Abstract
How does time matter in applied data science, and how do the different temporal rhythms of various stakeholders and organizations impact how cities accomplish data-intensive work? This paper explores the role of time in collaborations oriented around leveraging data toward issues of key social concern. This paper builds upon the literature of critical infrastructure studies and organizational studies of time. Data collection included thirty-one interviews with stakeholders involved in service provision to people experiencing homelessness. Key findings included identifying two main types of temporal dissonance, interpersonal (involving stakeholders) and infrastructural (involving data). The result is a refined typology that draws from, and builds upon, prior literature in infrastructure and organizational studies. Understanding the factors that contribute to temporal dissonance can help organizations identify and resolve tensions between meeting immediate goals and work toward a broader vision.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by Good Systems, A UT Grand Challenge #Y2P11: “Smart Cities Should Be Good Cities: AI, Equity, and Homelessness.” The authors wish to thank our collaborators Min Kyung Lee, Ishan Nigam, Michelle Surka, Keyanna Evans, Tara Zimmerman, Destiny Moreno, David Cruz, James Snow, Sarah Rodriguez, Khalil Bholat, Divya Rathanlal, and Jonathan Tomko for their organizational, methodological, and conceptual contributions to this project. The authors acknowledge all of our study participants, including those who chose to be named and credited for their intellectual contributions to this study: Patricia Barrera, Bill Brice, Veronica Buitron Camacho, Samantha Campbell, Sarah Garvey, Shontell Gauthier, Alex Graham, David Gomes, Mark Hilbelink, Andy Hoffmeister, Vella Karmen, Robert Kingham, Audrey Kuang, Nora Linares-Moeller, Allison Mabbs, Susan McDowell, Walter Moreau, Jo Kathryn Quinn, Katie Rose, Lisa Ruiz, Julia Spann, Whitney Thurman, Pete Valdez, Soleece Watson, Bree Williams, and the seven participants who chose to remain anonymous.
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Slota, S.C., Fleischmann, K.R., Greenberg, S.R. (2022). A Brief Typology of Time: Temporal Structuring and Dissonance in Service Provision for People Experiencing Homelessness. In: Smits, M. (eds) Information for a Better World: Shaping the Global Future. iConference 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 13192. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-96957-8_19
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