Research output: Working paper
Research output: Working paper
}
TY - UNPB
T1 - At the Bleedin'' Edge: Managing on the Move, Ambivalence and the Provision of UK Fire Services
AU - Brigham, M
PY - 2006
Y1 - 2006
N2 - Since the mid 1990s, fire services across the UK have begun to introduce mobile incident management information systems (known as Vehicle Mounted Data Systems or VMDS) with the intention of enhancing information to front-line firefighters and modernising the provision of fire services. Drawing on actor-network theory, this paper examines how fire service work is made increasingly mobile and how fire crews respond ambivalently to the implementation of a mobile information system. The paper argues that fire crews’ ambivalence can be connected to a range of organisational uncertainties and practical ambiguities associated with the current and future deployment of the VMDS. This suggests that implementation of mobile devices is not a one-off initiative, but is characterised by ongoing iterations and an uncertain trajectory. From its deployment as a device to provide information ‘anytime and anywhere’ it is concluded that the VMDS has now become an important part of the future context for UK fire service provision.
AB - Since the mid 1990s, fire services across the UK have begun to introduce mobile incident management information systems (known as Vehicle Mounted Data Systems or VMDS) with the intention of enhancing information to front-line firefighters and modernising the provision of fire services. Drawing on actor-network theory, this paper examines how fire service work is made increasingly mobile and how fire crews respond ambivalently to the implementation of a mobile information system. The paper argues that fire crews’ ambivalence can be connected to a range of organisational uncertainties and practical ambiguities associated with the current and future deployment of the VMDS. This suggests that implementation of mobile devices is not a one-off initiative, but is characterised by ongoing iterations and an uncertain trajectory. From its deployment as a device to provide information ‘anytime and anywhere’ it is concluded that the VMDS has now become an important part of the future context for UK fire service provision.
KW - mobile working
KW - mobile information systems
KW - public sector modernisation
KW - UK fire services
KW - actor-network theory
KW - ethnographic research
M3 - Working paper
T3 - Organisation, Work and Technology Working Paper Series
BT - At the Bleedin'' Edge: Managing on the Move, Ambivalence and the Provision of UK Fire Services
PB - The Department of Organisation, Work and Technology
CY - Lancaster University
ER -