We consider people with disabilities to be experts in using technical systems to improve their work performance. However, it is essential to identify the elements that successfully enable individuals with disabilities to interact with technology, as well as the factors that cause problems for interaction or the performance of tasks.

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​The NewWorkTech project will produce new knowledge and understanding of how technology can enhance the capacities of people with different abilities in performing work tasks, and will use this knowledge as the basis for new technological solutions, theoretical innovations, an ethical framework, policy recommendations, and effectively disseminated practical knowledge. While showcasing the potential of various technologies, e.g. AI, for vulnerable parts of the labour market, NewWorkTech will also enhance the potential and performance of other employee groups who may at times experience similar, temporary functional limitations, or have no restricting medical condition but use technologies to augment their capacities. The project brings together expertise in social sciences, humanities, and engineering, all working for a clear common goal: an equitable and efficient world of work through responsible research and innovation (RRI). People with disabilities will be actively engaged in NewWorkTech, adhering to the principle of 'nothing about us without us'. 

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The project is based on three parts:

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1. Current workplace use of technologies to complement human skills and abilities will be studied and mapped empirically to yield data and evidence of creative and smart use. This effort builds on the ethnographical, ethnomethodological and in-depth interaction research expertise (human-human and human-computer interaction) of project partners University of Copenhagen and Tampere University and aims to reveal essential characteristics of and gaps in the use of assistive and augmentative technologies (incl. “humans as technology”). A strong network of non-academic partners who work with disadvantaged groups to advance their path to employment will ensure access to the field, i.e., different workplace settings involving diverse workers across Europe. 

 

2. In parallel and fueled by the empirical studies, theoretical work will be carried out to develop and validate new theory on how people learn to use technology as well as on the implications of distributed cognition and agency. 

 

3. The outcomes of the empirical analyses and the theoretical work will be put into practice by establishing policy recommendations and ethical guidelines for the implementation and innovation of assistive technologies at the work- place, and by developing new solutions for the optimal utilisation of technical systems. The focus of the technological development will be on new genuinely relevant solutions that have the potential of maximising the benefit for the user; while there is no shortage on (new) technologies available designed to strengthen human skills and abilities, new insights are still necessary to ensure the smart use of technology by the workforce. For this reason, NewWorkTech invests greatly in empirically and theoretically grounded innovations of human–technology interaction – that is, innovative ways of using technologies and building new technological solutions.

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The project contains six Work Packages (WP):

• WP1: Technologically enhanced practices in office work (Data collection and analysis methodology)

• WP2: Technologically enhanced practices in manual work (Data collection and analysis methodology)

• WP3: Theoretical work: Mapping the field and conceptual innovation

• WP4: Applied work: Theory put to practice

• WP5: Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation

• WP6: Project Management 

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​The data collection and analysis methodology for NewWorkTech is grounded in ethnomethodological conversation analysis and video ethnography. This approach emphasizes the importance of studying social interaction in natural settings and focuses on the ways in which people make sense of the world around them through their everyday conversations. Ethnographic video recordings of naturally occurring social interactions between participants are the most important data collection method. The recordings are done at participants’ workplaces; participants will be selected together with interest organizations based on their willingness to be recorded and their relevance to the research questions

 

Participatory research approaches involve target groups as active participants and collaborators in the design and implementation of the research projects. Such approaches are particularly important in projects concerning vulnerable groups of people such as persons with various disabilities. In the past, the views of these people have been widely disregarded in matters directly involving them, and research has been conducted with top-down approaches, focusing on external interpretations of what is important for persons with disabilities. Criticism of such approaches has led to the widespread recognition of the importance of the “Nothing about us without us” principle. NewWorkTech is committed to applying participatory methods and involving research subjects as active collaborators (“experts by experience”) at several stages of the project.

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Meet the project partners here.