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Clifford-Lindkvist, C and Elmualim, A (2008) The socio-technical shaping of innovation in facilities management.. In: Dainty, A (Ed.), Proceedings 24th Annual ARCOM Conference, 1-3 September 2008, Cardiff, UK. Association of Researchers in Construction Management, Vol. 2, 637–45.

  • Type: Conference Proceedings
  • Keywords: discourse; facility management; privacy; radio frequency identification (RFID); socio-technical
  • ISBN/ISSN: 978-0-9552390-1-4
  • URL: http://www.arcom.ac.uk/-docs/proceedings/ar2008-637-645_Clifford-Lindkvist_and_Elmualim.pdf
  • Abstract:
    The introduction of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for security access control and workspace management was investigated through a case study in an organisation’s Facility Management department. The use of RFID for security and for gathering information on how people use space in a building has some privacy implications. The aim of this paper is to examine the discourse of privacy discourse toward the technology in the organisation and explore how the issue of privacy and RFID is seen outside the organisation. The case study is explored through the use of ethnography, which involved semi-structured interviews; the collection of field notes and corporate artefacts. This approach insures a holistic exploration of how privacy impacts on the socio-technical development of the technology. The term “socio-technical” is developed by Bijker (1997) stating technical social and technology innovation emerge as two sides of the socio-technical coin during the construction processes of articles, facts and relevant social groups. Similarly, the application of RFID is socially shaped by the discourses external and internal to the organisation. There are three privacy discourses focused upon – employees; legislation and business and in order for the technology to be usable in the organisation a consensual discourse must be reached. It is this consensus that allows the project to continue in its’ goal for using RFID for access control and creating an innovative method of examining workspace management.