The objective of the study is to explore, document and analyse how ICT impacts on the daily lives of citizens of Europe, and on society at large. The analysis should have a time dimension, distinguishing (and/or anticipating) short term impacts from medium to long-term ones. The study should review the individual level effects, on how ICT empowers or exposes users to new opportunities, risks and threats in different areas and more generally impacts on their quality of life.
Core component of the study is a conceptual framework which will synthesize the status quo in theoretical research on the social impact of ICTs. Based on the conceptual framework, the analysis of available insight and empirical evidence on the social impact of ICTs will be carried out along seven domains:
[A] Participation in Policy-Making, [B] Education and Lifelong Learning, [C] Work, [D] Consumption (incl. media and entertainment), [E] Health, [F] Community and family, and [G] Creation and distributed innovation. In addition, an extra horizontal domain will be applied which focuses on an analysis of European developments as compared to international/worldwide trends.