Introduction of new technology: making use of recent insights from sociolcmgy and economics of technology

Using the catastrophe theory to discover transformative research topics

This study approaches the identification and prediction of transformative research topics by using the concepts of catastrophe theory. Based on the evaluation model of catastrophe theory, 11 indicators were selected for four different aspects: growth rate, economic and social influence, network characteristics and the degree of uncertainty in evaluating an emerging topics’ transformative potential. The stem cell research field is used as case study. The results of this study show that there are differences between various emerging research topics (ERTs) within the stem cell research field and their potential ability to induce changes and innovation. The method developed in this article is able to identify and predict the future transformative potential of ERTs and provides reference information for scientific and technological planning, industrial policy and scientific research management.

Lessons Learned from a Pilot Study Implementing a Team-Based Messaging Application (Slack) to Improve Communication and Teamwork in Veterinary Medical Education

Communication skills are paramount for a successful veterinary curriculum. Technological advances have improved communication processes, and the way instruction is delivered. Yet, with these advances come challenges such as email overload, increased interruptions, and miscommunications. Time is a valuable commodity at any high caseload veterinary teaching hospital. When increasingly more time is spent sending and receiving emails, text messages, pages, and calls in lieu of more focused clinical teaching, then the modes of communication and traditional learning theories need to be evaluated. An effective mode of communication is needed to reduce information overload and miscommunication. This article describes lessons learned from a pilot study to determine if a team-based messaging application could improve a surgical team's communication by having all forms of transmitted media directly related to their scope of work accessible to everyone on the team in one real-time digital platform (Slack). Fifteen members of a university-based surgical team were enrolled into the study and provided with surveys at specific time points to evaluate the efficacy of an internet-based team communication tool during a 3-month period. Results of our study showed an overall perception of improved communication among team members when using a team-based communication platform. Recommendations are provided to address team member's underutilization of the platform, which resulted in duplicate messages and miscommunication. We conclude an initial adoption by staff members is essential when implementing significant shifts in communication platforms.

Anticipating governance challenges in synthetic biology: Insights from biosynthetic menthol

This paper advances an anticipatory governance framework to investigate and prepare for the potential implications of an emerging technology. Within the growing domain of synthetic biology, we draw on an end-to-end assessment of biosynthetic menthol that incorporates consideration of multiple dimensions of production and use. Based on documentary analysis, available data, and interviews, our approach unfolds in three steps. First, we map the sociotechnical transition in menthol production, comparing existing agricultural and chemical production methods with new biosynthetic processes - or what we call the biological (bio) turn. Second, we explore the rationales, promises and expectations of menthol's bio-turn and explore the drivers of transition so as to clarify which goals and values innovation is addressing. Third, we reflect on the opportunities and challenges of such a transition to put forward an agenda for responsible innovation and anticipatory governance. The bio-turn in menthol is analysed through five responsible innovation dimensions: the potential distribution of benefits and burdens; social resilience; environmental sustainability; infrastructure and business models; and public perception and public interest. We consider the implications of our analysis both for the responsible development and application of synthetic biology for menthol and for the broader assessment and sociotechnical construction of emerging technologies.

Reconfiguration, Contestation, and Decline: Conceptualizing Mature Large Technical Systems

Large technical systems (LTS) are integral to modern lifestyles but arduous to analyze. In this paper, we advance a conceptualization of LTS using the notion of mature "phases," drawing from insights into innovation studies, science and technology studies, political science, the sociology of infrastructure, history of technology, and governance. We begin by defining LTS as a unit of analysis and explaining its conceptual utility and novelty, situating it among other prominent sociotechnical theories. Next, we argue that after LTS have moved through the (overlapping) phases proposed by Thomas Hughes of invention, expansion, growth, momentum, and style, mature LTS undergo the additional (overlapping) phases of reconfiguration, contestation (subject to pressures such as drift and crisis), and eventually stagnation and decline. We illustrate these analytical phases with historical case studies and the conceptual literature, and close by suggesting future research to refine and develop the LTS framework, particularly related to more refined typologies, temporal dimensions, and a broadening of system users. We aim to contribute to theoretical debates about the coevolution of LTS as well as empirical discussions about system-related use, sociotechnical change, and policy-making.

Engineers and Active Responsibility

Knowing that technologies are inherently value-laden and systemically interwoven with society, the question is how individual engineers can take up the challenge of accepting the responsibility for their work? This paper will argue that engineers have no institutional structure at the level of society that allows them to recognize, reflect upon, and actively integrate the value-laden character of their designs. Instead, engineers have to tap on the different institutional realms of market, science, and state, making their work a 'hybrid' activity combining elements from the different institutional realms. To deal with this institutional hybridity, engineers develop routines and heuristics in their professional network, which do not allow societal values to be expressed in a satisfactory manner. To allow forms of 'active' responsibility, there have to be so-called 'accountability forums' that guide moral reflections of individual actors. The paper will subsequently look at the methodologies of value-sensitive design (VSD) and constructive technology assessment (CTA) and explore whether and how these methodologies allow engineers to integrate societal values into the design technological artifacts and systems. As VSD and CTA are methodologies that look at the process of technological design, whereas the focus of this paper is on the designer, they can only be used indirectly, namely as frameworks which help to identify the contours of a framework for active responsibility of engineers.

Constructing productive engagement: pre-engagement tools for emerging technologies

Engagement with stakeholders and civil society is increasingly important for new scientific and technological developments. Preparation of such engagements sets the stage for engagement activities and thus contributes to their outcomes. Preparation is a demanding task, particularly if the facilitating agent aims for timely engagement related to emerging technologies. Requirements for such preparation include understanding of the emerging science & technology and its dynamics. Multi-level analysis and socio-technical scenarios are two complementary tools for constructing productive engagement. Examination of the emergence of nanotechnologies in the food packaging sector demonstrates how these tools work. In light of recent policy demands for responsible innovation, but also more generally, the role of organizers of engagement activities is one that deserves reflection insofar as it can extend beyond that of preparation and facilitation.

The potential contribution of social science to information technology implementation in healthcare

Information technology systems in hospitals and other healthcare settings have sometimes proved difficult to implement successfully. Some of the problems encountered in the implementation of information technology systems in healthcare can be explained by the use of techniques and theoretical approaches derived from the social sciences, notably sociology and anthropology. Research from a variety of countries and healthcare systems confirms the explicative value of these techniques and approaches. These techniques can also be used to inform better the process of design and implementation of computer systems. Although they have been successfully applied in several industries and spread across several countries, these techniques have not yet been widely used in healthcare. This article suggests how these approaches can be fruitfully applied to the design and implementation of IT systems in healthcare and how this might be achieved.

Maternal serum screening, political decision-making and social learning

OBJECTIVE

Analysis and evaluation of the process by which serum screening has been introduced in Dutch maternity care. In our analysis of Dutch medical journals, reports of the government and the political and cultural debate, we use a theoretical framework in which the process of introduction of new technologies is described in terms of different social learning processes.

RESULTS

The analysis shows a dual-track pattern: promotion by the medical community, and control and regulation of serum screening by the political decision-makers. This process left little room for social learning processes. This applied in particular to learning processes about the social and cultural meaning and acceptability of serum screening. Acceptability of the new serum screening was framed nearly exclusively in terms of freedom of choice.

CONCLUSIONS

A too limited framework of assessment was used. Health technology assessment (HTA) should incorporate in the evaluation process the ethical, social, cultural and political dimensions of health technology, and stimulate the interplay between different perspectives and preferences among parties involved. As a new promising approach, we suggest the use of pilot experiments that are designed as social experiments involving different parties in a common learning process.