1. © European Communities, 2007 Contact: Corina Pascu Project Lead: Yves Punie Research Team: Kirsti Ala-Mutka, Marcelino Cabrera, Romina Cachia, Clara Centeno, Claudio Feijoo, Alexandra Hache, Stefano Kluzer, Sven Lindmark, Wainer Lusoli, David Osimo, Rukye Ozcivelek, Corina Pascu, Yves Punie, Christine Redecker, Martin Ulbrich, Jose Valverde European Commission Joint Research Centre, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies Email: corina.pascu@ec.europa.eu Emerging Social Computing Applications What is Social Computing? Social Computing applications (blogging, wiki, photo- and video-sharing, social networking, social tagging and social gaming) enable interaction and collaboration, provide wider access to services and enabling users to become co-creators (not just end-users). In less than five years, SC has grown to engage tens of millions of Internet users. Policy Implications  IPTS research (originally an exploratory research project) on Social Computing is now being compiled into a JRC Reference Report that will provide input to a wide spectrum of policy makers  Expect further impact in domains already studied (health, learning, government, innovation & entrepreneurship, inclusion & social cohesion) plus rapid introduction into e-democracy and e-participation, governance, and policy making processes.  SC provides a dynamic, rich information channel where information becomes less asymmetric through increased sources of content  Greater transparency, efficiency, user involvement, empowerment, real-time engagement will lead to fundamental changes in the nature of (EU) policymaking and implications for ALL policy areas (incl. social, environmental, monetary, etc)  Non Action is a rapidly reducing as a viable option  Immediate societal evaluation of healthcare services  Reinforces internal biomedical research processes  Enhances bi-direction doctor-patient communications  Virtual-bridge across social and cultural groups and traditional divides  Bottom-up advocacy and enhanced citizenship engagement  Impact on 3rd sector organizations and providing ways of engaging and delivering services to socially excluded  Users actively managing personal identity challenges traditional Identity Management Systems  New rules social interactions emerging  SC opens opportunities for monetisation of identity e.g. electronic marketplaces based on social identities.  Rise of informal & non-formal learning  New learning pathways and styles challenging traditional Education & Training  Contribute to growth in ICT sector  Disruptive impact on media and other industries  Use in enterprises to improve internal processes, innovation and customer relations  A driver for the modernisation of public services  Emergence of bottom-up & citizen-oriented governance mechanisms  Increased public opinion & responsiveness  Mobile SC empowers the users  Innovation in mobile Social Computing is rapid and is realising new services based on location and context  Mobile industries need to further encourage an open ecosystem Health Government Inclusion EU Industry Learning Identity Mobile Areas of impact of Social Computing Information Society Unit