A ‘Tripadvisor’ for disability? Social enterprise and ‘digital disruption’ in Australia

ABSTRACT

We explore how social enterprises can use platform technologies to plug ‘informational gaps’ in the provision of disability services. Such gaps are made more apparent by policies promoting self-directed care as a means of giving service users more choice and control. We use a case study of a start-up social enterprise seeking to provide a TripAdvisor style service to examine the potential for social innovation to ‘disrupt’ current models of service. The case study suggests that any disruptive effects of such changes are not due to new digital technology per se, nor to novel platform business models, but rather rest in the manner in which the moral orders which justify current patterns of social disablement can be challenged by social innovation.     

Can service innovations be procured? An analysis of impacts and challenges in the procurement of innovation in social services

This paper addresses the challenges that arise when service innovations are being promoted through public procurement. The academic and policy debate on public procurement of innovation has recently been very vivid, but it has mostly focused on procurement of technologies and tangible goods while considerably less attention has been paid to public procurement of innovation in services. By drawing on conceptual tools from the literature on service innovation and public procurement of innovation, the paper examines an empirical case of procurement of social services for substance abusers carried out by the city of Helsinki, Finland. In particular, the article analyzes whether the characteristics of services and service innovation are compatible with processes and requirements of public procurement. The article shows that service innovations can be procured, but the features of services and service innovation such as intangibility, interactivity, and difficulty to measure the impacts of new services affect the procurement process and set particular requirements for it.     

The Discreet Charm of the Nonprofit Form: Service Professionals and Nonprofit Organizations (Poland 1989-1993)

This paper examines the role of social proximity (nonprofit) organizations in the process of professional innovation that involved a transfer of human service technologies from Western Europe and the United States to Poland during the 1989 political–economic reform. To explain that role, the paper introduces a theoretical model that posits the existence of elective affinity between the social proximity form and occupational interests of service providers. As the existing system of professions is no longer sufficient to legitimate expert services and curb competition among different types of providers, the social proximity form bestows social legitimacy on novel or controversial types of services, and is thus instrumental in marketing those services. The proposed model is supported by quantitative data and in-depth interviews. Theoretical implications are discussed.     

Heads in the Cloud: An Example of Practice-Based Information and Communication Technology in Child Welfare

Changes in information and communications technology (ICT) in human services have accelerated rapidly and have elicited academic concern about the impact on practice, changes in approaches to implementation, and a shift to user-led development. This article describes the development of ICT by a nongovernment child welfare agency over the past two decades. It is guided by a social constructionist view of technology in which technology is shaped by social factors, but in turn shapes the “social” implementation as requiring the integration of two distinct technologies: a standardized framework for practice and the computer. Both technologies had to be carefully aligned to workplace culture, but the interests of workers have not been allowed to dominate those of and children and families. The organization of work has had to change. This article explores the agency’s experience drawing on theories of implementation of ICT in human services.     

Promoting innovation based on social sciences and technologies: the prospect of a social innovation park

Obviously Sir Francis Bacon's phrase “Knowledge is Power” refers not only to natural science and technology, aiming at understanding natural phenomena and obtaining material wealth, but also to social sciences and technologies, concerning social ideals and seeking harmonious and sustainable development in society. Innovation and entrepreneurship based on natural sciences and technologies have facilitated science and technology parks in the past; however, innovation and entrepreneurship based on social sciences and technologies are now laying the foundations for the concept of a “social innovation park”. The distinctive characteristics of social innovation parks and how social academic entrepreneurship is fostered by them through strategy and policy-making at local, national and global levels are explored in this study.     

Socioeconomic implications of broadband services

Korea has shown rapid growth in the development of broadband services over the last several years. The Korean government and business have developed broadband services as a new business model, and the country has emerged as the world's undisputed leader in broadband services. Many media scholars, government telecom officials and information technology (IT) experts around the world are interested in how Korea has so quickly embraced broadband technology. They are also enthusiastic about seeing the fulfilment of their own vision of the information economy through the example of broadband service in Korea. This article explores key aspects of broadband services in Korea and its implications for the information economy. It examines why and how Korea has developed broadband service by examining several institutional factors. It also analyses whether government ICT policy frameworks have contributed to economic and social development. Then, it investigates how the government neoliberal economic policies have influenced the transnationalization of the broadband service market and the impact on the information economy.     

Late Adapters? How Social Workers Acquire Knowledge and Skills About Technology Tools

Little is understood about the scope of information and communication technology (ICT) use in practice for agency-based social work professionals, and still less is known about how such practitioners acquire and avail themselves of opportunities to learn about ICT tools. This study asked a sample of social work field supervisors (n?=?371) to describe their personal and professional ICT use, to rank the technological sophistication of their agency, to describe the barriers and facilitators to ICT use in their organizations and to operationalize environmental opportunities for acquiring new skills and knowledge. The authors examine factors that may influence technology use: asking if organizational culture is related to uptake in the professional context, and if self-reported individual resistance to innovation and change can explain voluntary adoption of ICT tools. The results offer a portrait of how agency-based social workers are using technology in personal and professional life, describe how these supervisors learn about developing technologies for practice, and highlight the gaps in technology infrastructures among agencies, pointing to directions for further exploration.     

Technology-Based Innovation for Independent Living: Policy and Innovation in the United Kingdom,Scandinavia, and the United States

Interest in utilizing technology to help older adults remain living at home is growing; however, uptake remains low. We present a conceptual framework for understanding independent living technology innovation within health and social services. Public policy and innovation in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Scandinavia are profiled as case studies. In all profiled countries, independent living technology is more rapidly advancing than associated state policy, regulation, and payment systems. The findings from this comparative analysis reveal areas for further exploration, including policy subsystem environments in which technologies and services are regulated, as well as trends and desires of older adults and their caregivers within particular cultural contexts.     

Boundary dimensions of social innovation: negotiating conflicts and compatibilities when developing a national agenda

In order to add to the existing knowledge on the complex institutional dynamics of negotiating conflicts and compatibilities in innovation processes that address societal challenges and social needs, this article scrutinizes the scientific and societal debate on the theoretical and practical application of “social innovation” by means of the concept “boundary object” linked to institutional theory. A participatory case study of the development of an R&I agenda for social innovation in Sweden, formulated through dialog between stakeholders from the public, private and non-profit sectors, is presented. The results show that the unpredictable, emergent, evolving and adaptable character of needs, challenges and solutions in social innovation processes is made more theoretically and practically manageable by acknowledging social innovation as a boundary object. This is since this concept, despite its ambiguous character, helps balance complexity and usefulness in a way that serves to expand existing knowledge on institutional dynamics.     

Coordinating co-production in complex network settings

This article draws together the concepts of network management and co-production with complexity sciences. So far, these approaches have rarely been connected in research literature. We suggest that this conceptual framework offers new insights for analyzing the challenges of co-production in complex network settings in the local public services. The aim of the article is to find out how complex network structures meet the co-production process in the context of social and health care services. The empirical part of the article presents a Finnish case study of a multiprofessional service network producing social and health care services for youth. Here, the clients, in this case children and young people with a need for social services, often need multiple services from different service providers simultaneously. Our research findings suggest that the outcomes of the service process are not only dependent on the client's needs, but rather on organizational and professional interests. Our research gives new insights for the discussion on co-production; when it is applied as an intended policy to improve and deliver public services, the complexity of interaction among the street-level workers and the detached professional frameworks should be kept in mind.     

The benefits of information communication technology use by the homeless: a narrative synthesis review

Recent studies have suggested that technologies are becoming an increasingly ubiquitous element in the lives of individuals experiencing homelessness. With both Canadian and US researchers reporting staggering levels of homelessness on both sides of the border, an understanding and synthesis of the current literature exploring how technologies are being utilized by homeless individuals and how it may impact their well-being is of relevance to policy makers and social service organizations. The study explored and synthesized literature to examine the ways in which individuals experiencing homelessness utilize information and communication technologies (ICTs), and how the use of ICTs influences the health and social outcomes of individuals experiencing homelessness. The study examined 16 peer reviewed articles using a narrative synthesis systematic review, following three elements of the narrative synthesis approach: preliminary synthesis of findings; exploration of relationships between studies; and assessment of the robustness of the synthesis. In relation to what ICTs are used for by homeless individuals, three major themes emerged: social connectedness, identity management, and instrumental purposes. Furthermore, there was some tentative evidence about a positive relationship between ICT use among individuals experiencing homelessness and health outcomes. The paper discussed limitations, future areas of research, as well as some policy directions.     

What is mixed in welfare mix? Welfare ideologies at stake in the Lithuanian case of social service delivery

The article deals with the development of social welfare and social services in Lithuania by describing cultural contexts and disclosing evaluations of social service providers and recipients and needs of social service delivery. The authors of the article discuss the changing role of the state, pose a question as to what the institutions and the actors are and to what extent should they participate in the creation of social welfare. One of the aims of this paper is to describe the development of the welfare mix in Lithuania, by showing that welfare is inevitably woven into the historical, economic, political and social context; the distinctive cultural configuration of the welfare mix in social services delivery in Lithuania is revealed. Empirical research (survey of social services recipients and providers) presented in the article discloses that actors of social services delivery experience tension and ambiguity between the demand of neoliberal policy to choose and be responsible and the expectation that the state will participate in the social service market. At the same time social services recipients and providers express a need for different actors to take an active part in the welfare system.     

Pathways of Technological Change in Developing Countries: Review and New Agenda

This article argues the need for strategic reorientation with regard to the technological advancement of developing countries. The continued relevance of incremental capability‐building strategies in manufacturing is questioned by: (i) the emergence of new knowledge areas, some of which require closer links with science; (ii) recognition that past strategies have not solved the poverty problem; and (iii) unprecedented environmental problems that cannot be solved by existing Western technologies alone. A more pluralist approach is recommended, with increased attention to creative innovation capabilities. Cases of innovations in information communication technology, health and energy show potentially large economic and social impacts, but also highlight systemic obstacles to their realisation.     

Analysis of social innovation on social networking services

ABSTRACT

Social network services are allowing more social connectivity and making possible sharing information and knowledge of a different nature. This article analyses if social workers related to active social policies from Malaga province (Spain) are using social network services to share information and knowledge and if there is a mirror between online and offline relationships. Since it is an experimental model, through virtual ethnography and through social network analysis methodology, we observed the presence, connectivity and analysed the structure of relationships that keep 235 professionals from 52 organizations in Facebook®. Moreover, the model uses the statistical technique of modularity for detecting online communities, which are compared with distribution of professionals in their organizations. Results show how social network services applied to social intervention are massively and frequently used by professionals. On the other hand, the detected communities reflect existence of analogy between online and offline relationships. The online structure shows a high degree of cohesion and how certain professionals have higher capacity of influence and diffusion depending on position in the online structure. It argues about the opportunity to incorporate social network services towards social intervention as a manner of social innovation to improve cooperation and diffusion of information and knowledge.     

基于幸福导向的社会管理创新——以东莞为例

建设幸福城市目标的提出为社会管理创新提供了努力的方向。东莞社会管理创新以提升民众幸福指数为目标,引导公民有序参与,构建公共服务多元供给模式,探索城乡社保一体化制度,培育社会组织,为确保公民社会权利提升民众幸福感提供了可能的路径,彰显了其具有的普遍的社会价值。     

The role of social entrepreneurship in leveraging exaptation in locked-in industrial districts: the case of Idrogenet in the industrial district of Lumezzane

The objective of this paper is to investigate the role of social entrepreneurship as driver of exaptation. Exaptation is defined as the redeployment of an existing body of knowledge into a new and previously unrelated domain of application and as major source of disruptive innovation and firms' dynamic capabilities. Exaptation takes place in two phases. In the first phase, the accumulation of knowledge takes place without any anticipation of its future use. In the second phase, the knowledge accumulated is explicitly and consciously leveraged and exploited to build up and take advantage of the opportunity in an emerging market niche. We contribute to extant literature by showing how social entrepreneurship may help firms to discover new potential and innovative field of application for their existing know-how and exploiting it into such a field. Our results are based on a case study of exaptation led by social entrepreneurship in the industrial district of Lumezzane.     

Enabling informal digital guanxi for rural doctors in Shaanxi,China

In China, rural healthcare systems have been neglected in favor of the development of market-driven, largely urban health information systems (HIS). We investigated the effective use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to develop a healthcare model within the rural healthcare system. We investigated information needs, existing healthcare structure, and the use of informal networks – guanxi – to acquire health information mediated by technology. Qualitative interviews (N = 74) were conducted in Shaanxi province of China. Respondents included village doctors (30), rural patients (10), urban doctors (17), and 17 other healthcare stakeholders. We found benefits of the use of ICT in informal networks for village doctors, including the facilitation of communication, greater time efficiency, and better access to medical information, particularly in mobile phone and QQ online social network usage. Guanxi relationships were established at proximate, distant, and virtual levels. Emergent communicative practices, such as Internet-driven medical research by village doctors, led to negotiations in established relationships. As suggested by the theoretical model, infrastructural, economic, socio-cultural, and technological vulnerabilities were also observed. We caution against the drawbacks of replication of the closed guanxi system in the digital ICT healthcare arena, and discuss the implications for research and policy-making.     

借鉴国外先进经验 推动上海健康服务业发展

健康服务产业是指与人类健康相关的产业的统称。由于提供卫生保健服务的成本逐年增高,发达国家信息及通讯技术（ICT）为开展个性化、以病人为中心的保健以及家庭保健提供了新途径,如电子病历、远程医疗、整合支付手段等,并出现了新的商业业态和商业模式。ICT广泛应用使医疗服务外包发展迅速,发达国家制定了与之相适应的许多政策措施,上海应充分借鉴美国等发达国家的先进经验,大力发展健康服务业。     

Making Southern universities web-enabled: From leapfrogging to antelope jumping

Information and communication technology (ICT) has become a very important factor for national economic growth in Southern (or developing) nations, where a societal history in technology and industrial innovation is missing. Online learning implies a redefinition of traditional education, it connects teachers and students in a less formal way, and it affects the structure as well as the culture of education. In this article we highlight the specific requirements and possible solutions needed to make Southern universities web-enabled. We look at the transinstitutional context, portability of content, the threat of global monoculturalism, and teacher training.