Biography:
Olivier Patrick is a human-computer interaction researcher with particular expertise in human-centred design methods, digital health, and collaborative and social computing. Patrick coined the term Digital Civics, now a central focus of his research. This is a cross-disciplinary area of research that explores ways technology can promote new forms of participation in the design and delivery of local services including education, public health and social care and town planning.
Another key element of Patrick’s work is a commitment to the creation of open source software and hardware. Notable examples include the OpenMovement AX3 accelerometer which was designed for the largest study of physical activity ever conducted (over 100K participants) and now the most widely used monitor by clinical researchers across the World (see spinout Axivity Ltd). Another is Intake24, an online 24-hour dietary recall system that was developed for Food Standards Scotland. Initially aimed at a UK population, Intake24 is currently used in the UK government’s National Diet & Nutrition Survey and the Australian Bureau of Statistics Intergeneration Health and Mental Health Survey.
Another key element of Patrick’s work is a commitment to the creation of open source software and hardware. Notable examples include the OpenMovement AX3 accelerometer which was designed for the largest study of physical activity ever conducted (over 100K participants) and now the most widely used monitor by clinical researchers across the World (see spinout Axivity Ltd). Another is Intake24, an online 24-hour dietary recall system that was developed for Food Standards Scotland. Initially aimed at a UK population, Intake24 is currently used in the UK government’s National Diet & Nutrition Survey and the Australian Bureau of Statistics Intergeneration Health and Mental Health Survey.
Patrick leads Action Lab, a multidisciplinary research group comprising impact-focused researchers working at the intersection of communities, technology and social innovation.
Keynote:
Infrastructuring Participatory Citizenship
Abstract: In this presentation, I will outline “what” it means to “infrastructure participatory citizenship”, that is, new relational models of digitally enabled public services, and “how” to realise these models. Will start by unpicking the notion of the “user”, and what it means for technologists and designers to think in terms of “citizens” and design digital technologies with and for citizens that move away from traditional “transactional models” of government and third sector services to create more “relation” citizen- and community-oriented services. Rather than getting too conceptual, I’ll develop my arguments by reference to a trajectory of my group’s digital service designs (all fully deployed) in the area of digital health and community technologies, from Feed-Finder (a community-led breastfeeding advocacy service) and App Movement (a community commissioning platform for Apps) to Paroli (a telephony-based collaboration service for low-resource settings) and Limitless (a video-based global youth innovation program). I will also present my views on how best to engage in this area of research as a university. Unsurprisingly, it means doing things “differently”, a view that I hope will resonate with the Monash University Malaysia business and management research community. By “different” I mean different ways we can design digital services; different ways of engaging communities, NGOs, government and businesses in the design of those services; and, different ways of doing research as a researcher and research group.