Socio-Technical Analysis of the Benefits and Barriers to Using a Digital Representation of the Global Horse Population in Equine Veterinary Medicine.
Authors: Sterkenburgh Tomas Rudolf, Villalba-Diez Javier, Ordieres-Meré Joaquín
Journal: Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
Summary
# Editorial Summary Realising the potential of integrated equine health data requires far more than technological solutions—the social relationships between vets, owners, and other practitioners fundamentally shape whether digital systems succeed or fail. Sterkenburgh and colleagues employed socio-technical analysis to map barriers and enablers across both technical and organisational dimensions, examining how data from veterinary diagnostics and Internet of Medical Things devices could support a truly global, interconnected picture of equine health. Their framework reveals that data sharing effectiveness depends critically on trust, communication protocols, and alignment of incentives between actors, not merely on system capability. For equine professionals, this underscores why many promising digital health platforms struggle with adoption: a brilliantly designed app means little if vets and owners lack confidence in data security, perceive no direct benefit, or see conflicting interests in sharing information. The authors' socio-technical matrix provides practitioners and industry leaders with a structured tool to diagnose implementation challenges and identify realistic leverage points—whether that means addressing liability concerns, clarifying data ownership, or redesigning workflows to make contribution effortless rather than burdensome.
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Practical Takeaways
- •Digital health data systems for horses will only succeed if veterinarians and owners actively collaborate—technical infrastructure alone is insufficient; understand and address the social barriers in your practice networks.
- •Expect that implementing shared digital health records requires changes to how you communicate and share information with clients and colleagues; plan for organizational adjustment, not just technology adoption.
- •Position yourself to benefit from future interconnected health data by building trust-based relationships with clients and other practitioners, as these relationships will be essential for data sharing systems to function effectively.
Key Findings
- •A socio-technical matrix framework was developed to analyze barriers and enablers in digital health data sharing systems for equine populations.
- •Social relations between veterinarians and horse owners significantly impact the effectiveness of interconnected health data systems.
- •Both technical infrastructure and organizational/social factors must be addressed simultaneously for successful implementation of global equine health data platforms.
- •Internet of Medical Things and veterinary diagnostics data require harmonization and interoperability standards alongside stakeholder engagement strategies.