What is your professional background and primary research domain?

I have a bachelor's and master's degree in Anthropology from Aarhus University, and an industrial PhD in Digital Design and Information Science, conducted in collaboration with Save the Children, Denmark. My primary research area revolves around the influence of digital technologies on prevention and understanding among vulnerable and marginalized groups in society. I am generally inspired by a techno-feminist approach to exploring how both politics and technology contribute to shaping frameworks that situate the understanding of issues and solutions for both professionals and vulnerable groups - and, notably, the tensions that may arise between them.

What is your ongoing project in SHAPE about?

In my current work, I investigate social worker’s datafication of children and young adults in vulnerable or disadvantaged life situations. Social workers are increasingly expected to document and collect data about citizens, yet there is limited research examining their practical handling of citizen data. My research highlights how social workers' data work is mediated by various factors, including legislation such as mandatory reports, evaluations, and processing deadlines; technological system requirements such as specific formats, templates, and editing restrictions in their registration systems; or a professional goal to produce an accurate representation of the individual's life, incorporating both the citizen's perspectives and professional risk evaluations simultaneously. To carry out this data work, social workers must rely on in-situ mediation of their technological competencies and opportunities, as well as their social knowledge of best practice procedures to ensure fair and careful treatment of citizens and their data.

The purpose of the project is to visualize how both technological and social/professional factors are co-creators of the data that will constitute a digital double of the citizen's life. Citizens' digital doubles potentially have a significant impact on their current and future access to social services. By elucidating the practices through which their data is created and negotiated, we can develop an understanding of data that transcends being merely a reflection of the citizen. Data should be viewed as a process, whose implications must be considered in interpreting and using this information.

What future projects do you have in the pipeline?   

I am currently very interested in exploring how anthropological and ethnographic perspectives on co-creating knowledge with those we study can bring new insights into the interaction between social workers, citizens, and data. Research interventions in political, sensitive, and technological contexts—such as the data processing of citizens in vulnerable life situations—encounter inherent limitations if we persist in the trope that researchers are solely those who should learn and investigate. For instance, how can we expect to learn from citizens about the role their digital doubles play in their lives when they have no opportunity to observe and understand the processes it generates and handles? Similarly, how should we inquire about social workers' data work to comprehend the invisible and complex tasks they perform under pressure from various technological factors and social ideals? In a future project, I hope to establish a research design focused on an experimental collaboration involving social workers, citizens, and researchers, where data becomes a subject of collaborative understanding in novel and unforeseen ways. While we have made significant progress in discussing the social role of data and technology on a theoretical level, if we aim to investigate their agency in practice, this knowledge should also be reflected methodologically. I hope you will see how precisely this is achieved in the future, just as I aspire to contribute to an enhanced understanding and representation of the impact of social data work on citizens in vulnerable life situations over time.