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We welcome you on this site and would like to invite and encourage you to explore what is called
"The socio-economic dimension of the IST programme"
| This site offers a comprehensive view on the socio-economic dimension of the IST programme, through a collection of information and links on socio-economic aspects and activities within the IST programme and related actions. It provides information on past, on-going and future activities in this field and explains how to participate. And, it aims at answering the question: "What is the socio-economic dimension of the IST programme and what is it needed for?"
The site is provided by Unit F4 "International Aspects of the programme; Innovation and SMEs", of the Information Society Directorate-General, as part of its responsibility for the cross-programme co-ordination of aspects concerning socio-economic research in the IST programme, with the support of the contact persons for the single programme areas as listed in the contacts section. |
Investment in RTD alone is not enough to ensure that Europe reaps the benefits of the Information Society. New IST services are expensive to develop and deploy and can have long lead times. Hence, the risks of being overtaken by rapid and unforeseen changes in market conditions are high. In addition to research and practical experimentation, therefore, focused socio-economic research is needed to ensure that research priorities match the future needs and expectations of businesses, citizens and policy-makers. The IST Programme supports analysis of the socio-economic context of information and communications technologies (ICTs) to develop a better understanding of the challenges, impacts and opportunities of the evolving Information Society. The work focuses on the deployment and use of new IST solutions in everyday life, at work or in business, and includes study of the interplay between a broad range of social, economic, environmental, cultural and policy issues. Research is addressed both at Programme level, through a Cross Programme Action (CPA), and at Key Action level, through more specific activities undertaken within particular action lines. The CPA focuses specifically on the macro-economic dimension of the Information Society and on challenges relating to usability and the broad adoption of IST solutions. In the light of increasing evidence of division between the "IST-haves" and "IST-have nots", exploration of issues relating to the Digital Divide is a key priority. Scenarios and policy requirements and their potential implications are identified for aspects such as job creation, equal opportunities and social inclusion. Findings are fed back as inputs for future EU policies and for the IST Programme itself. Future work will involve particular support for the eEurope initiative. Understanding users requirements in the context of a global market is another key theme. The rapid evolution and deployment of computing and communications technologies has led to decreasing product lifecycles, shortened time-to-market and increased integration and economies of scale in all areas of business. To succeed in this global market, European companies have to develop and deploy usable and effective IST solutions. This requires a detailed understanding of user needs and, increasingly, interactions between users and developers throughout the entire solution lifecycle.
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