ANT Perspective of Healthcare Big Data for Service Delivery in South Africa

2. Actor-Network Theory

Actor-network theory (ANT) focuses on how human and nonhuman actors form stable, heterogeneous networks of aligned interests through processes of translations and negotiations (Callon, 1986; Law, 1992). According to Latour (2005), ANT is holistic in its incorporation of humans and non-human into actor-network. This means that human and nonhuman actors have relationship, which ultimately shapes each other (Law, 1992). Despite possible human actors’ different understandings and intentions, they are able to associate and influence each other (Latour, 2005). In ANT, translations are the interactions that happen between actors and their many manifestations (Callon, 1986). Translations entails four moments: problematization, interessement, enrolment and mobilisation (Callon, 1986). Accessing, use and management of healthcare big data involve processes of interaction and negotiations between: humans, human and nonhuman, and nonhumans.