Social computing - Implications for the EU innovation landscape

The paper focuses on several emerging social computing applications showing trends of evolution that promise to swift the development pattern of existing social and economic relations and that will have implications for the EU innovation landscape. The rapid growth of social computing applications, both in terms of number of users/subscribers and in terms of usage patterns leads to the fact that the phenomenon is also increasingly being considered by policymakers, both as tool and object for policymaking. The paper starts by analyzing the usage growth of these trends. The size and scope of the evidence analyzed enables us to draw a solid overall picture of the development of social computing, its drivers and main impacts. The paper then identifies their key distinguishing features and further assesses their social and economic relevance. The social relevance of these trends appears clear. They affect the way people find information, learn, share, communicate and consume and the way businesses do business. In economic terms, these trends are already having a visible impact: new players and markets provide significant threats and opportunities for the ICT and media industries, and the new applications are increasingly used for professional purposes. This process also changes the structural composition of (primarily) ICT and media industries, influencing directly their competitiveness. Building on this analysis, it puts forward interpretations on the sustainability of these trends and on the main implications for innovation and competitiveness. A general issue for the paper is represented by the lessons to be learned in terms of policy-related consequences for Europe. New approaches are required as to capture this new innovation dynamics and translate it into a holistic approach to policy-making (in terms of R&D, deployment policies, business, education, regulation).

PASCU Corina;  OSIMO David;  TURLEA Geomina;  ULBRICH Martin;  PUNIE Yves;  BURGELMAN Jean-Claude; 

2009-03-23

ENCIP

JRC37026

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC37026,