As a discipline, Informatics has over the years developed from a narrow focus on data processing and software development, towards an emphasis on people's use of technology and its impact on their working lives. The topic of human/computer interaction and the relationship between ICT and the social and psychological environment is attracting increasing interest. It is also increasingly part of the curriculum for both computing students and MIS under the umbrella of social informatics. This book has been edited by an internationally recognized expert in this field who has been researching in this area for many years. Bradley provides a holistic analysis of the relationship between people, ICT, society and the environment. She examines the impact on organizations and individuals, both in the workplace and in the home, and explores issues including stress, power, and competence. Taking a firmly humanistic view she also looks to the future as ICT increasingly informs and impacts on our lives. Thebook provides a uniquely research-based and cross-disciplinary resource which will be of interest to students and academics studying social informatics, computing and MIS as well as OB, sociology, psychology and communications.

List of illustrations

viii

Preface

x

List of abbreviations

xiii

1 Introduction

1

(28)

1.1 Why did I write this book? How did the work on it start? Why now? To whom?

1

(4)

1.2 Why my keen interest in social and psychological aspects of computerization?

5

(2)

1.3 Research engagement over time and recognitions class journey and techno journey

7

(9)

1.4 Summary

16

(1)

1.5 Summary of Humans on the Net

16

(11)

1.6 Network of Excellence

27

(1)

1.7 New insights in society and harvest time for research

28

(1)

2 Theoretical perspective on the psychosocial and organizational life environment and ICT

29

(34)

2.1 Theoretical model on computer technology and work life

30

(22)

2.2 The Convergence Model — theoretical models revisited

52

(6)

2.3 How do the theories presented relate to other theories on the information society?

58

(3)

2.4 Future research related to the models

61

(2)

3 Information and communication technology (ICT) past, present and future

63

(9)

3.1 Computer technology and its development

63

(1)

3.2 ICT global key areas

64

(8)

4 ICT and humans – ongoing changes in working life

72

(23)

4.1 Introduction

72

(1)

4.2 Continuous changes occur in the design of organization, work and management in the Net era

73

(7)

4.3 Networking – psychosocial communication becomes a key issue

80

(3)

4.4 Stress – with ICT our tempo is increasing

83

(1)

4.5 Allocation issues – knowledge transfer global villages

84

(5)

4.6 Research

89

(4)

4.7 Concluding remarks

93

(2)

5 Home of the future and ICT integration of professional and private roles

95

(35)

5.1 Introduction

95

(1)

5.2 Background and purpose

96

(1)

5.3 Problems

97

(1)

5.4 Methods

98

(1)

5.5 Hypotheses

98

(3)

5.6 Human needs and behaviour

101

(1)

5.7 Convergence between human needs and technology applications

102

(4)

5.8 Social trends

106

(5)

5.9 Our private role

111

(5)

5.10 Summary: home of the future – south-east Asia

116

(1)

5.11 Home of the future and ICT – Japan

117

(9)

5.12 Summary and conclusions

126

(4)

6 ICT and humans – ongoing changes in communities

130

(22)

6.1 Introduction

130

(2)

6.2 The project 'Computers in the Bakery'

132

(3)

6.3 Purpose and problems

135

(1)

6.4 Results from action research and the village eight years later – some snapshots

136

(4)

6.5 Comments and discussion

140

(2)

6.6 Community informatics in progress

142

(1)

6.7 Experiences from the national and international levels – new openings for rural areas and for communities

143

(8)

6.8 Comments and discussions

151

(1)

7 ICT and pychosocial communication

152

(20)

7.1 Introduction

152

(5)

7.2 Organizational design and management (ODAM) the communication circle

157

(2)

7.3 Psychosocial communication during microcomputerization

159

(1)

7.4 Psychosocial communication during the use of applied AI and knowledge-based systems

160

(1)

7.5 Psychosocial communication in the Net era

161

(7)

7.6 Towards sustainability – action strategies for collaboration in distributed environments

168

(2)

7.7 Sustainability and communication/collaboration in the ICT society

170

(2)

8 ICT and stress

172

(25)

8.1 What is stress?

172

(7)

8.2 Stress and the 'paper office'

179

(1)

8.3 Stress and the batch-processing environment

180

(2)

8.4 Stress and display terminals

182

(7)

8.5 Stress in the Net era

189

(4)

8.6 Stress and health (and ICT)

193

(1)

8.7 Conclusions

194

(3)

9 From theory to actions: how to achieve the good ICT society – a tree of action

197

(40)

9.1 The national level

199

(5)

9.2 The individual level: its importance

204

(1)

9.3 The psychosocial work environment: requirements and preferences

205

(3)

9.4 Action at the corporate level

208

(1)

9.5 Roles

208

(5)

9.6 Actions regarding stress

213

(4)

9.7 Towards an information society for all

217

(9)

9.8 From an information society for all to quality of life for all

226

(7)

9.9 Concluding remarks

233

(4)

Appendices

237

(14)

References

251

(8)

Index

259

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