Information infrastructure

Last updated

An information infrastructure is defined by Ole Hanseth (2002) as "a shared, evolving, open, standardized, and heterogeneous installed base" [1] and by Pironti (2006) as all of the people, processes, procedures, tools, facilities, and technology which support the creation, use, transport, storage, and destruction of information. [2]

Contents

The notion of information infrastructures, introduced in the 1990s and refined during the following decade, has proven quite fruitful to the information systems (IS) field. It changed the perspective from organizations to networks and from systems to infrastructure, allowing for a global and emergent perspective on information systems. Information infrastructure is a technical structure of an organizational form, an analytical perspective or a semantic network.

The concept of information infrastructure (II) was introduced in the early 1990s, first as a political initiative (Gore, 1993 & Bangemann, 1994), later as a more specific concept in IS research. For the IS research community, an important inspiration was Hughes' (1983) accounts of large technical systems, analyzed as socio-technical power structures (Bygstad, 2008). [3] Information infrastructure are typically different from the previous generations of "large technological system" because these digital sociotechnical systems are considered generative, meaning they allow new users to connect with or even appropriate the system. [4]

Information infrastructure, as a theory, has been used to frame a number of extensive case studies (Star and Ruhleder 1996; Ciborra 2000; Hanseth and Ciborra 2007), and in particular to develop an alternative approach to IS design: "Infrastructures should rather be built by establishing working local solutions supporting local practices which subsequently are linked together rather than by defining universal standards and subsequently implementing them" (Ciborra and Hanseth 1998). It has later been developed into a full design theory, focusing on the growth of an installed base (Hanseth and Lyytinen 2008).

Information infrastructures include the Internet, health systems and corporate systems. [5] It is also consistent to include innovations such as Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace as excellent examples (Bygstad, 2008). Bowker has described several key terms and concepts that are enormously helpful for analyzing information infrastructure: imbrication, bootstrapping, figure/ground, and a short discussion of infrastructural inversion. "Imbrication" is an analytic concept that helps to ask questions about historical data. "Bootstrapping" is the idea that infrastructure must already exist in order to exist (2011).

Definitions

"Technological and non-technological elements that are linked" (Hanseth and Monteiro 1996).

"Information infrastructures can, as formative contexts, shape not only the work routines, but also the ways people look at practices, consider them 'natural' and give them their overarching character of necessity. Infrastructure becomes an essential factor shaping the taken-for-grantedness of organizational practices" (Ciborra and Hanseth 1998).

"The technological and human components, networks, systems, and processes that contribute to the functioning of the health information system" (Braa et al. 2007).

"The set of organizational practices, technical infrastructure and social norms that collectively provide for the smooth operation of scientific work at a distance (Edwards et al. 2007).

"A shared, evolving, heterogeneous installed base of IT capabilities developed on open and standardized interfaces" (Hanseth and Lyytinen 2008).

Theories

Dimensions

According to Star and Ruhleder, there are 8 dimensions of information infrastructures.

  1. Embeddedness
  2. Transparency
  3. Reach or scope
  4. Learned as part of membership
  5. Links with conventions of practice
  6. Embodiment of standards
  7. Built on an installed base
  8. Becomes visible upon breakdown [6]

As a public policy

Presidential Chair and Professor of Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, Christine L. Borgman argues information infrastructures, like all infrastructures, are "subject to public policy". [7] In the United States, public policy defines information infrastructures as the "physical and cyber-based systems essential to the minimum operations of the economy and government" and connected by information technologies. [7]

Global Information Infrastructure (GII)

Borgman says governments, businesses, communities, and individuals can work together to create a global information infrastructure which links "the world's telecommunication and computer networks together" and would enable the transmission of "every conceivable information and communication application." [7]

Currently, the Internet is the default global information infrastructure. [8]

Regional information infrastructure

Asia

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Telecommunications and Information Working Group (TEL) Program of Asian for Information and Communications Infrastructure. [9]

Southeast Asia

Association of South East Asian Nations, e-ASEAN Framework Agreement of 2000. [9]

North America

United States

National Information Infrastructure Act of 1993 National Information Infrastructure (NII).

Canada

The National Research Council established CA*net in 1989 and the network connecting "all provincial nodes" was operational in 1990. [10] The Canadian Network for the Advancement of Research, Industry and Education(CANARIE) was established in 1992 and CA*net was upgraded to a T1 connection in 1993 and T3 in 1995. [10] By 2000, "the commercial basis for Canada's information infrastructure" was established, and the government ended its role in the project. [10]

Europe

In 1994, the European Union proposed the European Information Infrastructure.: [7] European Information Infrastructure has evolved furthermore thanks to Martin Bangemann report and projects eEurope 2003+, eEurope 2005 and iIniciaive 2010. [11]

Africa

In 1995, American Vice President Al Gore asked USAID to help improve Africa's connection to the global information infrastructure. [12]

The USAID Leland Initiative (LI) was designed from June to September 1995, and implemented in on 29 September 1995. [12] The Initiative was "a five-year $15 million US Government effort to support sustainable development" by bringing "full Internet connectivity" to approximately 20 African nations. [13]

The initiative had three strategic objectives:

  1. Creating and Enabling Policy Environment – to "reduce barriers to open connectivity".
  2. Creating Sustainable Supply of Internet Services – help build the hardware and industry need for "full Internet connectivity".
  3. Enhancing Internet Use for Sustainable Development – improve the ability of African nations to use these infrastructures. [13]

See also

Notes

  1. Hanseth, Ole (2002). KD "From systems and tools to networks and infrastructures – From design to cultivation. Towards a theory of ICT solutions and its design methodology implications Archived 14 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine , accessed 21 September 2004
  2. Pironti, J. P. (2006). "Key Elements of a Threat and Vulnerability Management Program" (PDF). INFORMATION SYSTEMS AUDIT AND CONTROL Shyam ASSOCIATION. 3: 52–56. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2010.
  3. Bygstad, Bendik (2008). "Information infrastructure as an organization: a critical realist view." Retrieved from http://heim.ifi.uio.no/~phddays/15thPhDDays/Documents/Paper_Bendik.pdf Archived 25 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Henfridsson, Ola; Bygstad, Bendik (3 March 2013). "The Generative Mechanisms of Digital Infrastructure Evolution". MIS Quarterly. 37 (3): 907–931. doi:10.25300/misq/2013/37.3.11. ISSN   0276-7783. S2CID   30831820.
  5. Johnson, Nathan R. (2012). "Information Infrastructure as Rhetoric:Tools for Analysis". Poroi: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Rhetorical Analysis and Invention. 8 (1). doi:10.13008/2151-2957.1113.
  6. Star, Susan Leigh; Karen Ruhleder (March 1996). "Steps Toward an Ecology of Infrastructure: Design and Access for Large Information Spaces". Information Systems Research. 7 (1): 111–134. doi:10.1287/isre.7.1.111. S2CID   10520480.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Borgman, Christine L (7 August 2000). "The premise and promise of a Global Information Infrastructure". First Monday. 5 (8). doi: 10.5210/fm.v5i8.784 .
  8. "SearchCIO.com". Global Information Infrastructure. SearchCIO.com. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
  9. 1 2 Soriano, Edwin S. (2003). Nets, Webs and the Information Infrastructure (PDF). e-ASEAN Task Force and UNDP-APDIP. pp. 35–36.
  10. 1 2 3 Johnston, Donald B. Robert Fabian Keith L. Geurts Donald S. Hicks Andrew Huzar Norman D. Inkster Alan Jaffee Paul McLennan Douglas J. Nash E. Michael Power Mark Stirling (2004). Critical Information Infrastructure Accountability in Canada (PDF). Ottawa: Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada. p. 7. ISBN   978-0-662-38155-6.
  11. JUHÁSZ, Lilla. The information strategy of the European Union. In: PINTÉR, Róbert (Eds.). Information Society: From Theory to Political Practice. Budapest: Gondolat Kiadó, 2008, s. 132.
  12. 1 2 "USAID". USAID Leland Initiative: Leland Activity Update. USAID. Archived from the original on 29 October 2011. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
  13. 1 2 "USAID Leland Initiative". Leland Initiative: Africa GII Gateway Project Project Description & Frequently Asked Questions. USAID. Archived from the original on 29 October 2011. Retrieved 25 October 2011.

Related Research Articles

Technological convergence is the tendency for technologies that were originally unrelated to become more closely integrated and even unified as they develop and advance. For example, watches, telephones, television, computers, and social media platforms began as separate and mostly unrelated technologies, but have converged in many ways into an interrelated telecommunication, media, and technology industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">E-democracy</span> Use of information and communication technology in political and governance processes

E-democracy, also known as digital democracy or Internet democracy, uses information and communication technology (ICT) in political and governance processes. The term is credited to digital activist Steven Clift. By using 21st-century ICT, e-democracy seeks to enhance democracy, including aspects like civic technology and E-government. Proponents argue that by promoting transparency in decision-making processes, e-democracy can empower all citizens to observe and understand the proceedings. Also, if they possess overlooked data, perspectives, or opinions, they can contribute meaningfully. This contribution extends beyond mere informal disconnected debate; it facilitates citizen engagement in the proposal, development, and actual creation of a country's laws. In this way, e-democracy has the potential to incorporate crowdsourced analysis more directly into the policy-making process.

The global digital divide describes global disparities, primarily between developed and developing countries, in regards to access to computing and information resources such as the Internet and the opportunities derived from such access.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Community informatics</span>

Community informatics (CI) is an interdisciplinary field that is concerned with using information and communication technology (ICT) to empower members of communities and support their social, cultural, and economic development. Community informatics may contribute to enhancing democracy, supporting the development of social capital, and building well connected communities; moreover, it is probable that such similar actions may let people experience new positive social change. In community informatics, there are several considerations which are the social context, shared values, distinct processes that are taken by members in a community, and social and technical systems. It is formally located as an academic discipline within a variety of academic faculties including information science, information systems, computer science, planning, development studies, and library science among others and draws on insights on community development from a range of backgrounds and disciplines. It is an interdisciplinary approach interested in using ICTs for different forms of community action, as distinct from pure academic study about ICT effects.

Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications and computers, as well as necessary enterprise software, middleware, storage and audiovisual, that enable users to access, store, transmit, understand and manipulate information.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable urban infrastructure</span>

Sustainable urban infrastructure expands on the concept of urban infrastructure by adding the sustainability element with the expectation of improved and more resilient urban development. In the construction and physical and organizational structures that enable cities to function, sustainability also aims to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the capabilities of the future generations.

The China Education and Research Network is the first nationwide education and research computer network in China. The CERNET project is funded by the Chinese government and directly managed by the Chinese Ministry of Education. It is constructed and operated by Tsinghua University and the other leading Chinese universities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital rhetoric</span> Forms of communication via digital mediums

Digital rhetoric can be generally defined as communication that exists in the digital sphere. As such, digital rhetoric can be expressed in many different forms, including text, images, videos, and software. Due to the increasingly mediated nature of our contemporary society, there are no longer clear distinctions between digital and non-digital environments. This has expanded the scope of digital rhetoric to account for the increased fluidity with which humans interact with technology.

Digital Earth is the name given to a concept by former US vice president Al Gore in 1998, describing a virtual representation of the Earth that is georeferenced and connected to the world's digital knowledge archives.

Christine L. Borgman is a distinguished Professor and Presidential Chair in Information Studies at UCLA. She is the author of more than 200 publications in the fields of information studies, computer science, and communication. Two of her sole-authored monographs, Scholarship in the Digital Age: Information, Infrastructure, and the Internet and From Gutenberg to the Global Information Infrastructure: Access to Information in a Networked World, have won the Best Information Science Book of the Year award from the American Society for Information Science and Technology. She is a lead investigator for the Center for Embedded Networked Sensing (CENS), a National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center, where she conducts data practices research. She chaired the Task Force on Cyberlearning for the NSF, whose report, Fostering Learning in the Networked World, was released in July 2008. Prof. Borgman is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), a Legacy Laureate of the University of Pittsburgh, and is the 2011 recipient of the Paul Evan Peters Award from the Coalition for Networked Information, Association for Research Libraries, and EDUCAUSE. The award recognizes notable, lasting achievements in the creation and innovative use of information resources and services that advance scholarship and intellectual productivity through communication networks. She is also the 2011 recipient of the Research in Information Science Award from the American Association of Information Science and Technology. In 2013, she became a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smart city</span> City using integrated information and communication technology

A smart city is a technologically modern urban area that uses different types of electronic methods and sensors to collect specific data. Information gained from that data is used to manage assets, resources and services efficiently; in return, that data is used to improve operations across the city. This includes data collected from citizens, devices, buildings and assets that is processed and analyzed to monitor and manage traffic and transportation systems, power plants, utilities, urban forestry, water supply networks, waste, criminal investigations, information systems, schools, libraries, hospitals, and other community services. Smart cities are defined as smart both in the ways in which their governments harness technology as well as in how they monitor, analyze, plan, and govern the city. In smart cities, the sharing of data is not limited to the city itself but also includes businesses, citizens and other third parties that can benefit from various uses of that data. Sharing data from different systems and sectors creates opportunities for increased understanding and economic benefits.

E-Science librarianship refers to a role for librarians in e-Science.

The ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN) was officially launched on 1 December 2005, as a regional inter-agency and inter-governmental initiative to counter the illegal cross-border trade in endangered flora and fauna. It helps countries share information on and tackle cross-border wildlife crime and facilitates the exchange of regional best practices in combating those crimes. As the world's largest wildlife law enforcement network, it comprises the law enforcement agencies of the 10 ASEAN countries forming a regional intergovernmental law-enforcement network.

Open scientific data or open research data is a type of open data focused on publishing observations and results of scientific activities available for anyone to analyze and reuse. A major purpose of the drive for open data is to allow the verification of scientific claims, by allowing others to look at the reproducibility of results, and to allow data from many sources to be integrated to give new knowledge.

David M. Berube is a professor of communication at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. His doctorate is from New York University and he has studied and taught communication and cognitive psychology and created the term SEIN in his book NanoHype.

A digital twin is a digital model of an intended or actual real-world physical product, system, or process that serves as the effectively indistinguishable digital counterpart of it for practical purposes, such as simulation, integration, testing, monitoring, and maintenance. The digital twin has been intended from its initial introduction to be the underlying premise for Product Lifecycle Management and exists throughout the entire lifecycle of the physical entity it represents. Since information is granular, the digital twin representation is determined by the value-based use cases it is created to implement. The digital twin can and does often exist before there is a physical entity, as for example with virtual prototyping. The use of a digital twin in the creation phase allows the intended entity's entire lifecycle to be modeled and simulated. A digital twin of an existing entity may be used in real-time and regularly synchronized with the corresponding physical system.

Connectivity refers broadly to social connections forged through mediated communications systems. That is, 'since the arrival of the World Wide Web and the spread of mobile communications, mediated connectivity has been quietly normalized as central to a consolidating ‘global imaginary’ One aspect of this is the ability of the social media to accumulate economic capital from the users' connections and activities on social media platforms by using certain mechanisms in their architecture. According to several scholars "it is a key element of social media logic, having a material and metaphorical importance in social media culture".This concept originates from the technological term of "connectivity" but its application to the media field has acquired additional social and cultural implications. The increasing role of social media in everyday life serves as the basis of such connectivity in the 21st century. It shows the interrelations between the users activities on social media and at the same time the empowerment of the social media platforms with the data that was produced by the users and given to those services for granted.

Educational technology in sub-Saharan Africa refers to the promotion, development and use of information and communication technologies (ICT), m-learning, media, and other technological tools to improve aspects of education in sub-Saharan Africa. Since the 1960s, various information and communication technologies have aroused strong interest in sub-Saharan Africa as a way of increasing access to education, and enhancing its quality and fairness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhetoric of technology</span>

The rhetoric of technology is both an object and field of study. It refers to the ways in which makers and consumers of technology talk about and make decisions regarding technology and also the influence that technology has on discourse. Studies of the rhetoric of technology are interdisciplinary. Scholars in communication, media ecology, and science studies research the rhetoric of technology. Technical communication scholars are also concerned with the rhetoric of technology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Open Science Infrastructure</span>

Open Science Infrastructure is an information infrastructure that supports the open sharing of scientific productions such as publications, datasets, metadata or code. In November 2021 the Unesco recommendation on Open Science describe it as "shared research infrastructures that are needed to support open science and serve the needs of different communities".

References