As part of a recent re-organisation IPTS has created a unit dedicated to the analysis of Information and Communication Technologies. Within its institutional budget of FP5 (Euro 4 million), this unit is examining four main areas: knowledge tools, electronic business, sustainability and the domestification (domestication/demystification) of ICTs. 

Role in the network                                                                   Top

The Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) will co-ordinate WP2, "Ubiquitous Computing." The work will provide a supply-side orientation to complement and feed into the sociological work of the other teams. Also, IPTS will use its position as an institute of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre to enhance the policy relevance of the network's activities and outputs.

Recent and relevant research                                                  Top

The Futures Project - ICT & IS Panel: which was one of five expert panels within the IPTS' on-going prospective exercise into European policy on employment, technology and competitiveness to 2010.

Secretariat to the (DGV) High Level Expert Group on the Information Society 

Non-knowledge employment in the Information Society: work carried out for the Forward Studies Unit.

ASIS: Alliance for a Sustainable Information Society - An ACTS shared cost project jointly undertaken with partners including the IAW (Artificial Intelligence Institute) University of Ulm

Electronic Payment Systems for European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy. 

Electronic Commerce and its Regulatory Impacts for DGs III, XIII and XV

'Benchmarking Innovation Practices' an EU wide collaborative benchmarking of ICT adoption and associated new organisational practices in banking/financial services, mechanical engineering and textiles for DGIII and Member States. 

Structure and infrastructure                                                    Top

The network will be integrated within the IPTS’ FP5 work on Building the Information Society. This is a new project bringing together previously separate streams of analysis of ICTs in society and the economy, for example through research into: 
a) Bottlenecks to Information Society Technologies focusing on the locus of innovation, investment incentives, market structure, policy and regulation, converging services, technologies and media and ubiquitous computing. 
b) The Future of the Internet dealing with questions on which standard the future network will be based, the role of user-driven innovations the possibility of  language differentiated networks, conducive for regional innovation, adaptation and preservation of cultural heritage.
c) Information Society and Sustainability the Information Society 
d) Electronic-business: (a) business transactions, (b) implications for taxation, banking, and monetary policies (c) social inclusion. 

The 'Domestification of ICTs' is a new orientation that stems from the results of the IPTS Futures Project. The Information Society Expert Panel that met as part of the Futures Project identified the issues of 'ubiquitous computing' among the top technology "drivers." Membership of the panel included senior research managers from the leading technology companies British Telecom, Nokia, TeleDenmark, and the E-Centre UK, as well as Universities, The European Parliament and the Spanish Office of Science and Technology. 

Principal Researchers                                                                Top

1. Dr. Ken Ducatel 
2. Dr. Bernard Clements