Information and Communication Technologies, Society and Human Beings: Theory and Framework. Honoring Professor Gunilla Bradley

Citation

McGuirk, K. (2012), "Information and Communication Technologies, Society and Human Beings: Theory and Framework. Honoring Professor Gunilla Bradley", Online Information Review, Vol. 36 No. 2, pp. 326-327. https://doi.org/10.1108/14684521211240180

Information and Communication Technology, Society and Human Beings is a hefty work that invites the reader to “a journey of intellectual rigour, novelty, curiosity, drama and futurology […]”. The nine sections investigate the psychological and social effects of information and communication technology (ICT) on humans. The essays include topics such as social informatics, human‐computer interaction, organisational behaviour and macro‐economics. These contributions have a social informatics context, reflecting the fact that the collection is in honour of Gunilla Bradley. According to the editors, Bradley's enquiry into the psychological and social effects of ICT in human and social contexts confirms her as a pioneering scholar in the field of social informatics.

Each of the nine sections is subdivided into chapters, and the thread linking them is the effects of ICT on humans and society (individuals, groups, organisations and their management). The critical reflections on changes in behaviour, values, competencies, social and psychological aspects are important. Section 1 reflects on Bradley's research journey, which supplies the reader with sufficient background information on her as a person and as a researcher. The main focus of section 2 is the impact of convergence theory on ICT, society and human beings. Bradley's Convergence Model is elaborated in this section. Section 3 accents the psychological and usability aspects of ICT and provides a personal glance at the last three decades of Gunilla Bradley's research. Topics include the work environment and health, human‐computer interaction, ergonomics, the various cognitive styles, nomothetic research, privacy and Living Lab.

Section 4 details ICT in work and private life in the context of organisational and psychosocial aspects. Various factors receive close attention, among them stress and well‐being in an ICT‐dominated workplace; telemedicine; human needs‐centred design of ICT; articulation of the distinctions between leisure and work environments; and ICT as a means to facilitate sense‐making, understanding and critical argument. The contributions in Section 5, which is about e‐conferences and e‐learning, examine Global Spaces within academic events and higher education. This involves new ways of approaching teaching, learning and interaction.

Section 6 contains essays on the challenges of the so‐called information and communication society. Examples of what these chapters consider include, among others, the role played by ICT in establishing civil society and the dangers of “technological push” and “information feudalism”, the use of ICT and social factors for democratic processes, collective processes in virtual and physical communities and a vision for a global sustainable information society and a trans‐disciplinary research field to oppose the rule of domination.

Section 7 looks specifically at ethical aspects and ICT. This is done in relation to the level of control of computers over human beings. E‐Health is used as an example to illustrate the problems faced in relating ethics to training about technologies. The last two chapters propose a conceptual framework to guide normative decisions in the development of ICT, and two approaches to such development, namely a culturally minded and a politically and ethically minded approach.

Section 8 details a common thread to many of the essays, trans‐disciplinary studies. It is also the final section that includes contributed essays. The gap between academic endeavour and practice is addressed by suggesting a bridging between critical thinking and consensus. This is within the context of the human computer interaction field. The complexity of multi‐ and trans‐disciplinary research is not denied, and heuristic recommendations are made towards successful interdisciplinary settings.

Section 9, written by the editors, offers an emerging and unifying message that ICT should contribute to human well‐being; they also offers guidelines in governing the emergence of a new social order. The concluding section may come across as a bit idealistic, but does not detract from the value of this collection of essays. The compilation of references is extensive and of is great value, and the About the Contributors insert offers useful background information. The index seems a bit brief considering the size of the publication and the detail within the text, but it is usable.

This is a collection that every information scientist, as well as those from other disciplines, should make the time to read. The contributions highlight the fact that an increasing number of computer science and ICT‐related disciplines are collaborating with the behavioural and social sciences.