With the rise of peer-to-peer software like Napster, many predicted that the digitalisation, sharing and dematerialisation of music would bring a radical transformation within the recording industry. This opened up a period of controversy and uncertainty in which competing visions were articulated of technology-induced change, markedly polarised between utopian and dystopian accounts with no clear view of ways forwards. A series of moves followed as various players sought to valorise music on the digital music networks, culminating in an emergence of successful streaming services. This thesis examines why there was a mismatch between initial predictions and what has actually happened in the market. It offers a detailed examination of the innovation processes through which digital technology was implemented and domesticated in the recording industry. This reveals a complex, contradictory and constantly evolving landscape in which the development of digital music distribution was far removed from the smooth development trajectories envisaged by those who saw these developments as following a simple trajectory shaped by technical or economic determinants. The research is based upon qualitative data analysis of fifty five interviews with a wide range of entrepreneurs and innovators, focusing on two successful innovation cases with different points of insertion within the digital recording industry; (1) Spotify: currently the world’s most popular digital music streaming service; and (2) INgrooves: an independent digital music distribution service provider whose system is also used by Universal Music Group. The thesis applies perspectives from the Social Shaping of Technology (“SST”) and its extension into Social Learning in Technological Innovation. It explores the widely dispersed processes of innovation through which the complex set of interactions amongst heterogeneous players who have conflicting interests and differing commitments involved in the digital music networks guided diverging choices in relation to particular market conditions and user requirements. The thesis makes three major contributions to understanding digital disruption in the recording industry. (1) In contrast to prevailing approaches which take P2P distribution as the single point of focus, the study investigates the multiplicity of actors and sites of innovation in the digital recording industry. It demonstrates that the dematerialisation of music did not lead to a simple, e.g. technologically-driven transformation of the industry. Instead a diverse array of realignments had to take place across the music sector to develop digital music valorisation networks. (2) By examining the detailed processes involved in the evolution of digital music services, it highlights the ways in which business models are shaped through a learning process of matching and finding constantly changing digital music users’ needs. Based on the observation that business models must be discovered in the course of making technologies work in the market, a new framework of ‘social shaping of business models’ is proposed in order to conceptualise business models as an emergent process in which firms refine their strategies in the light of emerging circumstances. (3) Drawing upon the concepts of musical networks (Leyshon 2001) and mediation (Hennion 1989), the thesis investigates the interaction of the diverse actors across the circuit of the recording business – production, distribution, valorisation, and consumption. The comprehensive analysis of the intricate interplay between innovation actors and their interactions in the economic, cultural, legal and institutional context highlights the need to develop a more sophisticated and nuanced understanding of the recording industry.

This thesis explores the role of new Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) in political organisation. It explores the use of ICTs by singleissue groups - the emergence of which has become a salient feature of contemporary political activity. There has been considerable interest amongst politicians, activists, commentators and social scientists in the contribution of ICT (eg. social media) to democracy and the renewal of political life. Optimistic accounts are especially evident around 'the Arab Spring', though subsequent experiences have called into question the prevalent technological utopianism of the time. Despite this, we are now building a complete picture of how ICT can contribute to the political organisation. In particular, the significance of new media and technology for single issue groups has not yet been explored in developing countries context. This thesis, therefore, examines the characteristics of single issue groups and how social activists appropriated new media tools and its consequences for political organisation in a developing country: India. A qualitative study was undertaken to focus on two detailed case studies: India Against Corruption (IAC) and the Pink Chaddi campaign. IAC was the traditional activist organisation that used new media to its advantage whereas Pink Chaddi was the pioneering example of online social activism in the India. Forty-three semi-structured interviews were conducted with a range of actors involved to understand how single-issue groups appropriated technology and how new practices have emerge from this appropriation. Drawing upon the Social Shaping of Technology perspective (Williams & Edge, 1996) and its extension to Social Learning (Sørensen, 1996), the thesis refutes prevalent deterministic accounts (whether utopian or dystopian) of the impact of new technologies on political organisations. Instead, a detailed account is rendered of the adoption of various communication media and their utilisation in the particular practices and activities of the single-issue groups selected. The results demonstrate that the particular setting shapes the appropriation of new media and the development of new organisation practices: the skills resources and strategies of the local players involved as well as the availability and affordances of technology. The thesis introduces the concept of 'creative configuration' - to capture the innovative and adaptive process by which the actors involved explored the applicability of general purpose technology infrastructure and tools, assisted by forms of local expertise available to hand, to support organisational objectives. The research examines the applicability of the theory of temporary organisation (Lundin & Söderholm, 1995) to the activities of single-issue groups. It suggests an extension of this theory, highlighting how 'technology' acts as a catalyst to sustain temporary organisations such as single-issue groups. Further, a framework for sustainable local innovations is proposed to explore lessons for organisations in exploiting technologies sustainably and more efficiently.

Human development requires some kind of action and needs information to set the development process in motion. An expansion of choice and the ability to enact choice are outcomes of development. In order to become aware of choices and support the ability to enact choices that can lead to development, access to information is required. In her thesis, Shaping meaningful information and communication technology for development (ICT4D) solutions using design science research: a social shaping of technology framework based on the capability approach, Manti addresses the problem how should the information needs that are meaningful to women working as domestic workers, be effectively translated through the use of ICT in order to enhance their experience of the good life as defined by Sen’s capability approach and to contribute to the success and social value of ICT4D projects. A group of women working as domestic workers and a selected group of organisations in South Africa participated in the study. The artefact produced by the study is the Community Shaping Solutions Framework (CSSF). The CSSF’s contribution is a response to the criticisms against ICT4D of being overly technology deterministic by applying the social shaping of technology and the capability approach theories and suggesting a human-centered approach. The CSSF draws on the capability approach as a way to measure development and the social shaping of technology theory for the positive role in integrating people and technology concerns by offering a greater understanding of the relationship between scientific excellence, technology innovation and social well-being. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Informatics / PhD (IT) / Unrestricted

This is an ethnographic study of the creation of a particular type of standard enterprise software package: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, which support wide-ranging organisational functions within large and medium sized enterprises. Drawing upon the Social Shaping of Technology perspective and recent related attempts to theorise the Biography of Artefacts, this thesis addresses the under-researched area of ERP system development and ERP system support. In providing a system vendor’s viewpoint, it seeks to overcome current shortcomings in social research, notably from Information Systems and Organisational Studies, which focus almost exclusively on a user organisation perspective. Mostly concentrating on the moment of implementation, existing studies do not help us to better understand the software producer’s viewpoint or to find explanations as to how ERP systems are produced and supported in such a way that they can meet the specific requirements of their highly diverse users (the current market leader SAP had over 12 million users (2008)). Overall, we have very limited understanding of what happens within software package laboratories and how such organisations organise their relationship with their wide and diverse user base throughout the different phases of the product life cycle. Addressing this gap in the social study of software packages, this research offers an ethnographical insider’s perspective of the day-to-day working practices within one of the world’s leading ERP system providers, encompassing both its development and support functions. Based on rich ethnographic data, the study demonstrates first, how a supplier manages its relationship with its diverse user base during the moment when the system re-enters the vendor’s circle of responsibility through the software packages support channel. The sophisticated and mature mechanisms and policies are highlighted, which allow the vendor - not without challenges – to accommodate competing exigencies of its user base at this moment of product life cycle. Second, this research highlights how the software development phase is organised, by empirically describing and analysing from a social viewpoint, the software development process during a period of organisational change, in which the vendor reorganises itself in search for a new way to respond to the expectations of the market. Third, the account reveals unexpected communitarian behaviour amongst software developers at all levels, demonstrating the social character of programming, a feature which has not been adequately recognised by current studies in this area. Fourth, overall, this study highlights the need for a change of the current research agenda in social software package research towards a vendor organisation’s perspective, if we aim for a more complete understanding of the social aspects such type of technology.

Genetically modified insect-resistant (Bt) cotton is widely cultivated in Pakistan, although the Pakistani Government has yet to approve its commercial cultivation. This thesis is the first in-depth, systematic and critical examination of its commercialisation through the informal sector, and explains the conundrum of around 6.4 million acres of ‘illegal’ cultivation of a GM crop. / Most popular Bt varieties under cultivation in Pakistan contain Monsanto’s genetic modification event (called MON 531), widely believed to be under patent protection in Pakistan. Not wanting to infringe Monsanto’s intellectual property rights (IPR), the Pakistani Government has refused biosafety approval to these varieties. Consequently, the Pakistani breeders of these high-yielding Bt varieties commercialised them in the informal sector. This research decriminalises seed provision in the informal sector and shows that rather than being discrete categories, the formal/informal sectors are locations across which breeders and varieties travel. / For its part, Monsanto is not willing to enter the Pakistani seed market, considering it too disorderly in which to operate. It seeks to operate in the ‘high-differential’ end of the market, therefore requiring active engagement of the Government to keep the farmer from dropping out. Alternatively, Monsanto proposes that the Government licenses MON 531 on payment of an annual technology fee for use by Pakistani farmers and breeders. This technology fee is compared with Monsanto’s cost of development of Bt products, and Pakistan’s budgetary allocation for agriculture. On both counts, the technology fee demanded by Monsanto is excessive. / An examination of Pakistan’s patent law and the patents granted to Monsanto reveals that neither MON 531 nor biotechnological products/processes required for its insertion in local cotton varieties are patented in Pakistan. Thus Pakistan presents a unique case where the Government has consistently honoured patents that it never issued. It is argued that Monsanto’s non-existent IPR has been honoured due to the particular social relations between Monsanto and Pakistani farmers and breeders. Since MON 531 is a commodity objectifying the labour of a particular social group, a patent thereupon becomes a means to operationalise the social relations between this social group and those who consume this commodity. / An alternate route for commercialisation is through the hybrid seed. Monsanto is willing to enter the Pakistani seed market if its technology can be carried in hybrid seeds. But the use of hybrid seed is economically unfeasible in cotton production, and there are significant problems with hybrid seed production in large quantities for the Pakistani market. Yet Monsanto and other companies prefer the hybrid route to technology commercialisation because of an important latent function that hybrids perform – they stop the farmer from saving seed. / It is argued that IPR and the use of hybrid seed are key social and technical strategies for accumulation by dispossession. They represent the commodification of seed, which is a pre-requisite for the process of accumulation. At the same time, these appear to be the only available strategies within existing social relations for improving cotton germplasm and for providing quality Bt seed to the Pakistani farmer.

Genetically modified insect-resistant (Bt) cotton is widely cultivated in Pakistan, although the Pakistani Government has yet to approve its commercial cultivation. This thesis is the first in-depth, systematic and critical examination of its commercialisation through the informal sector, and explains the conundrum of around 6.4 million acres of ‘illegal’ cultivation of a GM crop. / Most popular Bt varieties under cultivation in Pakistan contain Monsanto’s genetic modification event (called MON 531), widely believed to be under patent protection in Pakistan. Not wanting to infringe Monsanto’s intellectual property rights (IPR), the Pakistani Government has refused biosafety approval to these varieties. Consequently, the Pakistani breeders of these high-yielding Bt varieties commercialised them in the informal sector. This research decriminalises seed provision in the informal sector and shows that rather than being discrete categories, the formal/informal sectors are locations across which breeders and varieties travel. / For its part, Monsanto is not willing to enter the Pakistani seed market, considering it too disorderly in which to operate. It seeks to operate in the ‘high-differential’ end of the market, therefore requiring active engagement of the Government to keep the farmer from dropping out. Alternatively, Monsanto proposes that the Government licenses MON 531 on payment of an annual technology fee for use by Pakistani farmers and breeders. This technology fee is compared with Monsanto’s cost of development of Bt products, and Pakistan’s budgetary allocation for agriculture. On both counts, the technology fee demanded by Monsanto is excessive. / An examination of Pakistan’s patent law and the patents granted to Monsanto reveals that neither MON 531 nor biotechnological products/processes required for its insertion in local cotton varieties are patented in Pakistan. Thus Pakistan presents a unique case where the Government has consistently honoured patents that it never issued. It is argued that Monsanto’s non-existent IPR has been honoured due to the particular social relations between Monsanto and Pakistani farmers and breeders. Since MON 531 is a commodity objectifying the labour of a particular social group, a patent thereupon becomes a means to operationalise the social relations between this social group and those who consume this commodity. / An alternate route for commercialisation is through the hybrid seed. Monsanto is willing to enter the Pakistani seed market if its technology can be carried in hybrid seeds. But the use of hybrid seed is economically unfeasible in cotton production, and there are significant problems with hybrid seed production in large quantities for the Pakistani market. Yet Monsanto and other companies prefer the hybrid route to technology commercialisation because of an important latent function that hybrids perform – they stop the farmer from saving seed. / It is argued that IPR and the use of hybrid seed are key social and technical strategies for accumulation by dispossession. They represent the commodification of seed, which is a pre-requisite for the process of accumulation. At the same time, these appear to be the only available strategies within existing social relations for improving cotton germplasm and for providing quality Bt seed to the Pakistani farmer.

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This essay is a study of the use of IT technology by teachers of English and History at a Swedish upper secondary school. It is based on four interviews and four observations. In my analysis of these I have made use of the theory of Social Shaping of technology, a theory which puts emphasis on a teacher´s purpose regarding the use of IT technology in order to empower the teaching process. As a researcher I aim to explore the reasoning on the part of the teacher and to that end I use the method of interviews and observations. This study shows different ways of using IT technology varying from one teacher to another. The use of laptops and Ipads by students is frequent, laptops being used for writing and information seeking and Ipads for taking pictures, the recording of students´ own performance before making presentations in class and for communication with teachers. In addition to the methods mentioned above, I have used - "Som-seende" and half-structured interviews.

Africa’s way forward requires integration, democracy, good governance, participation and inclusive communication of all issues. Intergovernmental organizations are essential to facilitate the above mentioned goals. New thinking highlights the role of new media especially the Internet in democracy and governance in Africa. Therefore, the question solicited here is whether e-governance facilitates continental governance in Africa and under what circumstances would this be possible? This research introduced the internet (web) as a distinct medium of communications with distinct features and characteristics. A number of scholars argue that the Internet as a distinct medium of communication can better facilitate the democratizing role of the media in society, while others argues that the internet has not changed the nature of politics since ordinary politics in all its complexity and vitality has invaded and captured cyberspace. These arguments are divided respectively between Technological Determinism and the Social Shaping of Technology. This research investigates (AU, EU and Nepad) e-governance websites in order to understand practices, prospects and challenges of continental e-governance systems. It was found that the AU and Nepad use the websites for institutional information rather than interaction with citizens and online service delivery. However, significant steps are taken to enhance interaction in Nepad. It is therefore recommended that, the AU and Nepad need to invest time and commitment in enhancing interactivity and rising awareness for these e-governance systems. As projected, EU performs much better than the above two in terms of interactivity. This is because it has more experience and internet penetration and uses is widespread in Europe than it is here in Africa.

Il blog ha compiuto un percorso di rapido sviluppo, diventando spesso nei discorsi sociali l'emblema di un modo di intendere la rete che ha preso oggi l'etichetta di “Web 2.0”. La sua diffusione non è solo l'esito di una particolare configurazione tecnologica, ma anche di un intreccio di dinamiche economiche, sociali e culturali che hanno mutato la loro forma nel tempo. Lo scopo del presente lavoro è quello di seguire la traiettoria di questo sviluppo, individuandone gli snodi critici attraverso gli strumenti concettuali forniti dal paradigma del Social Shaping of Technology applicato, in questo caso, ad un oggetto che combina la duplice natura di artefatto culturale e strumento di Comunicazione Mediata da Computer. A questo scopo si è, in primo luogo, ricostruita l'evoluzione storica del blog, rileggendola poi alla luce delle quattro dimensioni istituzionale, economica, tecnologica e culturale, da cui è emersa la centralità della figura dell'autore del blog. Su questa base si è articolato un percorso di ricerca sul campo, condotto con una metodologia qualitativa e multi-situata, al fine di evidenziare le dinamiche di appropriazione microsociale del blog, in cui sono stati individuati gli aspetti cruciali del suo modellamento sociale. / Weblogs developed very rapidly during the last years, by often becoming the symbol of the recognition of the Web as “Web 2.0” in the social discourses. Not only is its diffusion the outcome of a particular technological configuration, but also of a network of economical, social, cultural factors that have changed their shape in the course of time. The goal of this research is to follow the path of this development through the conceptual frame provided by the Social Shaping of Technology applied, in this case, to an object that is both an artefact and a form of Computer Mediated Communication. Firstly, to the purpose, the historical evolution of blog has been reconstructed; then, the trend of the institutional, economical, technological, cultural dimensions has been outlined whereas the author's central role in blog's dynamics emerged. On this basis a field research was carried out and accomplished with a qualitative, multi-sited methodology, in order to highlight the microsocial blog processes of appropriation, in which the main aspects of social shaping has been identified.