The Joint Report on Social Inclusion, based on an analysis of the 2003/2005 National Action Plans on poverty and social exclusion, identified the impact of the rapid growth of the so called Knowledge Based Society (KBS) and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) as one of the important structural changes that is impacting on poverty and social exclusion, sometimes positively and sometimes negatively. Against this background, the study will identify the risks and opportunities these developments bring with respect to the European social model and outline key elements of a more strategic and integrated policy response, particularly in the context of developing National Action Plans to promote social inclusion. For this purpose, policy measures and programmes that are successful in helping to avoid the new risks of exclusion arising in this context will be identified and assessed. This will be augmented by a synthesis of the already extensive literature outlining the most pertinent risks and opportunities associated with the emergence of the KBS. In methodological regard, the study will rely upon desk research including a secondary analysis of survey data available from other research contexts and on field studies in selected countries.