Unfortunately, with the madness of the Covid pandemic upon us, I missed the opportunity to ‘Have [my] say on the Tech Plan for health and care‘ as per the NHSx invitation.
The active engagement has been paused due to the pandemic but this is only Phase 1 of 5, and one can still register for updates when things will be resumed.
This is part of the Join the Conversation initiative which seems like a great initiative but as some contributors have pointed out, the limited number of responses it received also raises the question of how visible and hence how inclusive such initiatives are? Considering that I didn’t come across the call until too late, even though I am subscribed to the NHSX newsletter, demonstrates that this is a valid question worth asking….
Still, it is very interesting to read the existing comments and ideas of the people who did have their say already. From my point of view, it is fascinating to see how dominant stories and figurations – such as that of ‘techno-solutionism’ or the hyped language of Tech Visions – are being confronted and challenged (“Considering the average time for new technologies to filter through the NHS is up to 17 years, why tech solutions are a priority?” – Nicholas Kelly. Or, “Why is the NHS tech plan provided in a PDF?” – Suzannah). This is another evidence that besides the (messy, contradictory but still powerful) stories that dominate in policy circles, there is a plethora of alternative ones which are worth seeking out.
——- UPDATE ———
I just came across this very interesting report by Amanda Lenhart and Kellie Owens at Data & Society, Good Intentions, Bad Inventions:The Four Myths of Healthy Tech. Interesting to read against the above.