Moments of Transformation – Exploring Undesirable Consequences of ICT Innovation in Social and Health Services

This project seeks to explore potential unintended and undesirable consequences when new technology replaces face-to-face interaction in social and health services. The focus is on the interplay between new ICT innovations and workers adopting them in sectors that traditionally have emphasized direct face-to-face social relations, such as the social and health care sector. It does so by engaging in a critical debate on unintended and undesirable consequences of innovation, a topic previous research has paid limited attention to. The findings challenge established understandings of innovation in an effort to help certain sectors to identify unintended undesirable consequences of innovation and find new future paths. The project does not argue against innovation, but attempts to draw attention to potential harmful consequences. Focusing on the social and health care sector and drawing on a discursive approach, the project analyses interviews, texts and observations to explore the meanings professionals ascribe to ICT innovations imposed in their daily practices. Research material is gathered through longitudinal field work by means of interviews and observer participation.