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What role could and should science and technology research play in the struggle against increasing social exclusion of large number of people in societies? Questions such as these are now increasingly being asked by researchers and practitioners who are concerned with broader societal issues of employment, education,health, welfare, shelter, poverty and social and the general economic well-being of people.
These question are very much part of the human centred debates whose origins lie in the British LUCAS Plan of the 1970s which created a framework for socially useful science and technology, and have become a focus of the research into anthropocentric systems, Cohesion and Globalisation undertaken by the FAST Programme of the EC.
Recently one of the research areas identified in the working document on the Fourth Framework of the European Communities (199-1998) which is of keen interest to AI & Society is: "Science and Technology for the Struggle Against Social Exclusion". The document argues for the development of multidisciplinary research activities, drawing upon the human, social and economic sciences on the one hand and technology on the other, and emphasises the effort to reduce the phenomenon of social exclusion afflicting significant sectors of society.
The aims are to break down the barriers and to harmonise opportunities: firstly through the provision of information to people which concerns them as citizens; secondly through the development of mechanisms and instruments for European citizenship; thirdly through the improvement of public services in areas such as housing, health, education, training, job opportunities and leisure services; and fourthly through rehabilitation and integration of areas of social exclusion arising from poverty, disability, age, illness and differences of race, language and culture.
The inclusion of these areas into main stream research activities of the EC shows a growing awareness of the social responsibilities of scientists and technologists in the development of socially and culturally responsive technologies which enrich and enhance the life chances and opportunities of all people, rather than the traditional techno-centric research which either subjugates the human to the machine, or widens the gaps between haves and havenots.
The EC initiative in the area of social exclusion is a welcome sign of the international commitment to these broder societal issues and concerns.
AI & Society is committed to provide a forum for research and debate in the area of technology and social exclusion, and would welcome contributions from researchers and practitioners in all areas of human centred research, not just technology.
Reference: Working Document of the Commission Concerning The Fourth Framework of Community Activities in the Field of Research and Technological Development (1994-1998), COM(92) 406 final, Office for Official Publication of The European Communities, L-2985 Luxembourg
Karamjit S Gill
Editor