EUSSET Digital Library
Not a member yet
2691 research outputs found
Sort by
Sustaining STEAM: Challenges and Strategies for Long-Term Engagement in FabLabs and Makerspaces
No full textSustaining long-term engagement in STEAM education is a significant challenge, especially in informal learning settings like FabLabs and Makerspaces. These hands-on, constructionist environments have incredible potential for fostering creativity, problem-solving, and digital literacy, particularly through community-based extracurricular activities. However, maintaining participation over time remains a challenge due to pedagogical, structural, and motivational barriers. In this workshop, we aim to address the questions relevant to STEAM education by exploring both the challenges and strategies for organizing and conducting long-term STEAM-focused extracurricular programs for children within FabLabs and Makerspaces. We aim to bring together educators, makers, and researchers to expedite the discussions about making sustainable, practice-informed approaches for long-term STEAM education programs beyond the traditional classroom
Prototyping Industry 4.0: Tracing Infrastructural Resonance in a Smart Factory Demo
No full textWith the advent of Industry 4.0, Internet-of-things, and data-centric technologies, the concept of the smart factory (automation of
the factory) has gained traction to make machines more than mechanical artifacts. It creates an ecosystem of technologies providing
infrastructure to embed technological advancements with the emerging needs of the system. However, with the increasing demand
for automation, several socio-technical challenges pertain due to the infusion of several infrastructural layers in the smart factory
settings. We present “Demo Smart Factory”, which automates a logistic pipeline, including dummy manufacturing, quality assurance,
and sorting, and provides control mechanisms on the real-time sensor data based on components and units of the factory to different
stakeholders via a digital twin. Through this exemplary use-case of a logistics smart factory demo, we aim to illustrate the resonance
between different infrastructural layers and highlight key socio-technical factors that shape the design and implementation of smart
factory systems. We also identify key pitfalls that need to be avoided or balanced in realizing large-scale and multi-layered interventions
like a smart factory
Technodiversity: a Diversity of Technological Milieux in Large Infrastructures
No full textThe concept of “technodiversity” has raised a particular interest in the field of philosophy of technology for a decade. This interest partially stems from the analogy suggested by the neologism in itself: “technodiversity” echoes “biodiversity”, now a major concept both on the scientific and political stages for speaking of the living world. Biodiversity encompasses the whole of the living world and unmistakably defines its first and prior characteristic as being diverse. Biodiversity relates to all different forms of diversity of the living world; biodiversity is as such the diversity of the diversities in the living world. Then, is there any relevance to speak of “technodiversity” in regard to technology as we speak of biodiversity for the living world? This question will be answered through three case studies that all concern major large infrastructures. Firstly, in regard to the construction of the train infrastructure, technodiversity will be described as its constitutive condition. The second case study will concern the knowledge infrastructure of climatology and will bring forward, not only technodiversity as a constitutive condition, but as being positive for the good functioning of this particular infrastructure. The third and last case study will show the positive value of technodiversity for the “design milieux”, through the example of the software infrastructure supporting large engineering design projects. To conclude, the possibility to generalize the depiction of technodiversity both as a factual condition and value for large infrastructures will be discussed
The Department of Belonging: Future Infrastructures for Inclusive Resident Participation
No full textHCI researchers have a responsibility to design infrastructures and technologies that affect the participation of different members of society, especially vulnerable and marginalised communities. However, participation has been relegated to sporadic activities and workshops, rather than institutionalised structures that facilitate participation in tackling big, ’wicked’ problems. In this hands-on workshop we will examine existing structures for participation of residents in a municipal setting, drawing examples from our work with migrants. Together, we will imagine future participatory infrastructures and long-term technological impacts in order to foster durable, resilient communities. We use speculative design as a method to discuss current issues with HCI research and policy in tackling larger, societal issues. Through this workshop, we hope to 1) re-invigorate the field of participatory design and HCI in designing emancipatory technology, and 2) create a community of researchers and practitioners that share and publish an HCI agenda that enables more equitable participatory technologies
Onboarding for barrier-free cooperation at work - Safe Space for experiencing and negotiating to promote the inclusion of new employees
No full textOnboarding for new employees with disabilities starts after assigning a job to someone with a disability which starts a process of technical support for work in the workplace through assistive technologies. In this important phase, the framework conditions for inclusion in the company can be created and expectations and a code of conduct clarified. The preliminary results from a workshop with employees with disabilities and accessibility experts presented in this article show motivational and barrier factors from the perspective of potential employees. They show a need for a Safe Space during the job onboarding process in which inclusion and working conditions for people with disabilities and their colleagues without disabilities can be negotiated and to forms of interaction defined. This text outlines the design, structure and content of such a Safe Space for experience and negotiation. The result is that this space is to be moderated by superiors, red lines clearly set and that it serves to create a common language
Bridging EU Climate Policy and AI Development: Toward Design Implications for Collaborative Sustainable AI Communities
No full textEuropean Union (EU) climate and AI policies articulate ambitious sustainability goals. Yet, a notable gap persists between high-level directives and everyday practices in AI development communities. This paper examines how EU governance frameworks can be operationalized through design criteria that support sustainable AI development in HCI contexts. Drawing on current practices within online platforms such as Hugging Face, we propose eight design implications organized into policy-driven, community-driven, and hybrid strategies. These include standardized metadata reporting, real-time environmental impact visualization, incentive frameworks, and integrated community benchmarks. Our approach bridges the policy-practice divide by aligning regulatory requirements with community innovation. It fosters a human-centric, transparent, and sustainable AI ecosystem. Such integrated strategies can promote digital sovereignty and environmental accountability while supporting a transition toward sustainable AI practices
Awareness, Motivation and Leadership in Production Systems: A Socio-Technical Perspective
No full textWith the remarkable structural changes that many sectors of the industry arecurrently experiencing with the advent and introduction of new digital technologiesand the push that they are receiving from assorted agendas concerningindustrial developments – as those connected with digital transformation andthe so-called Industry 5.0 – it sensible to think that different aspects concerningcooperative work will be subject to changes, especially when it comes to issuesassociated with the use and appropriation of digital technologies. In this contribution,we address the concept of awareness and how it has been impacted by thecontinuous process of digitalisation and digital transformation within the industryunder a practice-centred computing perspective. The study is based on anin-depth interview study featuring 19 participants across 11 different-sized manufacturingcompanies from the metalworking industry and other related sectors.The data was transcribed and subjected to thematic analysis. Subsequently, wediscuss how not only awareness, but also motivation and leadership in productionsystems have been continuously impacted by these structural changes, at timesin a negative way. We elaborate on our findings and reflect upon how existingCSCW notions, as coordination mechanisms, common information spaces and articulation spaces can be used to inform the design of new technologies thatcould enhance awareness and mitigate potentially negative impacts. In particular,we extend the notion of articulation spaces to include the role of a group mediator,which has been found relevant to support cooperation in industrial settingsundergoing digital transformation
AI Alignment as Infrastructuring: Sociotechnical Deliberations in the Age of AI
No full textAs Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly integrated into healthcare infrastructures, the challenge of ensuring AI alignment—designing systems that act in accordance with human values and intentions—has gained urgency. This conceptual paper examines the rise of technical approaches to AI alignment, with a focus on Inverse Reinforcement Learning (IRL), a method for inferring human preferences. While such techniques can facilitate alignment, they also come with the risk of reducing alignment to an optimization problem, overlooking the contextual, contested, and evolving nature of values in practice. Nowhere is this more evident than in healthcare, a complex sociotechnical arrangement where values such as equity, privacy, and efficiency are frequently in tension. The paper argues for a shift from computational takes on alignment to infrastructuring—an ongoing, relational process of negotiation, adaptation, and engagement. By reframing alignment as an embedded and dynamic sociotechnical activity, the paper calls for interdisciplinary research and the development of techniques that support technology-enabled but also deliberative, responsive, and practice-oriented approaches to AI alignment in health infrastructures. This perspective foregrounds the limits of demonstration-based methods like IRL and calls for more interdisciplinary research and efforts into integrating technical approaches with deliberative processes and governance mechanisms
Beyond Implementation: Exploring Older Adults Perspectives on the Electronic Patient File (ePA) in Germany
No full textThe German Electronic Patient Record (elektronische Patientenakte – ePA) represents a key digital infrastructure in Germany’s evolving health system. While its technical development and institutional implementation have received considerable attention, the everyday practices and perspectives of patients remain largely invisible in current research and public discourses. This contribution presents an ongoing qualitative study that foregrounds patient expectations, concerns, and first experiences regarding the use of the ePA. Drawing on initial interviews, we explore how patients make sense of the ePA, navigate access, and articulate concerns around data control, utility, and trust. Our findings point to a gap between institutional logics and lived practices, raising critical questions about infrastructural (non-)use or user agency. While data collection is ongoing, first insights already highlight the importance of embedding patient perspectives into the design and evaluation of digital health infrastructures. We argue that infrastructuring efforts must extend beyond technical rollout to include patients as co-creators of meaningful, accessible, and trustworthy health systems
Patients' Perception of Privacy and Security Information in Patient-Accessible Electronic Health Records: an analysis on HelseNorge
No full textThis study delves into patients’ privacy and security concerns regarding HelseNorge, a prominent patient-accessible electronic health records (PaEHR) system in Norway. It offers an empirical analysis of patients’ awareness of information privacy and security when using the PaEHR. By surveying 315 patients, this study examines their awareness of (i) existing and desired information privacy and security features, (ii) challenges related to information privacy and security, and (iii) methods patients use to enhance their knowledge of information privacy and security. The results showed that many patients are aware of the information privacy and security features in PaEHR; however, they desire advanced information privacy features. Information privacy features include selective data sharing, revocation, deletion, Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), differentiated access levels, and data minimization. The desired information security features include transparent access logs, end-to-end encryption, context-aware authentication, and session safeguards. Furthermore, information privacy and security awareness can be enhanced through the institutional resources provided by the PaEHR, such as its webpage. Drawing on empirical data, this study examines human-centered knowledge and proposes guidelines for designing next-generation PaEHRs