Abstract - The Information Society 18(2)
Practice-based Design of Information Systems: Notes from
the hyper-developed world
Lucy Suchman
What I name here the "hyper-developed" world comprises those places
that presently dominate distributions of innovation in new information and communications
technologies (ICT), both in terms of prevailing rhetorics and practical resources.
This paper draws on experiences in research and development in a large U.S.
corporation to question received wisdom about where and how technology innovation
happens, and how it might be configured differently. From the settings with
which I am familiar, I describe efforts to create an approach to systems development
based in an understanding of relevant forms of working practice. A central issue
for such a practice-based approach is the question of relations between sites
of ICT production and use a question that I argue is relevant for systems
development projects wherever they occur. I close with lessons learned from
my own experiences that articulate the requirements for innovation in a new
way. The aim is to clarify the already existing place of the developing countries
in ICT innovation, and to suggest directions that would further de-center the
distribution of associated symbolic and material rewards.
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