The social and technical conditions enabling innovations in information infrastructures: A case study from public health in Tanzania

Abstract

One of the hallmark characteristics of information infrastructures is their gradual evolution to adapt to changes in technologies and requirements from diverse user groups. Evolution manifests through innovations on and within infrastructures as they respond to the changes. These innovations, however, are not straight forward, following complexities in technologies, organizations, and actors. Few succeed, some take too long while others fail to even start. This study, therefore, investigates the social and technical conditions enabling innovations on information infrastructures. We employed a qualitative case study method where we investigated the development of a mobile platform called DHIS2 touch. Our key contribution is that of identifying the social and technical factors enabling innovations on information infrastructures to complement the existing discourses on how innovations are enabled. We, in particular, identified eight conditions enabling innovations on information infrastructures and we classify them into three categories – structural arrangements, technical facilities, and process support. We argue that in the course of cultivating an infrastructure, these conditions need to be created and nurtured.