Intercalating the social and the technical: socially robust and enduring computing

Abstract

This short paper presents our research agenda for a more socially oriented software production, drawing upon the empirical evidences of failure of software organisation in providing enduring software. Constructing a socio-technical perspective on the basis of social sciences research on technology, we outline a research program aimed at building software that could be more reliable and be useful longer. Our guiding principles are the symmetry between the social and the technical, and their intercalation in the development process, and Participatory Design is one of our foundational disciplines.

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