Work Foundation Analysis shows ICTs Undervalued in Workplace

The attitude of most workers to technology is 'one of incurious pragmatism spiced with sporadic outbursts of frustration – "I did save it, you stupid thing... I hate computers". One in seven have trouble turning their computers on: a fifth struggle to print. And few people show a desire to experiment with ICT,' announces "Getting by, not getting on: Technology in UK workplaces", the Work Foundation report on ICT take-up in industry and what is affecting effective use.

Setting the scene, the report says: 'Three quarters of British workers now use a PC or other ICT at work. Over the past decade, new technology has swept across Britain’s workplaces. It has been the most dramatic change in British companies for a decade.' The report draws on original research in eight very different British workplaces to provide an ethnographic look at how technology really works, how it is really used and what people really think about it. The authors are Max Nathan, Gwendolyn Carpenter, Simon Roberts, Louise Ferguson and Hannah Knox.

Several conclusions are thought-provoking. For instance: 'British workplaces are less enamoured of technology than they were. Following the dotcom boom and bomb, senior corporate attitudes to ICT have swung in the pessimistic, or at least sceptical, direction. ... A cloud of techno-scepticism has settled over many British boardrooms.'

and 'Getting the best out of ICT therefore requires an understanding of how it fits into the ecology of the organisation – its attitudes, culture, rituals, structure, networks, processes and behaviour. Simply dropping ICT into an organisation is unlikely to pay many dividends. It has to be embedded.'

Also intriguing are the lessons learnt: 'Millions of workers in the UK, and the organisations in which they work, deserve a better deal from their technology. But the solution is not a technical fix: it is a change in attitude, one which sees that technology only creates the opportunity for, not the certainty of, change. Buying the kit is the easy bit. Making it work, helping ICT to make Britain work better, is where the real energy is required. Information and communication technology does matter.'

This report provides a good context to user-centred design work - have a look at the summary at the very least.

Associated Link: Getting By, not Getting On

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