Where is

zika?
Some ontological
transformativities of
algorithms of disease control

http://francislee.org
http://algorithmnetwork.org
The project
The rise of infodemiology:
An inquiry into algorithmic techniques and tools in disease surveillance

Drinking from a firehose and tasting the water

- Informant at the ECDC
 The not so
straightforward zika
The classification is based
classification algorithm
on dates. Basta!
 Review of ika virus (ZIKV) humans cases (vector
Is competent vector
transmitted) Area with no vector-borne
Yes present in the area1 ? No
, mosquitoes or animals viral detection and/or sero- transmission
(Ae. aegypti)
surveys

Evidence of Zika Laboratory criteria to ascertain the endemicty of Zika virus (ZIKV) in an area1 : Detection of the virus in humans, animals
No Yes
virus circulation ? or mosquitoes (Period:1950-2014), and/or serologic confirmation of ZIKV infection with tests conducted after 1980.

No known documented past Is an area endemic for ZIKV ?

or current ZIKV transmission Yes No

Category 4
Area with presence of competent vector but no
known documented past or current ZIKV Category 2 First case occurred
transmission2 Area with endemic transmission Yes after
January 2015 ?

Note:
What is time since
ZIKV confirmed case within No ZIKV confirmed case
(1) An area is defined by an area at countries/ the last reported
12 months3 within 12 months3
territories/subnational which depends on data confirmed case ?
availability and should be of a size that allows
meaningful characterization of the transmission
dynamic.
Category 3
(2): This category encompasses all areas where Countries where transmission has not been Area with interrupted transmission with
main competent vector ( i) is present interrupted and defined as confirmed year-
or expected to be present. This category includes potential for future transmission
round vector-borne transmission of ZIKV
a sub-group of countries/territories/subnational
areas where ZIKV transmission may occur as they
share a physical ground border with a
neighbouring endemic area, belong to the same
ecological zone and have evidence of year-round
dengue virus transmission.
Category 1
(3): Period might be reduced to 3 months in
What is the length
More than 2 years Less than two year Area with new introduction and re-introduction
settings with high capacity for diagnostic testing, of transmission ?
with ongoing transmission
timely reporting of diagnostic results, a
comprehensive arboviral surveillance system, and
a temperate climate/insular context.
Multiplicities of algorithms
As data, as computation, as in/scrutable
Trope 1: Moral Orders of Algorithms
Inscrutable learning machines and android
epistemologies
Katja DeVries & Solon Barocas
Algorithms go beyond human
understanding?
Android epistemologies?

Haraway
Companion species?

"admiral! we're entering the

gabber cluster! @npseaver

Dark Maria from Fritz Langs metropolis

Algorithms as achievement in practice
C. Goodwin / Journal of Pragmatics 32 (2000) 1489-1522 1507

13 Jeff: I'll take it. ((takes trowel))

14 (2.0)
15 Pam: Down.
16 (1.2)
17 Pam: En this one. ((Points))~
18 (0.4) ((Moves Trowel))
19 Jeff: nuhhh?
20 (1.8)
21 Pam: Or tSat one? (whoops) ((Points))
22 (0.8)
23 Pare: Fou:r.
24 (0.8)
25 Pam: Is it that?
26 Na:That's- not-
27 TWhat was the browness of that?
28 Jeff: mml~h,

This sense of basic, recognizable interactive organization running smack into an

Excerpt from Goodwin, 1998
opaque wall, a domain of phenomena which seems absolutely crucial to what the
participants are doing, but which I don't understand simply by speaking the same
language or living in the same country, is what has struck me almost every time I've How to think about an algorithm?
done fieldwork in a new professional or scientific workplace. These difficulties, the
gnawing sense of not being able to adequately understand what's happening, arise Notes from a not quite random walk, Malte Ziewitz, 2011
not from a general unfamiliarity with the community or setting. Instead, my inabil-
Ontological transformativity of algorithms

Ontological transformativity of the values of the variables are usually steps

ahead of the consciousness of the
algorithms programmers (and certainly of users)and
thus constitute a kind of prosthetic
Attend to how ontologies are unconsciousness with incredibly rich and wily
both embodied in and temporal dynamics.
transformed by such
(Paul Kockelman)
algorithms.
 Where is Zika?
How is a global pandemic made algorithmically?

The rise of algorithmic disease surveillance

The classification of countries and regions with an algorithm
Folding observations, models, simulations
 What is a white
spot on the map? Making absent absences
There are no tourists in Tchad. So there is no data.
 When does a
zika case count? Quantwashing judgment
Which countries have Good or Bad CDCs?

5. Period may be reduced to 3 months in

settings with high capacity for
diagnostic testing, timely reporting of
diagnostic results, a comprehensive
arbovirus surveillance system,
Brazil has a very good CDC.
 The not so
straightforward zika
classification algorithm
Subsuming
Hacking; Fujimura &
Chou
styles of reasoning
4. This category is comprised of areas where the main
competent vector (Aedes aegypti) is present or expected to be
present. It includes a sub-group of countries, territories and
subnational areas where Zika virus transmission may occur on
the basis of a shared physical ground border with a
neighbouring endemic area, a shared ecological zone and
evidence of year-round dengue virus transmission.
Where is aedes aegypti?
Climate zone classification
Where is Dengue?
 The not so
straightforward zika
classification algorithm
Configurations of agency
India, pakistan, and the expert layer
Learning from the Zika map
 Absent absences
There is no data from Chad
The Zika algorithm makes absences absent

Ontological
Quantwashing judgment
transformativities Brazil has a very good CDC
The qualitative judgment of specialists is made
invisible

Subsuming styles of reasoning

The map is based on cases. Basta
The algorithm folds different styles of reasoning

Configuring agency and expertise

What is a good division of labor?
Accountability relations. Who to trust?
 The normativities of pandemic surveillance
exaggerate the simplicity and predictability of
Thanks! global disease flows
Questions?
This promise of algorithmic predictability stands
http://francislee.org in stark contrast with the complexities and
http://algorithmnetwork.org tinkering that it takes to make algorithmic
systems work.

This raises questions about what dominant

normativities become embedded in algorithmic
systems.

And what a good algorithm is

http://francislee.org
http://algorithmnetwork.org

Thanks!
Questions?
 Homogenization: what you see isnt what you
Enacting a get
pandemic
Folding: Complex folds of different styles of
reasoning: simulations, case reports, and
judgments
http://francislee.org
 Is the area Was a vector- Was a vector-
Area1 to endemic for ZIKV? borne case Is Aedes aegypti Area with no vector-borne
No borne case No
No confirmed3 before No established in the
classify Expert review confirmed3 after
area? transmission
criteria2 January 2015? January 2015?

Notes:
1. An area is defined at the country, territory or
subnational level for a geographical unit of a size Category 4
that allows for meaningful characterization of the Area with presence of competent
transmission dynamic. Yes Yes vector but no known documented
past or current vector-borne
2. The classification is based on expert review of
transmission4
vector-transmitted human Zika virus cases, viral
detection in mosquitos or animals, and/or sero-
surveys occurring before 2015 (see main
document for detailed laboratory criteria).
Was a vector- Category 3
3. A vector-borne case confirmed refers to borne case Area with interrupted vector-borne
either a new introduction of Zika virus (first case) confirmed in the No
transmission with potential for
or a re-introduction of Zika virus where past 12 months5?
future transmission6
transmission has previously been interrupted.
4. This category is comprised of areas where the
main competent vector (Aedes aegypti) is present
or expected to be present. It includes a sub-group
of countries, territories and subnational areas
where Zika virus transmission may occur on the Yes
basis of a shared physical ground border with a
neighbouring endemic area, a shared ecological
zone and evidence of year-round dengue virus
transmission.
5. Period may be reduced to 3 months in settings
with high capacity for diagnostic testing, timely Has it been more Category 1
reporting of diagnostic results, a comprehensive than 2 years since Area with new introduction or re-
No
arbovirus surveillance system, and a temperate
the first reported introduction with ongoing vector-
confirmed case7?
climate/insular setting. borne transmission
6. Settings for possible interruption could include
geographically isolated areas, such as islands with
small populations, and/or areas of temperate
climate and/or discrete areas with successful
ongoing surveillance and control activities. Category 2
Yes
7. This question assesses the length of the Area with endemic transmission
transmission period between the first and last
reported case as a proxy of outbreak length.
Perspectives on algorithms
Making a map of salmonella
A new class of outbreak is born
The trouble with
genetic likeness
But, what does it mean?
Negotiating an outbreak

counting [] simultaneously
establishes what is in the world as
well as how much there is of it.
Martin & Lynch, 2009
Algorithms
From generality to specificity?

The smart fridge, AD 2016

Trope 2: Lives around Algorithms
Ecologies, social worlds & torque

A south african passboook. From Roscoes A moral economy of transplantation

Drawing on Bowker & Star
Folding of judgment and expertise

From Latours The Pdofil of Boa Vista Predpol: Predictive policing map
Some analytical tropes

Under the hood

Hoods? As achievement?
Lives around hoods
Opening the hood
The ever closed hood

francislee.org
Going back and forwards:
Big Data in anthropology
Hoodedness: Some tropes to
think with
Under the hood
What hood?
Opening the hood
Lives around the hood
The ever closed hood

Some instructions
Dont participate in the echo chamber of hype & tropes
Be specific about your trope (remember the engine!)
Practice mindful hoodedness, be aware of your trope
Be explicit about your trope
Be agile, dont lock yourself in to one trope
Look for other unexpected tropes

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