Steffen Hornemann
PhD candidate, University of Oslo
Steffen is a social anthropologist and Doctoral Research Fellow in Information Systems at the University of Oslo. His research explores the interplay between digitalization, work, expertise, and organizational practice, with a particular interest in the infrastructures through which information is produced, captured, and managed. His PhD project examines the role of records management in the digital transformation of the Norwegian public sector. Drawing on ethnographic and qualitative approaches, he studies how the design and use of documentation infrastructures affect expertise, occupational boundaries, and the role of records managers in organizations. His broader research interests include digitalization and bureaucracy, changing forms of expertise and work, information infrastructures, datafication and automation, and the material and embodied dimensions of digitally mediated work. Steffen has a background in social anthropology and UX research and previously conducted research on algorithmic management and food-delivery platform work.
Tell us about your project!
The project examines the mutual shaping of digital transformation and records management in the public sector, with particular attention to how these changes affect the records management occupation. As organizational work becomes increasingly digital and distributed across systems and workflows, records professionals are moving from primarily managing records after they are created toward more proactive involvement in the processes and infrastructures through which documentation is produced and captured. The project studies how this shift changes professional expertise, occupational boundaries, and the role of records management within organizations. Drawing on ethnographic and qualitative methods, the research explores how records professionals navigate these changes in everyday practice, including how they negotiate responsibilities, adapt to new technologies, and participate in the design of workflows and information infrastructures. More broadly, the project approaches digital transformation as a process of occupational and organizational change, rather than simply technological adoption.
“The project approaches digital transformation as a process of occupational and organizational change, rather than simply technological adoption.”
— Steffen Hornemann on his research project “The Digital Plumbing Company: The Role of Records Management in the Digital Transformation of the Norwegian Public Sector"
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