Opening the 'black box' of participation in technologies for inclusive development: analyzing user involvement, techno-cognitive dynamics and decision making processes

BORTZ, GABRIELA; THOMAS, HERNÁN

Barcelona

Congreso; 4S/EASST Conference 2016; 2016

EASST-4S

There is a growing consensus among inclusive innovation scholars, activists and policy makers about the need to promote broad actor involvement in technology building. However, what is understood by "participation" is still vague: the lax use of the term does not specify the scope and modalities of such involvement, becoming an imperative of "political correctness" but with little analytical precision. Understanding and designing technologies and policies for inclusive development that may go beyond technology fix approaches (inclusion as an outcome) to systemic problem-solving approaches, building local capacities and empowering actors (inclusion as a process), requires to move towards conceptual specificity in the analysis of participatory dynamics.This paper aims to open the black box of participation by presenting an analytical approach for its operationalization. Participation is defined here as "the ability to influence on techno-cognitive decision-making", building bridges between the politics of knowledge, technology management strategies and user involvement analyses. Based on the case study of the "Yogurito Escolar", a probiotic yoghurt aimed to solve malnutrition-led diseases in Tucuman province (Argentina) that shaped a high-scale alimentary policy, and a theoretical approach that triangulates socio-technical analysis with public participation literature, we present a multi-linear model for mapping participatory dynamics "in action", based on three variables: participating actors (who participates?), modalities (how?), and timing (when?). Additionally, we revise the concept of user-producer relations as a co-construction process between actors and artifacts in order to discuss knowledge and technology management strategies devised to include heterogeneous actors in techno-cognitive construction and decision making.