Constructing GIS: Actor Networks of Collaboration

The social coordination of geographic information technologies relies on collaboration between actors from the public, private, and education sectors. Diffusion, implementation, information sharing, and studies of the use of geographic information systems (GISs) examine the collaboration in relation to specific activities. Applying concepts from actor network theories, this article examines the socio-technical context. The construction metaphor distinguishes social network approaches from actor network approaches. This research provides insight into the relationships of GIS socio-technical networks, which are invaluable for understanding the alliances, data sharing arrangements, and standards necessary for specific GIS tasks or functions. The results of research suggest that collaboration involve the construction and maintenance of hybrid networks that connect multiple human and non-human actors into strategic alliances. An important finding is that technologies are among the “key players” in the GIS community. Standards, an organizational technology, focus strategic alliances and involve diverse groups in mutually beneficial projects. These groups are in long-term relationships that the introduction of GIS technologies can substantially alter. the context in which social coordination of GIS occurs. Where social networks study specific interactions between individuals and groups, actor network theories focus on examining actors’ wide-ranging relationships and tracing activities in networks. The social coordination involved in developing and using a GIS can be understood through a construction metaphor and the collaboration necessary to construct a building. Where implementation and use studies examine construction in terms of the tasks involved, the construction metaphor looks at how activities are coordinated. A construction metaphor is also useful for distinguishing actor network studies from social networks. From the functionalist viewpoint that characterizes most social network studies, construction is an undertaking defined by an objective and realized through the coordination of many individuals and groups. It orients itself to a plan and follows it closely. In actor network studies, the emphasis is on the skills and expert knowledge of the workers, craftspeople, and artisans, and their many relationships. In practical work, they must resolve unexpected challenges and maximize opportunities through solutions that ensure the stability of the construction and augment their position in society. In addition to acquiring and maintaining skills, craftspeople and artisans must collaborate with persons from other trades. They are engaged in multiple networks that go beyond the construction project at hand. Systems engineering and diffusion literature consider contingent networks of relationships only with regard to a particular activity. The study presented here explores the nature of relationships without limiting the analysis to a par-