Technology, governance, and the escalation of Ebola: wicked problems in real time

Digital technologies have been perceived as a means of facilitating governance in addressing complex, dynamic policy problems. Yet, technology alone cannot resolve interdependencies among divergent organizations operating at different levels of authority, access to resources, and experience in heterogeneous contexts. We report preliminary findings from an ongoing study of the recent Ebola outbreak in West Africa that revealed breakdowns in governance due in part to limited use of digital technologies to support systematic monitoring of the spread of the disease, search for, and exchange of, valid information and knowledge essential to manage a rapidly evolving, complex threat. We apply a systems theory approach to this wicked problem as a framework for examining the interactions between key actors involved in the response to this epidemic. Preliminary findings are drawn from a content analysis of news articles posted on the United Nations Relief Web and include a chronological record of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa from March through December 2014. A planned network analysis will measure the centrality of actors, as well as the strength and direction of ties among the participating actors: local, provincial, national, regional, and international. We anticipate developing a model of sociotechnical design for addressing complex policy problems