Information and Communication Technologies in Society: E‐living in a Digital Europe

Citation

JakeWallis (2008), "Information and Communication Technologies in Society: E‐living in a Digital Europe", Library Review, Vol. 57 No. 1, pp. 75-76. https://doi.org/10.1108/00242530810845099

So much of the comment and research on the impact of ICT on society has been speculative, lurching from utopian to dystopian visions. The generalizations have been sweeping and the predictions grand. Whilst the daily interaction that many of us have with communications technologies provides a substantial, yet anecdotal, gauge of the level of change that we face in terms of how we work, maintain relationships and relate to the world, how can such social change be quantified, impacts assessed, policies judged?

Here is a text which deals with hard data and plenty of it. Each area of coverage is substantiated with a dataset, discussion of the methodological approach for its analysis and has appropriately constrained, balanced conclusions. The focus is on quantifying the impact of ICT on European lifestyles and business practices. It is the down‐to‐earth nature of these studies that enhance their relevance in furthering our understanding of ICT as it affects our lives at home and at work.

Each chapter presents the findings of individual studies, which explore significant aspects of e‐living in Europe, and each is of consequence in envisioning empowering policies and practices concerning the relationship between ICT and civil society. To this end, various dimensions of this relationship are explored – how vulnerable segments of society (children, the elderly) relate to technology, online spaces and relationships; gender, technology and skills; high‐skilled migration; social capital, inclusion and quality of life; teleworking and sustainable business practices, computer re‐use, waste and recycling.

This text is a valuable contribution to the literature on the Information Society, all the more so for its measured aims and responses. Rather than euphoric futurism, ICTs in Society provides quantified data and analysis on the specifics of the Information Society as it affects the lives of European citizens. In particular, the chapters exploring conceptualisations of the digital divide, social capital and quality of life delineate what the information society means for people living in Europe at this point in time; in short, how real lives adapt to the embedding of communications technologies in their social and economic activities. It is the focus on “hard” data and the “now” that is important here. ICTs in Society provides a considered assessment of the impact of technological change in a particular setting, on specific aspects of people's lives, at a particular point in time along the spectrum of an evolving transformation across Europe.