Data-driven Memory Work: Resilience and Fragility in Organizational Transformations

This is a lunch seminar; please register your attendance by accepting/declining your emailed invitation by Tuesday, May 28th, at 10 AM at the latest (for catering). Find more information here.

Abstract
In the fields of information systems and organization sciences, a new trajectory has emerged: data-driven memory work. The work places both regulatory and temporal structures at its core. The resilience and fragility of these structures stem from a cross-level phenomenon, amplified by the growing digitization of data. This transformation necessitates coordination and collaboration across individuals, groups, organizations, and intricate ecosystems of data providers, users, and regulators over extended time spans.

Through three distinct vignettes—Research Information System, university library archives, and the central bio databank—we delve into the memory work of various mnemonic communities and their associated ecologies. While the collected data holds promise for sensemaking and identity formation, only a handful of external stakeholders seem capable of articulating how this data shapes community identity. A disconnect exists between data collection mandates and policies, and a clear understanding of the rationale for data use.

In the context of the Research Information System, a palpable alienation exists between data subjects and university management, as external stakeholders superimpose their own interpretations and intentions for data utilization. Meanwhile, in the case of the central bio data, researchers advocate for prolonged storage periods (up to 30 years) to preserve the ability for future studies. This reflects the tension between the needs and potential insights of an unknown and unknowable future, versus those who advocate for limiting data use based on privacy rights and sample donor concerns.