nextgen anthropology jobs
The following excerpts are from a 24 August 2009 ↑press release by Gartner, Inc., a consultancy company focussed on ‘information technology research and advisory […],’ on their report called ‘Social science meets technology in next-generation jobs’:
The sprawling use of consumer technology is spurring the demand for new skills in the workplace. Gartner said that during the next five years, consumer adoption of technology will accelerate as individuals and groups become more comfortable and adept at using it to manage their family, social, and business relationships. At the same time, organizations will struggle to keep pace as they integrate rapidly changing behaviors and technology into an already established business culture and infrastructure. […]
With the volume and diversity of content generated, posted and modified on the Web, there is a rising need for information anthropologists who trace the origin, history, and evolution of Web content. Their objectives range from providing the history of content or information to spotting fraudulent or modified images, audio and texts. Information anthropologists may therefore contribute to legal analysis or to processes where intellectual property or information quality and integrity are at risk. [italics emphasis mine]
… and what exactly was it, what I am preaching since about six years? Huh? Actually, I am far from being the prophet—a comment on ↑the story at eweek starts: ‘Way to finally wake up and smell the coffee, Gartner. I’ve been using anthropological interviewing techniques to understand the hows and whys (especially organizational culture) for over two decades now. Techniques I learned going out into the field with my mother (Ph.D.) in anthropology. I also know for a fact that several enterprises have used anthropologist and others in the behavioral sciences in product development, and that factoid dates back to at least the early ’90’s (1991 as I recall). […]’
