Paper short abstract:

Global health initiatives emphasize digital transformation in Global South, often portraying local contexts as flawed. However, what could happen if we follow global infrastructures in their flaws? Drawing on two Global Health projects, we explore shifting perspectives on local-global relations.

Paper long abstract:

Global health projects have long emphasized the digital transformation of Global South countries to align their contexts with global infrastructures. Much of this emphasis is done by pointing at these contexts as flawed: interoperability, standards and classifications, and human capacity as well are seen as insufficient, too local, and disorganized. Consequently, international funding is directed towards enhancing capacity and infrastructure in these regions to facilitate smoother data exchange, with digital transformation promising seamless transitions across different scales. What happens if we conduct an inversion of this narrative? Could we follow global infrastructures in their flaws when meeting “the local”?

Based on a robust tradition of reflections in Science and Technology Studies, Critical Global Health, and Critical Data Studies about context (De Laet M., 2000; Tsing, A., 2005; Adams, 2016; Biehl 2016; Montgomery, C. M., Kingori, P., Sariola, S., & Engel, N, 2017; Lee, F 2021; 2023; Hepp, A; Jarke J; Kramp L 2022), we propose a symmetrical understanding of local-global relations in Global Health projects and enterprises. For this, we offer some examples in which we can see the operation of this kind of understanding, drawing from our involvement with two global projects on emergency preparedness, targeting the production of technologies for the analysis and control of infectious diseases.