Computerization Movements Research Articles

Determinants of IT Innovation Diffusion from Dynamic Perspective—Review and Prospects

The research on information technology (IT) innovation at organizational level has gained plentiful and substantial achievements; existing research in this field presents the pattern of perspective diversification. This paper first introduces the concept of IT innovation and innovation diffusion, and then reviews five dynamic perspectives on the study of the influence factors of IT innovation diffusion, which are organizational learning, social contagion, management fashion, organizing vision and computerization movement. Suggestions and expectations are presented at the end of this paper.

Data, ideology, and the developing critical program of social informatics

The rapidly shifting ideological terrain of computing has a profound impact on Social Informatics's critical and empirical analysis of computerization movements. As these movements incorporate many of the past critiques concerning social fit and situational context leveled against them by Social Informatics research, more subtle and more deeply ingrained modes of ideological practice have risen to support movements of computerization. Among these, the current emphasis on the promises of data and data analytics presents the most obvious ideological challenge. In order to reorient Social Informatics in relation to these new ideological challenges, Louis Althusser's theory of ideology is discussed, with its implications for Social Informatics considered. Among these implications, a changed relationship between Social Informatics's critical stance and its reliance on empirical methods is advanced. Addressed at a fundamental level, the practice of Social Informatics comes to be reoriented in a more distinctly reflective and ethical direction.

A Rhetorical Approach to IT Diffusion: Reconceptualizing the Ideology-Framing Relationship in Computerization Movements

In this paper we propose rhetoric as a valuable yet underdeveloped alternative paradigm for examining IT diffusion. Building on recent developments of computerization movements theory, our rhetorical approach proposes that two central elements of the the

MyKnet.org: How Northern Ontario's First Nation Communities Made Themselves At Home On The World Wide Web

In this article we explore the development of MyKnet.org, a loosely structured system of personal homepages that was established by indigenous communities in the region of Northern Ontario, Canada in 2000. Individuals from over 50 remote First Nations across Northern Ontario have made this free of charge, free of advertisements, locally-driven online social environment their virtual home. MyKnet.org currently comprises over 25,000 active homepages and strongly reflects the demographic and geographic profile of Northern Ontario. It is thus youth-based and built around the communities’ need to maintain social ties across great distances. We draw upon encounters with a range of MyKnet.org’s developers and long time users to explore how this community-developed and community-controlled form of communication reflects life in the remote First Nations. Our focus is on the importance of locality: MyKnet.org’s development was contingent on K-Net, a regional indigenous computerization movement to bring broadband communications to remote First Nations. MyKnet.org is explicitly community-driven and not-for-profit, thus playing an important role in inter- and intra-community interaction in a region that has lacked basic telecommunications infrastructure well into the millennium.

Computerization Movements and Technology Diffusion: From Mainframes to Ubiquitous Computing

Computerization Movements and Technology Diffusion: From Mainframes to Ubiquitous Computing

How Photobloggers are Framing a New Computerization Movement

Photoblogging, photo-sharing, and other internet activities geared toward enabling photography as a central purpose have been growing in number and popularity in the last several years. Photographs have been part of websites since the beginning of the graphical internet era ushered in by the Netscape browser. However, only recently have sites appeared that are geared toward sharing photographs as a central concern rather than just one element of a website really started to spring up. Flickr.com, for instance, was founded in 2004 and photoblogs.org was founded in 2002. Most other photo-sharing websites were started in the last 2-3 years (see Table 1 below for details). Due to their novelty, relatively little research has been done into the nature of photo-centric websites. In particular, there has not yet been 1) a systematic accounting of the landscape of photo-centric websites and a description of how they are being used, 2) an analysis comparing photoblogging and more generic photo-sharing sites, nor 3) a discussion of whether these represent a potential long-term computerization movement in photography or a short-lived fad. This paper is an early attempt to address these issues by presenting some preliminary research data on photoblogger's behaviors.

Computerization movements and technology diffusion: from mainframes to ubiquitous computing

Computerization movement (CM), as first articulated by Rob Kling, refers to a special kind of social and technological movement that promotes the adoption of computing within organizations and society. Here, editors Margaret S. Elliott and Kenneth L. Kraemer and more than two dozen noted scholars trace the successes and failures of CMs from the mainframe and PC eras to the current Internet era and the emerging era of ubiquitous computing. Through theoretical analyses, systematic empirical studies, field-based studies, and case studies of specific technologies, the book shows CMs to be driven by Utopian visions of technology that become part of the ether within society, creating a general bias in favor of computing adoption. The empirical studies presented here show the need for designers, users, and the media to be aware that CM rhetoric can propose grand visions that never become part of a reality, and reinforce the need for critical and scholarly review of promising new technologies.

Computerization Movements and Technology Diffusion: From Mainframes to Ubiquitous Computing

Computerization Movements and Technology Diffusion: From Mainframes to Ubiquitous Computing

Revising the Conceptualization of Computerization Movements

One interesting problem arising from Kling and Iacono's pioneering work on computerization movements (CMs) is the question of empirically determining a movement's success or failure. This article questions the question and argues that it is based on two assumptions that upon closer examination seem problematic. The first is that Kling and Iaconco's concept of a CM is sufficient to cover the range of CMs. Their approach to CMs is explicated, pointing out three ways in which it is limited, concluding that it should be reconceptualized. The second is that CMs are similar enough so that a single set of criteria is sufficient to judge the success or failure of any given CM. Using a heuristic analysis to examine a set of 41 CMs, a typology is introduced demonstrating that there are important differences among CMs. The article concludes that since a single set of criteria is no longer appropriate, different sets of criteria are needed to evaluate the success or failure of different types of CMs.

Mobilization of software developers: the free software movement

PurposeThe paper has three purposes: the first is to provide a deeper understanding of the ideology and work practices of free and open source software development, the second to characterize the free software movement as a new type of computerization movement and the third to present a conceptual diagram and framework with an analysis showing how the free software computerization movement has evolved into an occupational community.Design/methodology/approachQualitative data were collected over a four year period using a virtual ethnography in a study of free and open source software development and, in particular, a study of a free software community, GNUenterprise, located atwww.gnuenterprise.org, which has the goal of developing a free enterprise resource planning software system.FindingsIt is concluded that the ideology of the free software movement continues to be one of the factors which mobilize people to contribute to free and open source software development. This movement represents a new type of computerization movement which promotes the investment of time in learning a new software development process instead of investment of money in the acquisition and use of new technology.Research limitations/implicationsThe research findings are limited by a detailed study of only one free software development project.Practical implicationsThis paper is of significance to software developers and managers of firms who wish to incorporate free and open source software into their companies.Originality/valueThis research presents an original conceptual diagram and framework for how computerization movements have emerged into an occupational community.

Introduction to the Special Issue on “The Legacy of Rob Kling: Social Informatics as a Research Discipline”

The late Professor Rob Kling was an influential scholar in the field of social informatics (SI). Not only was he a visionary promoting the conceptualization of this new area (Kling, 1999; Kling & Allen, 1996), but a lead researcher as well. As a tribute to this profound, eclectic professor, we present this special issue of The Information Society to honor his contributions to the social informatics community. Unlike a festschrift, where papers are focused on research topics related to a professor’s previous work, this special issue is dedicated to Rob’s impact on the past, current, and future state of the field of SI. The articles in this special issue are a subset of 24 papers presented at the Social Informatics Workshop, held at the University of California, Irvine, March 11–12, 2005 (cf. http://www.crito.uci.edu/si), to honor the contributions of Rob Kling as founder of SI. The workshop was focused on papers and presentations related to SI generally, and to extending his research on computerization movements (CM) in particular. The workshop papers related to CMs are being published in a book (Elliott & Kraemer, in press), whereas the papers in this special issue deal specifically with Rob Kling’s contribution to the genesis of the SI research community in the United States and Europe. We both worked closely with Rob Kling during his tenure at the University of California, Irvine, as did Jonathan Grudin, Suzanne Iacano, and John King who are authors in this issue. Several other authors worked with Rob when he went to Indiana University, including Blaise Cronin, Debora Shaw, Alice Robbins, and Steve Sawyer. As coeditors of this special issue, we wish to enlighten researchers about the richness of SI research and further Rob’s vision

The Computer Prescription: Medical Computing, Public Policy, and Views of History

This article traces past trends and current developments in medical computing in the United States. It suggests a link between shifts in emphases in medical computing and in federal government policy toward health care delivery. The development of medical computing was not driven solely by the internal imperatives of science and technology, but by dreams and visions of how computers could revolutionize medicine. Such dreams and visions constitute a mythical charter similar to ideologies and rhetoric used to mobilize support by other computerization movements. This mythical charter influenced development of medical computing by tying computing in medicine to policy goals. This charter also affected historical accounts in medical computing, which are characterized by technological determinism and evidence of cognitive dissonance due to failure to achieve policy goals.

The Mobilization of Support for Computerization: The Role of Computerization Movements

This paper describes how computerization is the byproduct of loosely organized movements rather than simply an industry selling products to an eager market. We briefly examine five “computerization movements”: urban information systems, artificial intelligence, office automation, instructional computing, and personal computing. These computerization movements share key ideological beliefs, which we also characterize. The main alternative normative analyses of appropriate computerization come from counter movements whose interests intersect with some special form of computerization: in workplaces, around intrusions on personal privacy, and on consumer rights. These counter movements articulate how computing should be balanced with competing values such as good jobs, fair information practices, and consumer control. We argue that these counter movement views do not add up to a coherent alternative humanistic vision for appropriate computerization.

The Mobilization of Support for Computerization: The Role of Computerization Movements

The Mobilization of Support for Computerization: The Role of Computerization Movements

Computerization in South Asia

In their move toward modernization, the countries of South Asia have realized the potential of computer power. However, this computerization movement is hindered by a shortage of trained computer personnel and a lack of planning for the development of computing resources. Prohibitive costs have led many countries to set up or encourage local manufacturing capability and to produce their own software. Despite these problems, the future is not bleak. Although South Asia is unlikely to catch the West, the proliferation of computers and computer personnel will continue apace.