Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
3. Different cultures have different codes, norms and rituals for hospitality, the
technology must accept them.
4. The technology has a right to visit but not to stay (the right to say yes or no to
technology).
5. If the technology is perceived as hostile, the host will treat it as an enemy Ciborra
(
2002
: 113).
In this case study the staff of the centre and medical community are the hosts,
and the centre itself and the technology it contains are the guests. Some of the staff
could also be seen as mediators between the doctors and the guest.
7.1
Hosting Technology Successfully Will Redefi ne
the Identity of the Host
The importance of hope was evident in the comments from the interviewees. During
the confl ict they could only hope for change in their circumstances, 'we knew and
hoped something is going to change', 'hope was all we had left' (
male IT manager
).
The IT manager described the region as being in a
dark place
during the confl ict,
with nothing left but hope. The telemedicine centre and the technology that were
part of it provided a tangible purpose to the people who took part in building it. By
installing equipment, encouraging doctors to engage with the centre and the tech-
nology and running it from day to day, they were no longer victims of war; hoping
for better things, they were workers in a cutting edge facility. Improving the medical
education and facilities for patients was a visible sign of change that had been
previously hoped for.
When the centre fi rst opened, some doctors were described as being fearful that
the gaps in their training could be exposed by using it, 'afraid of not knowing what
they should know' (
male IT manager
). The technology was so new and such a leap
forward for a medical system that had been isolated for over ten years that it was
described as science fi ction; however, as confi dence grew the use of the technology
in the centre was described as a normal part of a doctor's working life, 'Is not science
fi ction any more - it is part of what they do' (
male IT manager
).
The educational advantages of the technology redefi ned how the doctors could
carry out their work; access to journals and new literature encouraged them to keep
using the centre, 'this brings them back' (
male doctor and director
). 'Then told
about lecture happening, they come back one after another' (
male doctor and
director
)
.
The doctors recruiting each other could be argued as the host becoming a
server of the guest, bringing their colleagues in to use the technology. The technology
also assisted in building new connections with other doctors, 'very interesting to
have a second opinion with colleagues' (
female doctor
). This allowed for continuous
medical education (CME).
Search WWH ::
Custom Search