Implementing GIS technology in India: some issues of time and space

Sahay, Sundeep

doi:10.1016/s0959-8022(98)00002-2

Cited by 41 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…This general argument for situated design, by now a well-established and largely accepted position among information systems scholars, has been demonstrated particularly vividly in relation to the diffusion or transfer of technology from developed to less developed countries (Braa et al, 1995;Hanna et al, 1995;Lind, 1991;Ryckeghem, 1998;Sahay, 1998). The inscribed assumptions about local conditions, organizational hierarchies, and work relations clash with the context of the developing countries.…”

Section: The Argument For Situated Contextual Design-once Againmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite this, it exercises an in uential role in portraying it as "obvious" that standardized solutions are bene cial (Hanseth & Monteiro, 1997;Monteiro & Hepsø, 2000;Williams, 1997). Standards, however, are never neutral as emphasized in studies of transferring (Western) standard solutions to developing countries (Hanna et al, 1995;Sahay, 1998). These ideals, principles, and practices of standardizatio n so in uential in production of goods have since been employed also to service work of the kind MCC's surveyors conduct.…”

Section: Why Universal Solutions?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Standardization enables coordination, which in turn enables the exercise of control over distance (Law, 1986). This is typically aligned with the interests of management (Ciborra, 2000) or developed countries (Sahay, 1998). A ruthlessly single-minded, compelling, but ultimately awed (Kling, 1991) elaboration of this is the argument by Beniger (1986), where organizations constantly experience crises, that is, situations beyond their control.…”

Section: Why Universal Solutions?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most relevant to us is the subset of this literature focusing on how the development and use of information infrastructure is interwoven with social and strategic issues in business organizations and in developing countries. This body of work explores a number of issues including: the heterogeneity of information systems due to different local needs (Davenport, 1998), the inscription of interests into artifacts (Bloom eld et al, 1997;Sahay, 1998), managerial approaches (Weill & Broadbent, 1998), local resistance to top-down initiatives (Ciborra, 1994), how basic design assumptions get taken for granted (Bowker & Star, 1999), organizational politics (Ciborra, 2000), and how business strategies get worked out (Currie & Galliers, 1999).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The way universal solutions , predominantly from the developed countries and economies, need, but notoriousl y fail, to be negotiated against the needs of developing countries illustrate s the problem (Braa et al, 1995;Hanna et al, 1995;Lind, 1991;Ryckeghem, 1996;Sahay, 1998;Sahay & Walsham, 88 K. H. ROLLAND AND E. MONTEIRO 1997). In essence, this amounts to exploring the tensions arising from two different strands of reasoning.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Balancing the Local and the Global in Infrastructural Information Systems

Rolland¹,

Monteiro²

2002

The Information Society

126

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A considerable body of literature has demonstratedempirically as well as analytically-that information systems need to be situated to the local context of use. Yet for infrastructural information systems that span numerous contexts spread out globally, this is literally prohibitive. For these systems to work, it is necessary to strike a balance between sensitiveness to local contexts and a need to standardize across contexts. We analyze a key element in this, namely, spelling out the (largely invisible) "costs" that the different actors pay to achieve working solutions. Empirically, we draw from an ongoing case study. We analyze the attempts of a maritime classi cation company with 5500 employees located in 300 sites in 100 countries to develop an infrastructural information system to support the surveying of ships globally. We elaborate design implications and concepts relevant to developing information infrastructures that also apply to the context of developing countries.

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Section: The Argument For Situated Contextual Design-once Againmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Why Universal Solutions?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Why Universal Solutions?mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Balancing the Local and the Global in Infrastructural Information Systems

Rolland¹,

Monteiro²

2002

The Information Society

126

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HIV/AIDS reporting systems in Mozambique: The theoretical and empirical challenges of “representations”

Chilundo

Sahay

2005

Information Technology for Development

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Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease with profound effects on the global society, as it affects individual lives, communities, societies, and even nations. As governments try to gear up on the war against this pandemic, an issue of importance pertains to the use of information systems. The systems are used to collect data on the prevalence of the disease, and analyze and transmit the data from the lower levels of the health administration where the testing is done to the higher levels of national policy making where different kinds of interventions are designed. In this article, we argue that the manner in which the representation of the disease is constructed is an important area of concern as it shapes the picture of the disease prevalence and influences how these statistics then get used for the planning of interventions such as supplying drugs and pro-health campaigns. Drawing from the domain of Science and Technology Studies (STS), with a focus on Bruno Latour's (1999) ideas of "circulating reference," we first develop the theoretical notion of representation, and then apply it to an empirical analysis of the reporting systems, both paper-and computer-based, of HIV/AIDS in Mozambique. The successive movements of information about HIV/AIDS prevalence across the various administrative levels are seen as translations that are being constructed through the communication and work practices of the health care workers at different levels, and are shaped by the political interests of the different stakeholders involved, including international agencies and national health authorities.

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Negotiating Multiple Rationalities in the Process of Integrating the Information Systems of Disease‐Specific Health Programmes

Chilundo

Aanestad

2004

E J Info Sys Dev Countries

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The topic of this paper is the integration of different information systems, and in our case study we analyse information systems in the Mozambican health care sector. The context is a health care sector reform that involves the integration of separate, stand-alone, or so-called vertical health programmes. These programmes are usually disease-specific, i.e. targeted towards malaria, HIV/AIDS, or other major diseases. The reporting and monitoring systems for the activities within these programmes are organised differently, in terms of which data elements are collected, to whom and how frequently they are reported etc., but in general they are all paper-based, at least at the peripheral level. The multitude of different systems places an unnecessary high workload on the health care personnel who do the initial data collection. However, the practical challenges related to the integration of the diverse information systems have not yet been the focus for the decision makers. Our aim with this paper is to describe some of the differences between the systems. Our claim is that these differences are not arbitrary. On the contrary, they may be significant indicators of different realities and different interests. Integration of these systems will thus not be a purely technical or practical issue, but will entail a political negotiation of interests. We employ the notions of multiple rationalities as a theoretical tool to discuss this issue. In particular we find tensions between rationalities 'on the ground', i.e. in the health care facilities, and 'on the top', among the policy makers, the government and the donor organisations.

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Implementing GIS technology in India: some issues of time and space

Cited by 41 publications

References 44 publications

Balancing the Local and the Global in Infrastructural Information Systems

Balancing the Local and the Global in Infrastructural Information Systems

HIV/AIDS reporting systems in Mozambique: The theoretical and empirical challenges of “representations”

Negotiating Multiple Rationalities in the Process of Integrating the Information Systems of Disease‐Specific Health Programmes

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