Elizabeth C.J. van Oost

From Innovation Community to Community Innovation: User-initiated Innovation in Wireless Leiden

The role of users in innovation processes has gained increasing attention in innovation studies, technology studies, and media studies. Scholars have identified users and use practices as a source of innovation. So far, however, little insight has been generated in innovation processes in which communities of users are the driving force in all phases of the innovation process. This article explores the conceptual vocabularies of innovation studies and actor— network theory and discusses their adequacy for describing and understanding the dynamics of user-initiated innovation processes in which community and innovation are closely intertwined. The authors introduce the concept of community innovation and argue for its relevance for understanding the full dynamics of innovations initiated and shaped by user collectives. The article elaborates a qualitative case study of Wireless Leiden, a local wireless network infrastructure in the Dutch town of Leiden initiated, designed, and maintained by a local community of users.

Gender in the Design of the Digital City of Amsterdam

This article analyses the social shaping of the Digital City of Amsterdam (DDS) from a gender perspective. It aims to contribute to an understanding of the overwhelming dominance (more than 90 per cent) of male DDS users, a fact which is more than surprising given that the designers had high ideals about making the internet accessible to a wider public. The analysis is rooted in the social constructivist tradition in technology studies. As such, it analyses technology as a product of social, political, and cultural negotiations among designers, policymakers and other social groups. The concept of genderscript is used to examine the gender relations embedded in the design of DDS. In our analysis we show that the design process was gendered at three levels: the structural, symbolical and identity level. As the design-process was highly informal and no conscious attempt was made to focus on specific user-groups, the designers unconsciously projected their own, masculine biased interests on the future user....

Towards a Sociological Understanding of Robots as Companions

While Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) have, in the past, primarily mediated or facilitated emotional bonding between humans, contemporary robot technologies are increasingly making the bond between human and robots the core issue. Thinking of robots as companions is not only a development that opens up huge potential for new applications, it also raises social and ethical issues. In this paper we will argue that current conceptions of human-robot companionship are primarily rooted in cognitive psychological traditions and provide important, yet limited understanding of the companion relationship. Elaborating on a sociological perspective on the appropriation of new technology, we will argue for a richer understanding of companionship that takes the situatedness (in location, network and time) of the use-context into account.

Reflections on textbooks for teaching TA

Textbooks are a valuable mean in the teaching of Technology Assessment (TA) in various bachelor and master programs. However, the availability of TA textbooks is scarce, despite the fact that the academic teaching of TA is a widely spread practice. The few textbooks that are available are written in non-English languages and are used (and known) only in the specific national context, in this case Germany and The Netherlands (Grunwald 2010a, Smit & van Oost 1999). One of the main reasons for the lack of textbooks is the fact that TA is a relatively young academic field and has not stabilized (yet) into a core body of knowledge and methods. Technology Assessment is historically rooted and shaped in non-academic policy arena’s and is strongly policy and action oriented still. The diverse institutional and socio-political national settings imply a manifold of forms of TA, both conceptually and methodologically (Joss & Belluci 2000, Vig & Paschen 2000, Smits et al. 1995). Furthermore, Technology Assessment has a fundamental trans-disciplinary character as it focuses on the dynamics of the complex interplay of technological and societal development.

Making Women Count Gender-Typing, Technology and Path Dependencies in Dutch Statistical Data Processing, 1900–1970

This article is a longitudinal analysis of the relation between gendered labour divisions and new data processing technologies at the Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Following social-constructivist and evolutionary economic approaches, the authors hold that the relation between technology and work organization is a two-way process. This means that technology does not only affect the relations between men and women at work, but that these relations also influence technological choices. The proportional numbers of men and women on the labour market and changing conceptions of which work is deemed appropriate for women have been important factors in the strongly varying extent to which women participated in office work. They have also been important factors in determining the course of technological development. Shortages of women on the labour market have even determined search heuristics for new technological solutions in specific directions.This article is a longitudinal analysis of the relation between gendered labour divisions and new data processing technologies at the Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Following social-constructivist and evolutionary economic approaches, the authors hold that the relation between technology and work organization is a two-way process. This means that technology does not only affect the relations between men and women at work, but that these relations also influence technological choices. The proportional numbers of men and women on the labour market and changing conceptions of which work is deemed appropriate for women have been important factors in the strongly varying extent to which women participated in office work. They have also been important factors in determining the course of technological development. Shortages of women on the labour market have even determined search heuristics for new technological solutions in specific directions.