Paper short abstract:

Based on a multi-year study of a ‘smart’ health technology undergoing commercialization, in this paper we approach assetization as a way of grappling with the ontological multiplicity of digital health data, and reflect on the value of assetization as a contested but essential design activity.

Paper long abstract:

Assets are increasingly appreciated as defining forms of contemporary digital economies. The assetization of digital health data in particular relies on complex technoscientific arrangements and diverse values and valuation processes. Recent contributions in Science and Technology Studies and other allied fields have emphasized the role that expectations play in prioritizing some values over others. Less apparent, however, is how the generation of digital data, and the values conflicts they implicate, are resolved through technology design and development practices in the context of commercialization activities. Drawing on findings from a multi-year study of a hospital-developed artificial intelligence-enabled ‘smart’ health technology undergoing commercialization through a start-up, in this paper we approach assetization as a way of grappling with the ontological multiplicity of digital health data. We describe values present in technology design, development, and use, and the techniques, infrastructures, and other objects implicated in the enclosure of different forms of assetizable value. We briefly reflect on the value of assetization itself as a contested but essential design and marketing activity, and conclude with implications for academic digital health commercialization efforts, asking what kinds of health systems they rely on to succeed. In doing so, we contribute to discussions regarding the role of digital technologies themselves in digital health economies, and relatedly, how different value forms are transformed into accountable relations.