SOCIO-ECONOMIC SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES Future Technology and Society Workshop Brussels 19 November 2010 19/11/2010 DG RTD SSH - L.1 Dimitri Corpakis, Head of Unit DG Research Directorate L Science, Economy and Society Unit L.1 Horizontal aspects and coordination
A word on Research on Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities (SSH) Generating an in-depth, shared understanding of complex socioeconomic challenges Europe is confronted with e.g. in areas of growth, globalisation, innovation, regional and social cohesion, sustainability and environmental challenges, demographic change, migration and integration, quality of life, cultural issues, democracy and human rights Building relevant infrastructures (data bases, indicators and modelling frameworks) and supporting forward-looking activities Establishing social platforms to build research agendas about societal issues with the scientists and stakeholders such as civil society organisations and policy makers In particular with a view of providing an improved knowledge base for policies and «evidence basis» 19/11/2010 DG RTD SSH - L.1 2
Focusing on the 2013 envisaged Large scale integrated research project (Challenge)( Challenge): Europe facing an Information and Communication Technology revolution and a new generation of information systems Unprecedented breakthroughs in information and communication technologies Technology revolutionizes communication; new devices introduce new ways to interact with information and data and establish new relations between people, organisations and society. Social computing has profound implications on the social web: social networking, blogs, collaborative knowledge websites (Wikis), create a new kind of social relationships, but also probably new perceptions of trust, friendship and loneliness Business processes are hugely redefined through ICT: new workflows, higher management flexibility, new concepts for team working (front office/back office, support services, etc.) Yet the perception is that Europe has not fully mastered the information revolution and lacks consistently behind the US and Asia in fully harnessing its potential. Europe needs to accelerate its development in ICT, to stay globally competitive and make the most of its capacity in business and science in particular Need to focus on raising our understanding on the greater impact of ICT on the social web, stimulating innovation, creativity and social inclusion 19/11/2010 DG RTD SSH - L.1 3
Background (recent studies and research references) Several projects funded in SSH on Service Sector Innovation, intangibles and the knowledge-based economy (e.g. SERVICEGAP, GLOBINN, SCIFI-GLOW, INNODRIVE, INGENIUS, COINVEST, VICO, SELUSI, SERVPPIN) Study on the Social Impact of ICT (CPP N 55A SMART N 2007/0068) by DG INFSO (by: Universität Siegen, Fachbereich Wirtschaftsinformatik und Neue Medien, Germany, jointly with: Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary, empirica Gesellschaft für Kommunikations- und Technologieforschung mbh, Germany Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, U.K. University of Twente, Netherlands, Work Research Centre (WRC), Ireland An Empirical Analysis of the Creation, Use and Adoption of Social Computing Applications, (IPTS Exploratory Research on the, Socio-economic Impact of Social Computing, Corina Pascu (IPTS IS Unit Project; Exploratory Research on the Socio- Economic Impact of Social Computing (ERoSC)Joint Research Centre, European Commission, EUR 23415 EN 2008) 19/11/2010 DG RTD SSH - L.1 4
Some personal remarks Crowding-out effect between DGs Research and Information Society on similar studies and research projects (RTD does not often engage in areas that are supposed to be covered primarily by INFSO); Need for more and more coordinated joint initiatives on research on social impact of IT (beyond hard technological developments) 19/11/2010 DG RTD SSH - L.1 5