C o n t e n t s
Introduction
The challenge of social cohesion is part of the wider presence of information and communication technologies which has become so substantial in the information society, that it is beginning to underpin all human activities and human relations. Social and economic forms of working and living including social concepts of service, identity, and society are being redefined and represented in the image of the technological paradigm. Technological innovations offer a great potential for a new social and economic renaissance, but are also threatening exclusion of people and their aspirations from shaping the information society. New technologies provide opportunities for the creation of new forms of employment, human services and living conditions, but at the same time there are dangers of decontextualising identity and thought, and closing down of human capacities of social innovation and sustainability. Information and communication technologies are being employed to transfer and control the flow of information, knowledge, money, goods, and services across national boundaries. A great gap is already emerging between this global image of information society and the human centred vision of developing socially useful technologies which deal with wider societal issues of employment, welfare, education, health, education, literacy, hunger, and poverty.
The proposal for the pilot study on knowledge networking and social cohesion arose from the recent international conference on 'New Visions of the Post-Industrial Society', which was organised by the SEAKE Centre, University of Brighton in July, 1994. The theme of the conference was concerned with the above conflicts and dilemmas, and exploration of the ways in which we may shape technologies and systems which respond to social and economic needs, aspirations and interests of peoples and societies. One of the major reflections of the conference was that there is an urgent need to build new alliances between universities and civic communities, which serve aspirations, needs and interests of people and communities, including those who are either already excluded or may be further excluded from the mainstream of social and economic activities of society.
A major technological challenge of social cohesion facing the EU is how to use ICTs and media technologies for enabling citizens to participate in the shaping the processes of social and economic innovations. This means involvement in generating, maintaining and regenerating social knowledge bases for a sustainable information society. This challenge of social cohesion requires a fundamental shift from a focus of techno-centred vision of information society to the human centred vision, a shift from seeing cohesion in terms of technology shaping of society to envisioning social cohesion in terms of social shaping of technology. This vision emphasises the continuity of technological and social innovations building upon the dynamic interdependence between technology and the knowledge base of society. It sees knowledge as more than a matter of technical innovation, neutral, objectified and separated from the social and cultural contexts. Rather it sees knowledge as the core resource for social cohesion, a tool for personal, and social and economic development. This view of social innovation shifts the central problematics of information society from technology transfer to knowledge transfer, and from designing technical interfaces to shaping socio-communication interfaces between society and technology.
The study on Knowledge Networking and Social cohesion in the Information Society is concerned with the potential and limitations of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for building and enhancing the social and cultural interfaces between citizens, social systems, and knowledge resources of society. The aim of the interface is to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and models of experiences at local and global levels, and thereby support and maintain the process of social sustainability of social cohesion
This report reflects on some of the above dilemma and paradoxes of information society, and proposes a human centred framework for knowledge networking and social cohesion. The discussion builds on the EU concepts of 'valorisation' of diversity, subsidiarity, cohesion, and draws upon current European research on Human Centred Systems, European Information Society, Learning Society, Telematics and Social and Economic Cohesion.