AI & Soc (2009) 23:1–2 DOI 10.1007/s00146-007-0171-9 EDITORIAL

The enlightened workplace Richard Ennals

Published online: 28 August 2007 Ó Springer-Verlag London Limited 2007

This special issue of AI & Society: The International Journal of Human Centred Systems (22.3 2008) brings together articles from around the world, each reflecting a human centred perspective on the workplace. Globalisation, technological change, new forms of work organisation, and demographic change have had radical but diverse impacts. A great deal can be learned from different practical experiences: dialogue can result in new hybrid approaches, and sustainable innovation. Rosemary Exton and Peter Totterdill take the approaches to workplace innovation, which have been developed and studied over the past decade in the UK and the European Union, and focus in particular on the work of hospitals, seen as complex work organisations. Trond Haga reflects on experience of networks and development coalitions, in Norway and the Nordic Countries, and gives an account of orchestration, offering insights into modern management. Four linked papers consider the changed workplace in international terms, with particular reference to Africa and the challenges presented by the ‘‘digital divide’’ between the information rich and the information poor. Anne Inga Hilsen and Richard Ennals consider demographic change. Simple forms of technology offer intergenerational links, which can transform work organisation and the requirement for learning. The tacit knowledge and experience of older workers is a vital resource. Arunas Augustinaitis, Richard Ennals, Egle Malinauskiene and Rimantas Petrauskas reflect on experience of economic, political and technological transition in Lithuania. They discuss national programmes, and issues for different generations, and explore the lessons that this may provide for developing countries in Africa. R. Ennals (&) Centre for Working Life Research, Kingston Business School, Kingston University, Kingston Hill, Kingston KT2 7LB, UK e-mail: [email protected]

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AI & Soc (2009) 23:1–2

Thomas Odamtten and Jeremy Millard draw on their work on E-Europe Best Practices, describe how their original BEEP system was extended to deal with the enlarged European Union, and consider how an African Knowledge System could facilitate learning from the experience of others. Richard Ennals, Les Stratton, Noura Moujahid and Serhiy Kovela report on a course in Global Information Technology for undergraduates, and use this as an opening for practical initiatives in Global Citizenship Education, reflecting the fact that we learn and do business in an interconnected world. Nazir Walji outlines research on leadership, using the research methodology of participative action research. One of his cases is an organisation concerned with global citizenship, a partner in the previous article. Hans Christian Garmann Johnsen, James Karlsen, Roger Normann and JensKristian Fosse come from a growing research group in Agder, Southern Norway, concerned with regional development and working within the tradition of action research. They suggest that current theory and practice of action research are deficient. They argue that there has been a mistaken emphasis on local knowledge, and present an alternative approach. The Open Forum section introduces the work of young researchers. Adrian Ratkic reports on the use of Dialogue Seminars as a pedagogical tool for case studies, and argues that the use of analogical thinking provides fresh access to tacit knowledge, enabling the solving of some otherwise intractable problems of knowledge. Carol Baily is exploring reverse intergenerational learning, considering what older workers can learn from the young, and going beyond simple IT literacy. Johan Berglund explores current discourses on age, making reference to the Dialogue Seminar Method, developed at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Zelin Li is investigating how e-government is affecting the organisational structure of Chinese government, in preparation for detailed research on e-health in China. Rasa Juciute has been studying ICT implementation in the health care sector, and reports her findings from Wales, which show a marked contrast with experience in England. The articles have in common that they are sceptical about top down systems, where there is forced reliance on technology, at the expense of an appreciation of the importance of human skill and tacit knowledge. Technology is best deployed in support of the knowledge of the worker, and this requires engagement in dialogue. The special issue lays the foundations for ongoing international cross-disciplinary collaborative research. The development of sustainable human centred systems requires an understanding of new forms of work organisation, with insights into the transforming potential of even simple technologies, applied in the cultural contexts of intergenerational relations and traditions of knowledge transfer. From this integrative discourse we can expect new applications in health, education, regional development and the new generation of businesses based on networks and ‘‘knowledge work’’, rather than large factories. Effective learning will be linked to experience, rather than ‘‘delivered’’ through traditional training.

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