Affiliation:
1. Department of Science, Technology and Society, School of Social Sciences and Technology; and Department of Economics and Policy, School of Management, Technical University of Munich , Augustenstraße 46, Munich 80333, Germany
Abstract
Abstract
Healthcare is being discussed as an increasingly important application domain for new digital, artificial intelligence–enabled, and robotic technologies. This area has garnered interest from policymakers who seek to harness technological advancements in their quest for providing adequate healthcare to aging populations and modernizing healthcare jobs. In this article, we analyze the sociotechnical imaginary of healthcare technology constructed in German public policy. We analyze 22 pertinent German policy documents from the years 2018–22, drawing on a conceptual frame of sociotechnical imaginaries and dramaturgical studies of futuring. Our analysis shows how healthcare is imagined as a sector in crisis, how technology is promoted as a solution, and how anticipated resistances to technological solutions are being met with the narratives of “technological assistance,” the provision of “good care,” and the facilitation of “good work” within the healthcare sector.
Funder
Bavarian Institute of Digital Transformation
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)