Velden & Taylor, 2017) and the production and consumption of mobile pho- nes continues to increase, also in countries with a highly saturated market. In 2017, 1.47 billion mobile phone units were shipped worldwide and that number is expected to reach 1.7 billion units in 2020 (Statista, 2018). Repair is one of the activities that disrupt the unsustainable consumption of mobile phones. Repair extends the lifespan of a product, which slows down unsustainable product life cycles. Through stories of the repair of mobile phones, from Norway and Ghana, we are able draw a global system of mo- bile phone production and consumption, which can offer insight for a more sustainable mobile phone life cycle. The number of places where one can repair shoes, clothes, electronics, etc., after the warranty period has expired, has decreased dramatically in high- income countries such as Norway. Also when one brings a faulty item back during the warranty period, the item is most often not repaired, but replaced. As a result of increased awareness of the impact of unsustainable consumption, several community-based repair initiatives have spring up in high-income countries, such as the Restart Project in the UK (The Restart Project, 2018) and Repair Café in the Netherlands (Repair Café, 2018), both with affiliates around the world. The Restart project focuses on the repair of electronics. Restarters Norway, which is one of their affiliates, organises so-called repair parties for electronics (Restarters Norway, 2018). Repair Cafés offer all kinds of repairs, based on the availability of skills among their volunteers. Electronics, bicycles, and clothes are some of the most popular items. Community repair is based on voluntary participation of repairers, who come together in a local setting, such as a community centre or library, to repair whatever people bring in. The meetings are organised by and for the local community. Community repair is often motivated by sustainable con- sumption or the unavailability or unaffordability of formal repair, but also the culture and joy of repair plays a central role. In low-income countries, repair has always been an important household activity as well as economic activity. Our fieldwork on informal mobile pho- ne repair in Ghana shows that repair is a collective activity; colleagues, ma- ster repairers, and apprentices work together, sharing tools and expertise. Rather than comparing informal repair activities in Norway and Ghana, we propose to tell system stories of mobile phone repair in both countries. Sy- stem stories have the capacity to shift the focus from parts of the system to the whole system (Stroh, 2015). They are part of what Ison calls a systemic inquiry, “a particular means of facilitating movement towards social lear- ning (understood as concerted action by multiple stakeholders in situations of complexity and uncertainty)” (2010, p. 244). We understand repair as a “doings of care” (de la Bellacasa, 2011). Our repair stories focus on the material aspects of the mobile phone. We follow the mo- bile phones and its spare parts to the places where they are repaired and we focus on the repair process itself, by looking at the tools and resources (manuals, spare parts) used for repair. Using system mapping (Stroh, 2015), we can draw global flows of materials as well as the structures that regulate these flows, such as national, EU, and international regulation, and consu- mer practices. System stories and system mapping are important tools in addressing com- plex problems, such as those of addressed by the SDGs. By focusing on re- pair, an activity disrupting the business as usual of unsustainable cycles of production and consumption, we are able to shift the focus towards the system as whole. By mapping global flows of materials, we are able to iden- tify what is “systemically desirable” (P. B. Checkland, 1999; P. Checkland & Winter, 2006) in terms of possible actions that will strengthen repair as an intervention in unsustainable production and consumption. We identify product design for reparability, the free and affordable availability of quali- ty spare parts, and zero value-added taxes on repair and spare parts as desi- rable actions for caring about mobile phones and other things

Knowing Through Relations. On the Epistemology and Methodology of Being a Reflexive Insider

Empirical studies of information and communication technology (ICT) is often done by researchers who work closely with practitioners. Acquiring a role as an insider researcher gives the researcher performative knowledge of the phenomenon that is being studied. Performative knowledge can provide valuable insight into a design process, but this requires that the researcher records her practical experiences, including the sensory, and subject them to analysis. In this paper, I propose that a commitment to a relational epistemology and the positioning as a reflexive insider can open for attending to the performative knowledge gained in the field as a source of data. I will call for attending to the relation to things and places, as well as to people during fieldwork, in analysis and in writing up the research. I will draw on an ethnographic study of a pilot project in Bangladesh to discuss this

Crafting connections – practices of infrastructuring: An ethnographic study of developing a village electricity grid in Bangladesh

This thesis is an ethnographic study of the making of an electricity infrastructure in a Bangladeshi village. In this pilot project, employees of a Norwegian university and a Bangladeshi mobile company utilized a mobile tower as an electricity-producing hub for a solar-powered mini-grid. By using the verb-form ‘infrastructuring,’ understood as the crafting of connections between people, things, and places, the thesis explores how infrastructures are practically constituted. A central theme is the use of representations, such as sketches and monitoring systems. While such representations assist project workers and organizations in sorting out complex realities, they can also hide important issues. The thesis highlights the contradiction between a commonsense understanding of infrastructures as fixed and stable and the experience of the environment as a dynamic force pushing back into interventions. It engages the Bangla terms kacha (soft or provisional) and pakka (solid or permanent) to consider how we might develop flexible infrastructures that accommodate and even invite environmental fluctuations

Kosmopolitter og lokale i islamsk grenseland : fellesskap og identitetsbygging blant mennesker med pakistansk og nord-indisk muslimsk bakgrunn i Vancouver

Denne oppgaven handler om hvordan mennesker med pakistansk og nord-indisk muslimsk bakgrunn i Vancouver etablerer og reproduserer fellesskap i lokalsamfunnet, og om hvordan de i sin identitetsbygging forholder seg til det å leve i et heterogent samfunn. Jeg tar utgangspunkt i Pnina Werbners begreper moralfellesskap og estetisk fellesskap. Mine informanter opplever at de har et fellesskap med andre mennesker med pakistansk og nord-indisk muslimsk bakgrunn. Dette fellesskaper er basert på en oppfatning om en delt moral, som uttrykkes med begrepet familieverdier. Dette begrepet er en grensemarkør overfor andre grupper i samfunnet, slik som det hvite majoritetssamfunnet og andre grupper med sørasiatisk bakgrunn. På noen arenaer fremkalles imidlertid et sørasiatisk fellesskap på tvers av religiøs bakgrunn. Slike arenaer er tilstelninger der urdu poesi fremføres, og konserter med sørasiatiske artister. Et tredje fellesskap som er viktig for mine informanter, er det muslimske fellesskap på tvers av etniske grupper. De skifter situasjonelt mellom å vektlegge disse tre fellesskapene. Fellesskapene strekker seg utover det lokale til et transnasjonalt og globalt nivå. Transnasjonale og globale elementer brukes selektivt i den lokale fellesskapsbyggingen. Forestillingen om et globalt forpliktende fellesskap av muslimer brukes for å bygge et multietnisk muslimsk fellesskap lokalt. Transnasjonale og globale elementer virker samlende og ikke fragmenterende for de lokale fellesskapene. Jeg posisjonerer meg i forhold til Arjun Appadurai i diskusjonen omkring dette. De fleste av informantene mine forholder seg til disse fellesskapene, i tillegg til øvrige statuser de har, i sin identitetsbygging. Som muslimer i et samfunn der majoriteten ikke er muslimer, må de ofte forholde seg til at forskjellige meningsverdener er dominerende på de forskjellige arenaene de ferdes på. Begrepene kosmopolitter og lokale vil belyse hvordan informantene mine forholder seg til heterogenitet på forskjellige måter i sin identitetsbygging. Jeg vil argumentere for at identitetsprosjekter bærer mer preg av bevisste valg når den livsverdenen man blir oppdratt innen ikke korresponderer med den man møter på skolen eller i arbeidslivet, slik tilfellet er for mange innvandrere og barn av innvandrere

The tree as method: co-creating with urban ecosystems

Participatory design is based on the idea that those affected by a decision should get the opportunity to influence it. Addressing the imperative of climate change and the complexity of sustainable urban development requires collaboration and co-creation across disciplines, sectors and systems. Nonhuman participation and the innovation potential in designing with nature and integrating a concern for social, technical and natural systems do however remain underexplored. In this explorative short paper, we ask what it would take to take the needs of nature seriously, and to co-create with urban ecosystems. Taking street trees as examples, we discuss and reflect on what trees as participants might imply and open up for. We do that according to five fundamental aspects of participatory design. Pointing out directions for future research, we propose taking "the tree as method" as entry point for multi-actor explorations of the challenges and opportunities of street transformation across social, technical and ecological systems.

What Can We Learn from Urban Crisis?

The irreversible transition towards urban living entails complex challenges and vulnerabilities for citizens, civic authorities, and the management of global commons. Many cities remain beset by political, infrastructural, social, or economic fragility, with crisis arguably becoming an increasingly present condition of urban life. While acknowledging the intense vulnerabilities that cities can face, this article contends that innovative, flexible, and often ground-breaking policies, practices, and activities designed to manage and overcome fragility can emerge in cities beset by crisis. We argue that a deeper understanding of such practices and the knowledge emerging from contexts of urban crisis may offer important insights to support urban resilience and sustainable development. We outline a simple conceptual representation of the interrelationships between urban crisis and knowledge production, situate this in the context of literature on resilience, sustainability, and crisis, and present illustrative examples of real-world practices. In discussing these perspectives, we reflect on how we may better value, use, and exchange knowledge and practice in order to address current and future urban challenges

What Can We Learn from Urban Crisis?

The irreversible transition towards urban living entails complex challenges and vulnerabilities for citizens, civic authorities, and the management of global commons. Many cities remain beset by political, infrastructural, social, or economic fragility, with crisis arguably becoming an increasingly present condition of urban life. While acknowledging the intense vulnerabilities that cities can face, this article contends that innovative, flexible, and often ground-breaking policies, practices, and activities designed to manage and overcome fragility can emerge in cities beset by crisis. We argue that a deeper understanding of such practices and the knowledge emerging from contexts of urban crisis may offer important insights to support urban resilience and sustainable development. We outline a simple conceptual representation of the interrelationships between urban crisis and knowledge production, situate this in the context of literature on resilience, sustainability, and crisis, and present illustrative examples of real-world practices. In discussing these perspectives, we reflect on how we may better value, use, and exchange knowledge and practice in order to address current and future urban challenges

What Can We Learn from Urban Crisis?

The irreversible transition towards urban living entails complex challenges and vulnerabilities for citizens, civic authorities, and the management of global commons. Many cities remain beset by political, infrastructural, social, or economic fragility, with crisis arguably becoming an increasingly present condition of urban life. While acknowledging the intense vulnerabilities that cities can face, this article contends that innovative, flexible, and often ground-breaking policies, practices, and activities designed to manage and overcome fragility can emerge in cities beset by crisis. We argue that a deeper understanding of such practices and the knowledge emerging from contexts of urban crisis may offer important insights to support urban resilience and sustainable development. We outline a simple conceptual representation of the interrelationships between urban crisis and knowledge production, situate this in the context of literature on resilience, sustainability, and crisis, and present illustrative examples of real-world practices. In discussing these perspectives, we reflect on how we may better value, use, and exchange knowledge and practice in order to address current and future urban challenges.publishedVersio