DESI ONLINE SEMINAR
Pervasive and persuasive computing has increasingly matured and, to a certain extent, become mainstream for many of us. Sensors seamlessly integrated into clothing, shoes, bracelets, phones, or watches support us in keeping track of physiological, behavioral, ecological, or otherwise parameters. Having the potential to “nudge us towards better choices and decisions” not only many tech-enthusiasts (i.e. body-hackers, life loggers, quantified-selfers, or self-trackers), but also organizations have spotted the advantages of a “connected workplace” and developed data-driven occupational health and well-being initiatives using, for example, wearables paired with data analytics and machine learning algorithms (“physiolytics”). Several studies have reported positive effects and purported the notion that it may lead to significant workplace safety improvements or to increased awareness among employees concerning unhealthy work practices and other job-related health problems. At the same time, the “connected workplace” may cause an over-dependency on technology and create new constraints on privacy, individuality, and personal freedom. In this presentation, I will discuss some major challenges and unresolved issues with the introduction of the “connected workplace” for improving health at work. The presentation will not display specific results from a published paper, but rather presents the bits and pieces from a multi-year, multi-project research program on the issue…I will probably rise more questions than providing you with some answers.
Bio
Tobias Mettler is associate professor for Information Management at the Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration (IDHEAP), University of Lausanne (UNIL), Switzerland. Before joining UNIL, he was an assistant professor at the University of St.Gallen, Switzerland where he also obtained his Ph.D. degree. Tobias’ research is centered on questions related to the design and adoption of persuasive technology and data-intensive information systems in the public sector. His research has appeared in the Journal of Information Technology, Information Systems Journal, IEEE Engineering Management, Decision Support Systems, European Journal of Information Systems, among others. For his work he has received multiple awards, e.g. the Association for Information Systems Best Publications Award (2018), Fulbright Visiting Scholarship (2017) or Swiss-Academies Award for Transdisciplinary Research, Swiss Academies of Arts & Sciences (2013), and the Amicitia-Award of the University of St. Gallen for the best doctorate in management (2010). Tobias serves in several editorial boards (e.g. EJIS, Information Polity, Health Policy and Technology) and conference committees (e.g. ICIS, ECIS).