empirica - Current News

empirica hosts workshop on Company Initiatives for Working Family Carers

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Within the context of a study on “Company initiatives for workers with care responsibilities for disabled children or adults”, which was commissioned by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Dublin, an expert workshop will take place on 4-5 March, 2010 on the premises of empirica (Oxfordstr. 2, 53111 Bonn, Germany).

The workshop, which is invitation-only, will be organised by empirica and the Work Research Centre (WRC), which jointly carry out the 9-months study. If you are interested in receiving more information, please get in touch with us: workandc...@...irica.com

Agenda and background information: workshop_agenda_info.pdf.

empirica joins in new European effort to promote personal health systems interoperability

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The European Commission (EC) has selected empirica Communication & Technology Research along with the industry’s global Continua Health Alliance, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) -Europe, and The Centre in Brussels for supporting its Smart Personal Health systems initiative. Out of seven submissions, this was the winning consortium on the EC’s call for proposals to promote interoperability of personal health devices. Support is received from the European Commission’s 7th Framework Programme for R&D.

The first workshop is slated to be held at the High Level eHealth Conference and World of Health IT in March 2010 in Barcelona, Spain. "In order to let Europe reap the full benefit of personal health systems, healthcare stakeholders must understand and support the range of challenges in facilitating the interoperability of personal health systems, across technical to semantic, organisational and legal aspects," said Mario Romao, co-chair of Continua’s European eHealth Policy working group. "This initiative - Smart Personal Health - is an activity co-financed by the European Commission that will deliver a series of key awareness raising activities throughout Europe".

Specifically promoting interoperability in as well as between personal health and other eHealth systems, Smart Personal Health will hold workshops with varying stakeholder foci in Barcelona, Belfast, and Berlin, and conclude with a pan-European interoperability conference during the Continua Winter Summit 2010. A final report on key interoperability challenges for personal health systems and recommendations for respective policy actions will merge results from the many stakeholder dialogues, integrated with research outcomes from empirica’s experts. As Dr. Veli Stroetmann, lead author of the EC’s study SemanticHEALTH Roadmap observed: “This work will be a great opportunity to bring to bear our vast experience in the interoperability field to advance priority European Union policy issues.”

The report's policy recommendations will target the European Commission, European national and regional authorities, stakeholder groups as well as industry.

Study "e-Skills for the 21st Century" has been commissioned to empirica

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The study will perform an evaluation of the implementation of the Communication on “e-Skills for the 21st Century”. The main objectives of the service contract are specified as: evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of the implementation of the Communication and the relevance of the EU e-skills agenda, evaluating the results produced so far which will include policies, initiatives and further activities of Member States, other stakeholders (e.g. Industry and especially IT industry, IT associations, employer associations, trade unions, industry associations) and the European Commission ranging from policies and initiatives started and implemented to projects and further activities of different type, evaluating how efficiently the activities have been implemented in terms of organisation, management and interactions with stakeholders, formulating recommendations on how the implementation of a long term e-skills agenda may be improved and/or suggest alternative actions or instruments. The study will cover and address national and European policies, strategies and multi-stakeholder partnerships and further activities on e-skills and digital literacy on the above issues embracing the complete set of e-skills and media competences required in a knowledge-based economy and society. It will include initiatives with respect to formal and industry-based education and deal with the entire spectrum of e-skills which include “ICT user skills” (digital literacy of citizens) and ”ICT practitioner skills”. empirica will be supported by National Correspondents in all 27 EU Member States from the ENIR network.

ValuePlus project presents key results at Swedish presidency conference

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 02:48:38 GMT

Bonn/Stockholm, December 11th 2009
Under the patronage of the Swedish presidency, the ValuePlus project has presented key outcomes of its research on patient invovlement in EC-funded research projects. Through in-depth case studies and the organisation of focus groups with patients, the project has achieved for the first time, a comprehensive overview and analysis of current practice and trends regarding patient involvement in EU health research projects. At the conference, the handbook for project leaders and promoters was presented. Based on the experience from the project research and the focus groups, the handbook contains advice on how to identify and interact with patients, patient organisations and their representatives in EC-funded projects. As the study leader on the project case-studies and contributing editor of the handbook, empirica is proud to have contributed to this important project result. Further results from the project - which will be made available soon - include a set of policy recommendations for policy makers and a resource kit for patients organisations. ValuePlus will thus raise awareness for the added-value of involving patients’ organisations in projects, and help to increase the capacity of patients’ organisations of getting involved in projects as equal partners.

To see videocasts from the Stockholm conference, please consult http://www.eu-patient.eu/conference2009/
To learn more about the ValuePlus project and the involved organisations, please consult http://www.eu-patient.eu/projects/valueplus/index.php

New emprica study now available on the European Commission's web site

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 02:54:07 GMT

New emprica study now available on the Europen Commission's web site: "Web accessibility in European countries: level of compliance with latest international accessibility specifications, notably WCAG 2.0, and approaches or plans to implement those specifications"

This report presents the results of a study to provide data and analysis to support the European Commission in the identification of EU-level measures that can help to progress the achievement of greater levels of web accessibility across the Member States. The aim was to provide evidence and analysis to help understand and compare the approaches followed by the European countries, with a view to identifying issues and challenges, good practices and future priorities in the web accessibility field. A core focus of the report is on the issue of transitioning to WCAG 2.0 guidelines against the current background where Member States have, in the main, being targeting their efforts towards the earlier WCAG 1.0 guidelines.

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/einclusion/library/studies/web_access_compliance/index_en.htm

Sectoral e-Business Watch Conference 2009: Presentations now available

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 02:56:08 GMT

The 2009 Conference of the Sectoral e-Business Watch (SeBW), a programme of the European Commission’s Directorate-General Enterprise and Industry, took place in Brussels on 29 October. It has been the 6th conference since the beginning of the programme in 2002.

In the inspiring atmosphere of Hotel Bloom in Brussels the study team presented the final results of the studies in 2009 to an audience of experts from policy, industry and business associations, research and consultancy. The SeBW Conference 2009 focused on the potential of ICT to support sustainability objectives, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the energy efficiency in production processes. Based on this assessment, Implications for an ICT-related industrial policy were discussed.

Now, the conference presentations and a summary of the conference as well as additional information about the programme and the speakers are available at the SeBW Conference 2009 website.

Sectoral e-Business Watch Conference: ICT and e-Business for an Innovative and Sustainable Economy

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 02:58:05 GMT

The upcoming 2009 Conference of the Sectoral e-Business Watch, a programme of the European Commission’s Directorate-General Enterprise and Industry, focuses on the economic impact of ICT on innovation and environmental sustainability as well as on resulting implications for competitiveness and policy. In the inspiring atmosphere of Hotel Bloom in Brussels the study team will present the final results of the studies in 2009 to an expected audience of more than 100 experts from policy, industry and business associations, research and consultancy.

The main theme of the morning sessions is “ICT and sustainability”, the main theme of the afternoon “ICT and industrial policy”. Invited experts will offer complementary views for discussion. This is the sixth e-Business Watch Conference since the first one organised in 2002, and in this tradition it promises a great opportunity to exchange ideas on current and future developments in ICT and e-business.

The conference is open to anyone interested and free of charge. For further information and registration, please visit the Conference website at www.ebusiness-watch.org

The CULTUREMAP study led by empirica and the European Commission will organise a workshop

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The CULTUREMAP study led by empirica and the European Commission will organise a workshop on: "Mapping and evaluating existing platforms (websites) within the cultural sector aimed at stimulating debate and cross-border exchange of matters concerning European culture" to take place on 19 March 2010 from 14:00 - 16:30 h at the European Commission at Centre Albert Borschette rue Froissart, 36, 1040 - Bruxelles. This workshop is intended to present and discuss the results from a pan-European study on mapping and evaluating existing platforms (websites) within the cultural sector aimed at stimulating debate and cross-border exchange of matters concerning European culture.

TThe objective of the workshop is to share the results and views with the invited experts, receive their comments and views on these but also opinions and advice on how to further develop the report and recommendations.

Prior to the workshop the study team will provide the invitees with a draft study report. The report will include a description of the objectives, the methodology used and the results achieved from a survey of almost 400 European websites which are provided online in a highly searchable knowledge base, selected case studies, conclusions and preliminary recommendations.

The workshop addresses in particular representatives from the

European Cultural Contact Points (CCP)
Owners, and operators of websites and online platform from the cultural sector and
European Commission.

An online registration facility is available on the CULTUREMAP website at: Culturemap workshop registration

or send an e-mail for registration to werner.ko...@...irica.com.

Study team contact at empirica: werner dot korte at empirica dot com, telephone: +49 228 98530-0

empirica's research acknowledged in recent US report on Health IT adoption in the USA and beyond

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 03:02:20 GMT

A recent US report sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and carried out by the Institute for Health Policy (IHP) at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Partners Health System highlights the state of Health IT adoption in the USA. Chapter seven of the report (pp. 104-142) embeds the results for the United States in their international context. empirica is proud of the frequent references to its research in the section on Europe's eHealth adoption. The country profiles of EU Member States were written with frequent reference to the eHealth ERA study and also the eHealth impact study. empirica is proud that its expertise is thus recognised beyond Europe's borders. A new set of eHealth country profiles will be available in the summer of 2010 as a result of the ongoing eHealth strategies study also carried out by empirica.

Final Report of the NewGlobal study published: ICT-based Collaborative Working Environments and Globalisation.

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The NewGlobal study has explored how collaborative working environments (CWE) based on ICTs can be deployed for enabling successful globalisation strategies of European companies and how they can foster exploitation of business opportunities for global value creation. The study comprised a pan-European interview survey among 1015 globalized small- and medium-sized (SME) companies from Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Portugal, Sweden, The Netherlands and the UK. The survey was complemented by extensive desk research and an in-depth multi-level case study of 13 leading examples of successful globalized EU companies.

Today's severe economic crisis is likely to affect considerably the capability and willingness of European companies, especially SMEs, to engage in globalisation. In fact, it appears that the more an economy, sector or company is integrated in the global market economy, the harder it has been hit by the recession. The likely outcome will be a backlash in the globalisation process, with companies shying away from engagement in countries outside of Europe, in an attempt to control risk and to deal with market volatility. A retreat of European companies from global collaboration, however, would play havoc with the EU economy's capability to maintain competitiveness and to regain sustainable levels of growth in the future.

It follows that additional efforts will be needed to enable Europe’s companies to fully participate in global business opportunities. Our research argues that, in order to do so, companies need to make effective use of CWE, supported by a wide range of technologies and techniques for virtual collaboration. Examples for CWEs, widely used for global collaboration, include work in virtual teams and Communities of Practice (CoP). The fast progress in ICTs which can support “frictionless” communication and collaboration across time and space can give the impression that virtual, global collaboration is now at everybody’s fingertips. Our research shows, however, that effective implementation of CWEs represents a considerable challenge. Global team work can quickly result in frustration if it is ill-prepared or insufficiently supported by organisational structures and processes.

The study aimed to contribute to a better understanding of the potentials and practical challenges arising from the spread of online collaboration within a business environment which increasingly relies on collaboration at global rather than national or European scale.

Final Report of the NewGlobal study can be downloaded here.

ICT, the economic crisis and climate change: empirica analyses the ICT potential and business impact

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 03:30:26 GMT

European companies are confronted with huge challenges on several fronts: they have to cope with the consequences of the financial crisis, increasing pressure from global competition and compliance with tightening environmental regulation – all at the same time.

At first sight, ICT and e-business may not seem a priority issue in such a demanding business context. On the other hand, it is proven that ICT is a major tool for innovation, to reduce costs and to facilitate market reach – in short, to strengthen companies' competitiveness, notably in times of distress. ICT could also hold a considerable potential for improving energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse emissions, but this is uncertain and not yet well understood, as there is little empirical data available.

The "Sectoral e-Business Watch" project of the European Commission's DG Enterprise and Industry is committed to provide new and improved evidence in these areas to support decision-making. To this end, several studies are currently in progress:

The final study reports are expected for December 2009.

The Sectoral e-Business Watch study programme is implemented by empirica GmbH, on the basis of a service contract with DG Enterprise and Industry, in cooperation with DIW econ, IDC Italia and other service providers.

eAccessibility in the EU countries and beyond

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 04:02:09 GMT

The MeAC study recently published 28 eAccessibility Country Profiles, providing an overview of relevant policies and levels of eAccessibility actually achieved in 25 EU countries, Australia, Canada and the United States of America. The Profiles are based on the information gathered by the MeAC study team over the past three years. Each profile starts with a brief summary assessment followed by more detailed information presented according to several sub-themes. The Country Profiles offer an opportunity to learn more about the current state of affairs in a given country to people dealing with eAccessibility (including representatives from disability organisations or industry, policy makers, researchers and others).
The “MeAC - Measuring Progress of eAccessibility in Europe” study was implemented as part of the follow-up to the European Commission’s Communication on eAccessibility of 2005. For the first time, this study has provided a comprehensive benchmarking of the eAccessibility situation in the EU Member States and three non-European comparison countries. The data set generated for this purpose represents by far the largest and most representative information on eAccessibility that has been available to date.
All in all, the results of MeAC show that, whilst some progress towards eAccessibility can be detected in Europe, this has not been enough and

people with disabilities in Europe continue to be confronted with many barriers to ICT usage (eAccessibility deficit),
the eAccessibility situation across Europe as a whole compares very unfavourably with that in Australia, Canada and the USA (eAccessibility gap),
the situation across Europe shows many ‘white spaces’ or areas of uneven attention (eAccessibility patchwork).

EU project CommonWell launched to improve quality of life for older people

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 04:03:10 GMT

November 2008 – As part of the EU initiative to promote better quality and more economically efficient solutions for the provision of health and social services, an innovative project with participants from five European countries has been launched, with Tunstall Healthcare Ltd leading the technical work. The CommonWell project aims to support independent living and improve the quality of life for older people and those with long-term conditions.
12 partners are cooperating in the project, supported financially by the European Commission and coordinated by European consultants Empirica, to deliver ICT-enabled health and social care services in four Member States. The integrated services are to support the effective management of chronic disease, and to address issues which affect independence, such as reduced agility, vision or hearing, in order to significantly improve the quality of life for older people and their families. The project members are Milton Keynes Council, Stichting Smart Homes, Ev. Johanneswerk und Johanneswerk im Stadtteil, Empresa Pública de Emergencias Sanitarias, Fundación Andaluza de Servicios Sociales, Tunstall Healthcare, InterSystems, Work Research Centre and Empirica Communication and Technology Research.
A total of 400 users across four locations in Europe will receive the newly integrated services for at least twelve months. The results of evaluating the pilot operation will be used to extend service provision and promote the wider uptake of this model of care across Europe.
Paul Timmers, head of the European Commission's 'ICT for Inclusion' Unit said: "This is an important project for the EU because it addresses the challenging issue of interworking between social services and health care. We support projects like CommonWell to get the results of innovative new technologies and services to consumers faster. We also want ICT to help improve the quality of life and perspectives of being able to live independently and healthily in real-life situations. Projects like CommonWell fulfil all these criteria by making it possible to deliver cheaper and better healthcare with ICT. These kind of solutions are ever more important to help Europe face demographic and financial challenges.”
Empirica director Simon Robinson said: “CommonWell will be the first European project to show how today's internet-based communication can link care providers across social and health care organisations, provide continuity in care to people at home and improve the quality of care they receive, reducing unnecessary pressure on health services and prolonging the length of time older people can live independently.”
Steve Sadler, CTO at Tunstall Healthcare (UK) Ltd said: “The project is an excellent opportunity for Tunstall to cooperate with a wide range of stakeholders to improve health and social care outcomes, building on our experience as founder member of Continua Health Alliance. CommonWell will also improve the way primary and social care providers currently cooperate, helping to deliver a truly integrated model of care, with significant benefits to the people most in need.”
The project is part funded by the EU Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme.

Project CommonWell

Understanding and measuring transformative use of ICTs in Europe's regions: Final Report

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 04:04:43 GMT

The TRANSFORM project, coordinated by empirica, explored the conditions for transformative use of ICTs by European regions. It also looked into the ways in which such use can be measured and benchmarked.
By introducing the notion of "transformative use of ICTs", the study tried to better explain one of the basic challenges affecting the European territory today, namely the persistence of marked regional disparities in exploiting the full potential of ICT. Our research suggests that boosting a region's capacity for transformative use of ICT implies the need to strengthen their Regional Innovation Culture.
The Final Report, now published on www.transform-eu.org, summarises of key insights obtained through the research conducted in TRANSFORM. The document also includes recommendations to various target groups, including policy-makers at regional and EU level.
Also available is a Policy Brief which has been written, in particular, for people involved in the formulation of policies for development of the knowledge-based economy and society at regional level.

SOPRANO's "Second phase prototype testing"- First tests successfully held

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

empirica is currently managing usability tests of AAL components developed within the SOPRANO project. The usability tests belong to the second phase of prototype testing with future SOPRANO users. This time, tests focuse on testing usability of individual components developed within SOPRANO. Tests are conducted in individual interviews, usually in laboratory settings.
During November and December 2008, three SOPRANO components have been tested: The remote control, the user interface on the TV and on the touch screen. Tests have been conducted at four sites with altogether more then 20 older end users. Results are currently being analysed and will help technical project partners to further improve components before the start of the field trials in summer 2009. The next phase of components tests will take place during January and February 2009 where the SOPRANO avatar and speech generation/recognition will be tested by older end users. Again, tests will take place at four sites: Frankfurt (Germany), Eindhoven (the Netherlands), San Sebastian (Spain) and Newham (United Kingdom).
A summary of results from both test phases will be made available on the SOPRANO project website. For further information on the WP 5.2 user tests please contact Sonja Müller:
sonja.muel...@...irica.com or visit www.soprano-ip.org

The ICT & Ageing project publishes Preliminary Findings

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 04:09:28 GMT

On the occasion of the e-Inclusion Ministerial Conference in Vienna/Austria (30 Nov–2 Dec, 2008) the ICT & Ageing project, coordinated by empirica, presents a new report on the conditions for development of ICT & Ageing markets in Europe. The document presents preliminary outcomes of the ongoing study “ICT & Ageing – Users, Markets and Technologies”, conducted on behalf of the European Commission’s DG Information Society & Media. The main focus of the empirical and analytical work carried out so far has been on identifying barriers hindering uptake of technologies directed towards the support of independent living and delivery of home care to older people.
The document presents an overview of key findings that have been generated throughout the first phase of the overall project. It describes some key features of the current marketplace for technologies directed towards independent living, presents the baseline situation concerning current market development in 16 countries (14 EU Member States and 2 others, US and Japan), discusses key market drivers and barriers identified, and mentions policy related conclusions that can be drawn on the basis of the evidence available at this stage of the research process.
The document, and more in-depth information about each of the countries analysed, can be found on the project website: www.ict-ageing.eu

To present the report to a wider public, a project presentation was given at the Ministerial e-Inclusion Conference

Selling online provides opportunities for retailers

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 04:10:13 GMT

For retailers, the internet remains a sales channel that can attract new customers. Yet, selling online is not a panacea as shown by the findings of the European “Sectoral e-Business Watch” research project. The internet sales strategy for example should be in line with the overall business strategy. Companies should also note that an active e-marketing approach is required to generate online sales. However, 40% of the online selling European retailers do not engage in search engine optimisation. This is one of the many reasons why almost half of retailers actively selling online generate only 5% of their total sales volume via this sales channel. More information about these issues as well as further findings about the role of e-business for procurement, distribution and business development in the retail sector is available at www.ebusiness-watch.org/studies/on_sectors.htm.

Sectoral e-Business Watch 2008 illustrates impact of ICT and e-business on European industries

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 04:11:18 GMT

The 2008 Sectoral e-Business Watch studies analyse the dynamic developments in ICT adoption and e-business activities in the European Union. The studies cover six sectors of the European economy: chemical, rubber and plastics; steel; furniture; retail; transport and logistics; and banking. The other studies analyse specific ICT topics: RFID adoption, intellectual property protection in ICT firms, ICT and energy use, ICT adoption and impact, and an assessment of the current situation in e-health standards. The studies are based on surveys with more than 5,300 interviews, econometric analyses, case studies and expert interviews. A key result is that ICT innovation was found to be linked with increased turnover in companies of all sectors. The studies also found that ICT and e-business have strong strategic potential for enabling new business models, influencing value chains and increasing process efficiencies. The multitude of empirical evidence delivered by the Sectoral e-Business Watch studies provides further comprehensive conclusions. Please visit www.ebusiness-watch.org for detailed results.

Steel and e-business - a robust relationship

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 05:19:07 GMT

ICT is important for the steel industry. It can increase productivity, reduce costs and improve customer relationships. The study also found that the steel industry does not lag behind other manufacturing industries. ICT and e-business adoption in steel firms is similar to the furniture and chemicals industries, which contradicts the industry’s old-fashioned image. As regards impacts of ICT, almost two thirds of the large steel companies reported that ICT use has increased competition in the sector. More than 40% of the medium-sized and large steel firms confirmed considerable ICT impact on skills requirements. ICT may have high future impacts, too. Steel firms representing 80% of the industry’s employment foresee ICT impacts on logistics, 75% on management and controlling. However, current policy activities lack ICT focus. They may not adequately reflect the importance of ICT for the steel industry. Further information about the study and its findings are available from www.ebusiness-watch.org/studies/on_sectors.htm.

Chemical, rubber and plastics industry: already 75% use e-business

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

There has been a dynamic uptake of e-business activity in the European chemical, rubber and plastics industries, according to a recently released empirica study (2008). The study shows that the quality of companies' ICT infrastructure has significantly improved since 2003, in particular among small and medium-sized enterprises. This enables companies to introduce more advanced forms of e-business: increasingly, paper-based, manual processes are automated by exchanging and processing data electronically. The Chem eStandards, an industry standard for e-business, and specialised e-business connectivity providers such as Elemica, facilitate this process. More than a quarter of the companies (by their share of employment) said in a survey of 2007 that "a good deal" or "most" of their exchanges with business partners were conducted electronically; three quarters said that at least "some" of their processes are conducted as e business

Besides reducing costs through improving the efficiency of business processes, a key driver for e-business innovations is to enhance long-term partnerships with customers by optimising customer service. This implies that companies have started to take a different approach to e-commerce. The focus is no longer on merely conducting transactions electronically, but on providing a range of different "e-solutions" for different groups of customers, adapted to their respective requirements. This comprehensive approach to e-business aims to provide integrated services such as enhanced access to a wide range of order-related information, for example about the order status and about products which customers have purchased. Larger companies typically maintain sophisticated extranet customer portals for this purpose.

As a result, not only the number of companies that offer their products online has increased, but also the intensity of this activity: the Sectoral e-Business Watch estimates that the average share of orders that are received online has surged from about 5-8% in 2003 to 20-30% in 2007.

The study "ICT and e-Business Impact in the Chemical, Rubber and Plastics Industry" was conducted by empirica GmbH in 2008, as part of the "Sectoral e-Business Watch" research programme of the European Commission, Enterprise & Industry Directorate General. The study and more information about Sectoral e-Business Watch are available at www.ebusiness-watch.org.

Main study author and contact person: Hannes Selhofer (hannes.selhoho...@...irica.com)

Empirica's research in the eInclusion domain features prominently in new EC information campaign.

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Three projects with empirica lead or participation feature among others in a new e-inclusion brochure edited by the European Commission. The booklet “Being Part of It” introduces the SOPRANO project, which is developing service-oriented smart home environment solutions for older European citizens. In addition, the MobilAlarm project’s role in developing an innovative, location-independent alarm service for older, disabled or chronically ill people is acknowledged. Finally, empirica’s research on ICT needs of older people in the framework of the Senior Watch study is referenced. The 2002 SeniorWatch market study researched the specific ICT needs of this clientele with the aim of guiding industry, research and policy makers.

The booklet will be distributed through the EC e-inclusion campaign "Be Part of It!“.

Further eAccessibility Country Profiles published

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 05:45:33 GMT

About two months ago, the MeAC study team published a first set of ten Country Profiles. Now, a further ten Profiles were added, covering Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Malta and Poland. Again, the Profiles provide an overview of relevant policies and levels of eAccessibility for each country.

People dealing with eAccessibility issues (representatives from disability organisations or industry, policy makers, researchers and others) are invited to learn from the information provided and also to contribute actively to the ongoing development of the Profiles.

Further Profiles, for Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia, Australia and Canada will be published in the coming weeks.

The eAccessibility Country Profiles are available from
www.eaccessibility-progress.eu.

EU workshop on Fostering Global Collaboration of European Companies

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 05:46:23 GMT

The high-level workshop, organised by the NewGlobal project on 16 September, 2008 in Brussels, will gather together experts and policy-makers to discuss strategies for fostering global, ICT-based collaboration by European Companies.
There is now a wealth of evidence which suggests that businesses can derive significant benefits from collaborating internationally. The ongoing trend towards economic globalisation also means that EU competiveness will only be sustained if a larger share of our businesses collaborate at a global level. Doing so, however, implies a number of challenges, which partly explains why many companies refrain from global engagement.
ICT-based tools for collaboration across distance have the potential of overcoming many of the traditional limits and barriers to global collaboration. At the same time, successful implementation of virtual collaborations technologies presents a challenge itself.
The NewGlobal study, which is commissioned by the European Commission and in which empirica is a partner, explores how ICT-supported collaborative work environments can be deployed for enabling successful globalisation strategies of EU companies, with the ultimate goal of achieving significant economic and employment gains for the benefit of European economies and societies.
The study has collected empirical evidence through case studies in EU-based multi-national businesses and through a representative business survey targeted at globally active SMEs in selected high-tech sectors in 8 Member States. NewGlobal has also taken stock of the state-of-the art in academic research on ICT-based international business collaboration.
At the workshop, key findings of this research will be presented with a view to discuss and agree on policy recommendations to be targeted at the policy-making process at EU as well as Mamber State levels. Additional target groups include the Social Partners and the European Statistical System.
Workshop participation is by invitation only. If you are interested in attending, please send a mail, indicating your area of expertise and the organisation you represent, to karsten.gareis AT empirica.com.

Workshop introduction and agenda
NewGlobal project website

EU Workshop on Market Barriers for Uptake of ICTs for Independent Living and Active Ageing at Home

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 05:50:36 GMT

As part of the ICT+Ageing study, empirica will organise an expert workshop on "Market Barriers for Uptake of ICTs for Independent Living and Active Ageing at Home" to take place at the European Commission, DG Information Society and Media, on 22 July 2008.
The main goal of the ICT+Ageing study is to identify and understand the market barriers which currently hinder uptake of ICT for independent living and active ageing in Europe. The study seeks to contribute towards policy action which will effectively tackle existing barriers, thereby helping to unleash ICT's potential to contribute to Europe's capacity for dealing with the demographic challenge.
The study looks into the situation in 14 EU Member States plus USA and Japan with regard to market structures, recent and emerging developments, and policy response. It will identify and analyse good practice and show how Europe can learn from the experience in individual countries. On the basis of the analysis, recommendations for action are to be developed in order to remove barriers for uptake and to foster market development. The results of the study will also guide the way towards further research needs in this area.
At the Brussels workshop, the findings from the first round of data gathering at national level will be presented. The discussion is to focus on the need for policy action, especially insofar as the EU level is concerned, for promoting diffusion of innovative applications of ICT for active ageing.
Workshop participation is by invitation only. If you are interested in attending, please send a mail, indicating your area of expertise and the organisation you represent, to karsten.gareis AT empirica.com.

More information

empirica presents study results "ICT and eHealth use among General Practitioners in Europe" at the European Conference

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:31:28 GMT

The study carried out for the European Commission DG INFSO and Media included a survey of almost 7,000 primary care physicians on their use of ICT and internet for communication with patients and between primary and secondary care and other health agencies was carried out in 2007 in all 27 Member States of the European Union and in Norway and Iceland. The purpose of the study was to: measure the use of ICT by primary care physicians in the EU and EEA countries, which is to be achieved by means of a survey of primary care physicians and their use of ICT and Internet for communicating with patients and between primary and secondary care and other eHealth agencies. Through this survey up-to-date information and data on eHealth developments was obtained, thereby - and through the 29 Country Briefs for each of the 27 Member States, Norway and Iceland - enabling member states to monitor their performance to improve public services. The study was a continuation of the earlier benchmarking exercise for eEurope 2002. The presentation, the final report and the 29 Country Profiles are available on the study website www.ehealth-indicators.eu and also on the European Commission i2010 website

An interview with the project manager Werner B. Korte, empirica can be found here:
Interview with the project manager Werner B. Korte

eResearch2020 Workshop held on 24.02.2010. Study findings welcomed by European Commission and eInfrastructur community

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:55:27 GMT

The findings of the empirica-led study eResearch2020 – The Role of eInfrastructures in the Creation of Globel Virtual Research Communities - were welcomed by the European Commission and members of the global eInfrastructure community in Brussels yesterday.
More than 40 e-Infrastructure managers and stakeholders attended the final event of eResearch2020 to hear the consortium present the results of the 14-month study, including new data on eInfrastructure demand and usage, scenarios of eInfrastructure futures and recommendations for public action in the EU. Findings were based on the study teams's uniquely broad survey of the virtual reseearch communities served by today's eInfrastructures and on evidence from in-depth studies of a sample of 18 diverse eInfrastructure initiatives and projects across the globe.
In a keynote address, John Wilbanks (VP Science, Creative Commons) made the case for the "generativity" of open eInfrastructures, which enables user communities to scale up the array of applications far beyond the ideas of their creators, which are always constrained to their time. In contrast to slick, controlled environments closed to developers, open technologies give researchers the freedom to "screw it up" essential to enabling the one-in-a-hundred creative spark to trigger new knowledge or even technological revolution.
The study team was proud to have won for its discussion panel leading members of Europe's eInfrastructure community: Steven Newhouse, Technical Director of the European Grid Initiative EGEE (to become EGI), Matthew Scott, General Manager of the GEANT network operating body DANTE, and Paul Wouters, Programme Leader of the Virtual Knowledge Studio for the Humanities and Social Sciences. Under the chair of Simon Robinson, empirica director, the distinguished panelists welcomed the study results and gave the participants their perspective on study outcomes. Stephen Benians (BELIEF project) participated in the panel and linked study topics to the following BELIEF Brainstorming Event on indicator development.
e-Infrastructures play a increasingly pivotal role in the research landscape of today and facilitate and foster the emergence of global virtual research communities. eResearch2020 has for the first time researched a broad variety of types of e-Infrastructure, their state of development, their users and usage, and their role in supporting productive research in Europe and beyond.
The study has underlined that the field of e-Infrastructures is truly heterogeneous, ranging from supply of high speed research network interconnectivity (a prominent example being the operating and development of the backbone as supplied by GEANT) to providing access to data for virtual research communities in single academic fields. e-Infrastructures include organisations and services as diverse as national and international multi-purpose grids, supercomputer infrastructure, data grids and repositories, tools for visualization, simulation, data management, storage, analysis and collection, tools for support with regard to methods or analysis as well as remote access to research instruments and very large research facilities.
The study found that the vast majority of researchers who are users truly value their e-Infrastructures, which are often indispensable for their research; the infrastructures enable them to be more productive, work on problems that could not be addressed before, access resources they had hitherto not been able to use and allow collaboration with colleagues around the globe which previously worked independently.
Positive impact was found to accrue particularly to projects which are international rather than national in scope, developer-driven rather than user-driven and concerned with computing rather than data. As to users, those seem to benefit more who do research in novel and dynamic fields, both in competitive and collaborative environments but less in established fields with low collaboration intensity. e-Infrastructures are also especially helpful for researchers from developing countries in overcoming access and organisational barriers in their work.
The draft study report and the study brochure are available on the project website at http://www.eresearch2020.eu.
The workshop was organised by the study consortium consisting of Empirica Communication and Technology Research (Simon Robinson and Tobias Hüsing), Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz (Franz Barjak), Oxford Internet Institute (Ralph Schroeder) and National Opinion Research Center of the University of Chicago (Zack Kertcher) on behalf of the European Commission's DG Information Society and Media.

DIGITALEUROPE and BITKOM Press Conference at eSkills Week at CeBIT fair on 2 March 2010

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

3 March 2010 - Europe is suffering from a chronic shortage of digital skills in all sectors. Recent studies released by empirica and IDC EMEA Government Insights reveals the EU labour market may face an excess demand of 384,000 ICT practitioners by 2015. The German ICT industry association, BITKOM - together with the Europe’s leading digital industry association, DIGITALEUROPE - in cooperation with the social science research and consultancy empirica, presented facts and figures on this important issue at a press conference on March 2, at CeBIT. The press conference provided information on the path forward to a successful economic recovery, which can be led through e-skills and digital industry – a sector which has the capacity to create 400,000 jobs in the next five years. Speakers included Bridget Cosgrave, Director General, DIGITALEUROPE, Werner B. Korte, CEO, empirica GmbH and Dr. Bernhard Rohleder, Director General, BITKOM. “It is of paramount importance to grow our e-skills and digital literacy if Europe wants to move out of economic recession and reduce its unemployment, particularly for young people,” stated Werner B Korte, Director and e-skills research project leader at empirica. “An adequately e-skilled workforce is necessary to drive Europe’s economy forward,” explained Korte. “ICT practitioner jobs are highly resistant to the crisis, with unemployment 40-50% lower than general rates. Data shows the e-skills gap will amount to between 1.7% and 13% of unfilled vacancies by 2015 in Europe.”

Improving digital literacy is crucial to Europe's future. Study provides the relevant baseline and foresight data

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:36:30 GMT

3 March 2010 - The three Commissioners and DGs published this joint article in PARLIAMENT MAGAZINE (http://www.theparliament.com). It includes very stimulating messages and also referes to a recent empirica study on "Monitoring e-Skills Supply and Demand in Europe" (www.eskills-monitor.eu) when stating: " a recent foresight study anticipates that the EU labour market may face an excess demand of 384,000 ICT practitioners by 2015". http://viewer.zmags.com/htmlCat/index.php?mid=rpdrhg&pageid=141. More information can also be obtained from the European Commission press release on "e-skills: European Week 2010 underlines e-skills' potential to help Europe’s economic recovery": Please click here for the press release.

Interoperable eHealth is Worth it - Securing Benefits from Electronic Health Records and ePrescribing

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Health information systems can help make our healthcare systems economically sustainable. The recent EHR IMPACT study shows the importance of interoperability in this quest, as well as what needs to be in place in order to realise the potential. Following the positive resonance to the EHR IMPACT final report, the European Commission (EC) is now publishing the results in a stand-alone publication. “Interoperable eHealth is Worth it - Securing Benefits from Electronic Health Records and ePrescribing” provides insights into the real socio-economic and financial impact of eHealth. The empirical evidence is based on eleven case studies from across Europe and beyond – Scotland, Kronoberg in Sweden, Kolín-Čáslav in the Czech Republic, Geneva Switzerland, Lombary in Italy, Rhône-Alpes in France, Bulgaria, Andalusia in Spain, Israel, and Evanston in the USA. A sneak-preview of the new publication will be available at the EC booth n°801 at the joint Ministerial eHealth conference and World of Health IT conference and exhibition.
Contact: Alexander.Dob...@...irica.com

The Swiss Medical Informatics journal publishes article with empirica insights on the Swiss eHealth strategy

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 17:23:39 GMT

In 2009, empirica performed a critical review of the Swiss eHealth strategy, with a special emphasis on progress in the financing and incentive structures sub-project, for the Swiss Department of Health (Bundesamt für Gesundheit). Based on its rich international expertise and insights from European Commission eHealth studies such as EHR IMPACT, eHealth Strategies, and Financing eHealth, empirica drafted concrete recommendations on actions for ensuring a successful implementaton of the Swiss eHealth strategy. A key message for the Swiss situation is the importance to formulate healthcare priorities which guide the development of eHealth solutions, instead of letting eHealth guide healthcare priorities. Another specific suggestion is to link financial incentives not just to implementation, but also to cost-benefit analyses for individual stakeholders and society as a whole. The full article is published in the Journal Swiss Medical Informatics 2010 (Issue 68).

empirica participates in Virtual Physiological Human (VPH) cooperation project with Stanford University

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The unique EU-funded transatlantic cooperation project NeuroMusculoSkeletal (NMS) Physiome recently had its official kick-off on January 27th, 2010. It is a Virtual Physiological Human (VPH) internationalisation activity between the European integrated project VPHOP, in which empirica is project partner, as well as the Stanford University Center for Physics-Based Simulation of Biological Structures (SIMBIOS).
VPHOP (Osteoporotic Virtual Physiological Human) and SIMBIOS are two of the largest research projects worldwide developing technology for personalised, predictive, and integrative musculo-skeletal medicine. They target the same strategic objective and develop highly complementary technologies. Their collaboration creates a compelling opportunity to increase the international impact of VPHOP’s work, and to foster global cooperation on one of the grand challenges of biomedical research.
VPHOP, undertaken by a consortium of 19 partner institutions led by the Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute, Bologna, Italy, is developing the next generation of health technologies to fight osteoporosis. As part of this endeavour, the personalised modelling of the patient’s neuro-musculoskeletal system is essential. It is an Integrated Project supported by the European Commission’s 7th Framework Research Programme (FP7).
The Stanford Center for Physics-based Simulation of Biological Structures (SIMBIOS) provides infrastructure, software, and training to help biomedical researchers understand biological form and function as they create novel drugs, synthetic tissues, medical devices, and surgical interventions. The cluster of projects connected to the SIMBIOS Center is investigating a wide scale of biological structures – from molecules to organisms. In particular, the team of one of the two Principal Investigators of SIMBIOS, Scott Delp, based at Stanford University, focuses on the accurate modelling of the neuro-musculoskeletal system. Activities are funded by the USA National Institute of Health.
empirica is proud to be a partner in this project, together with the BioComputing Competence Centre (B3C) of SCS srl in Bologna, Italy, and the Centre for Computer Graphics & Visualisation (CCGV) at the University of Bedfordshire.

empirica is strongly engaged in pushing progress beyond the state-of-the-art with its achievements in the medical technology assessment arena, where outcomes of the VPHOP project will be expanded upon and further developed together with USA partners. In integrative biomedical research, methods assessing the clinical or even socio-economic impacts of predictive and multiscale modelling have rarely, if ever, been applied. empirica’s activities will target both European and United States research communities and encompass collaborative research, learning and also training workshops.

Establishing the European Virtual Physiological Human Institute

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 18:08:29 GMT

To provide strong support for both the European Union Virtual Physiological Human (VPH) research initiative and the global "Physiome" community, the process to establish a European VPH Institute has now officially started. The VPH initiative is part of the worldwide public domain effort to provide a computational framework for understanding human physiology. It aims to develop integrative models at all levels of biological organisation, from genes to the whole organism via gene regulatory networks, protein pathways, integrative cell function, and tissue and whole organ structure/function relations. Through its 7th Framework Research Programme (FP7), the European Commission has initiated and facilitated such research.
The idea to establish a VPH Institute dates back to the STEP VPH Research roadmap where it was suggested to establish a European Institute dedicated entirely to the Virtual Physiological Human (VPH). This idea has been re-proposed and expanded in the recent "Vision & Strategy" document of the VPH Network of Excellence, and has received overwhelmingly positive reaction by the research community, with nearly 300 signatures from over 30 countries. The Pro Tempore Board of Directors has now formally entered the formation process, which should be completed before the end of 2010. empirica's Dr. Karl Stroetmann has been asked to join this Board as expert for the clinical and socio-economic impact assessment of VPH Technology.
empirica is a beneficiary to three VPH-related projects:

ARGOS eHealth: an EU-USA project, funded by the European Commission’s DG External Relations, for a Transatlantic Observatory for Meeting Global Health Policy Challenges through ICT-Enabled Solutions, focusing as one of three topics on VPH issues
NMS-Physiome: A project on tools to develop the NeuroMusculoSkeletal Physiome – VPHOP-SIMBIOS cooperation. EU-funded cooperation of the worldwide largest research projects focusing on simulating the musculoskeletal apparatus, the Osteoporotic Virtual Physiological Human (VPHOP) integrated European project and the Center for Physics-based Simulation of Biological Structures (SIMBIOS) (at Stanford University, USA), funded by the USA National Institutes of Health
VPHOP: Osteoporotic Virtual Physiological Human EU FP7 large-scale integrating project: a multiscale modelling and simulation technology will be developed to predict the strength of a patient’s bones, how this strength is likely to change over time, and the probability that he will overload his bones during daily life. The various modelling technologies developed will be assessed in terms of clinical and socio-economic impact and safety on small cohorts of patients enrolled at four different clinical institutions, providing the factual basis for effective clinical and industrial exploitation.

empirica expects to strongly contribute to future endeavours in this fascinating research field and thereby also to help guide its outcomes towards realistic and beneficial clinical applications.

Invitation to an event on 'Challenges and Issues in Health Care Information Management'

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 05:35:44 GMT

The European FP7 Research Project DebugIT “Detecting and Eliminating Bacteria UsinG Information Technology” (www.debugit.eu) is delivering first results. It has developed an interoperability platform using Semantic Web technologies, a virtual clinical data repository pooling data from several hospitals in different European countries using a core ontology, sophisticated datamining infrastructure and a comprehensive and interconnected knowledge repository and authoring tool.

DebugIT coordinator, Dr. Dirk Colaert of Agfa HealthCare, will give a presentation at a DAMA BeLux Event on “Challenges and Issues in Health Care Information Management”, on Wednesday, 28 April 2010, 13:00 to 18:00, Avenue de Tervueren 211, Brussels, hosted by RIZIV / INAMI. The topic of his talk is “Scaling out the Healthcare Enterprise To support Regional E-health”. Participants are very welcome.

For more information please see http://www.dama-belux.org/.

eHealth in Switzerland

Wed, 05 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

For some years now, Switzerland has been developing a national eHealth strategy, with the aim to improve overall quality and access to health services. Given the federal structure with 26 quite independent Cantons, this is not an easy feat. Nevertheless, in 2007 a comprehensive "Strategy 'eHealth' Switzerland" was agreed upon. It focuses on three primary fields of nation-wide activity: electronic patient records, online services, and strategy implementation.

The strategy document was followed by the establishment of six working groups of federal and Canton experts developing more detailed plans to cope with implementation issues around these topics: “Standards and architecture”, “Pilots and public-private-partnership (PPP) trials”, “Online services and empowerment”, “Education”, “Legal and regulatory basis”, and “Financing and incentives’ structures”. The work of these sub-projects is coordinated by the national eHealth coordination body, which acts as an intermediary between the national and Canton level stakeholders. The coordination body is an entity under stewardship of the National Health Office.

After the detailed planning documents from the working groups became available in 2009, the Swiss government initiated a series of high level expert reviews and hearings on the overall approach chosen, as well as the detailed recommendations submitted by the six working groups. Some of these reviews, such as a detailed expertise by European eHealth experts from empirica GmbH, enriched the discussion with valuable insights from their pool of international experience. A summary of the sometimes critical points, as well as specific recommendations for ensuring a successful implementation of the Swiss eHealth strategy, were recently published in the Journal Swiss Medical Informatics 2010 (Issue 68, pp. 3-8). A key message delivered to Swiss policy makers is the importance to first formulate concrete healthcare policy priorities and challenges, which guide the development of eHealth solutions, instead of letting eHealth guide healthcare priorities. Another specific suggestion is to link financial and other incentives for all affected stakeholders, not just to the immediate implementation phases, but to comprehensively involve them all already during the planning process and consider their longer-term socio-economic benefits and costs. The latter go beyond purely economic impacts and private gains, into the field of benefits to society as a whole.

First European Convergence Workshop on a pan-European eHealth Infostructure take place at EFMI-STC in Reykjavik 03.06.10

Tue, 18 May 2010 12:00:20 GMT

The first European Convergence Workshop aiming at the design of a pan-European eHealth Infostructure will take place at the 10th International Special Topic Conference of the European Federation for Medical Informatics (EFMI - STC), Reykjavik, Iceland, 3rd of June 2010. The topic of the workshop is “Semantics and ontologies - opportunities and challenges for convergence”. The event is initiated by the FP7 Integrating Project DebugIT, coordinated by Dr. Dirk Colaert of Agfa Healthcare, of which Prof. Christian Lovis, Geneva University Hospitals, is the scientific coordinator. The workshop will bring together various EU FP7 and CIP projects, including DebugIT, PSIP, EU-ADR, epSOS and CALLIOPE, for a full day meeting. The second part of the day is open to the wider public.
For more informations please visit our: Debugit Event Page.

Experts Warn of ICT Labour Shortage and Loss of Competitive Edge in Europe by 2015

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:48:13 GMT

Video of live expert interviews: click here

New publication by the European Commission on securing benefits from interoperable Electronic Health Record

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 09:44:26 GMT

After presenting a sneak-preview at the joint Ministerial eHealth conference and World of Health IT conference and exhibition in March 2010, the European Commission (EC) has now published the full version of its latest publication, “Interoperable eHealth is Worth it - Securing Benefits from Electronic Health Records and ePrescribing”. The paper provides insights into the real socio-economic and financial impact of eHealth, uncovered by the recent EC study EHR IMPACT. The empirical evidence is based on eleven case studies from across Europe and beyond – Scotland, Kronoberg in Sweden, Kolín-Čáslav in the Czech Republic, Geneva Switzerland, Lombary in Italy, Rhône-Alpes in France, Bulgaria, Andalusia in Spain, Israel, and Evanston in the USA. The bottom line is that health information systems can play an important role in securing economic sustainability and improving the quality of healthcare provision. However, realising the potential is by no means easy – a context-dependent strategic perspective, long planning cycles, and technical and semantic interoperability are among the factors that need to be in place for success.

The report can be downloaded from the EHR IMPACT website or from the EC information centre. For a printed copy, please contact ehea...@...europa.eu. For content issues, email ehr-imp...@...irica.com.

eHealth Strategies in European Countries: Study validation workshop On Sept. 16, 2010 in Brussels

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

On Sept. 16, 2010 the European Commission and empirica, in cooperation with the Belgium Presidency of the EU, will present the final results of the eHealth Strategies study to a wider public. Commissioned by the EC in 2008, the eHealth Strategies study has surveyed the status-quo and assessed the progress made by EU Member States and EEA countries towards realising European eHealth Action Plan goals.

The workshop will summarise key outcomes and feature presentations by representatives of national eHealth programmes on lessons learned from eHealth strategic planning and implementation. After a networking lunch and the presentation of good practice cases, policy recommendations for further eHealth diffusion will be discussed.

The workshop is free of charge, but by invitation only. If you are interested in participating, please send a short note to Ms Uta Walossek ( registration.eHStrateg...@...irica.com) stating your specific interest, full name and affiliation.

http://www.ehealth-strategies.eu

Study on Social Impacts of ICT in Europe published by the European Commission

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The European Commission (EC) has published the results of a in-depth study on the social impacts of ICT, based on available research evidence from Europe and beyond. empirica's focus in the project was on exploring the impacts of the Internet, mobile telephony and other ICTs on sociability within community and family. empirica also authored a report on differences in social impacts of ICT between Europe and selected non-European countries (Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea, USA).

In recent years, ICT has permeated throughout the EU society and economy, to an extent which nobody would have expected only a short time ago. Many observers believe that the fast spread of computer networks, mobile telephony and other ICT is having far-reaching, partly even transformative, implications for European society. Unfortunately, much of what has been said about ICT’s social impacts has not been based on scientific insight but on guesswork, hype and ‘common sense’. It is for this reason that the study on the ‘Social Impacts of ICT’, commissioned by the European Commission, DG Information Society & Media, explored the available empirical evidence about developments in some of the most relevant domains in Europe, and beyond. As there are considerable differences in the extent to which ICT is utilized in different domains, seven such domains have been studied separately in this project:

Participation and Policy Making
Education
Work
Consumption
Health
Community and Family
Creation and Distributed Innovation.

Given strong differences are to be expected in the situation between Europe and those other parts of the world in which uptake of ICT is widespread (for example, North America, Japan and the fast developing countries of South-East Asia), the latter were dealt with explicitly in a separate piece of research.

Full version of the report (589 pages):
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/eeurope/i2010/docs/eda/social_impact_of_ict.pdf

The Executive Summary (45 pages):
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/eeurope/i2010/docs/eda/social_impact_of_ict_exec_sum.pdf

Chapter on Impacts of ICT in the area "Community and Family" (88 pages): http://www.empirica.com/publikationen/documents/2010/Community%20and%20Family.pdf

Chapter on Social Impacts of ICT: Comparison between Europe and other parts of the world (61 pages):

Download here (PDF, 5 MB)

Sparkasse Frankfurt and empirica signed a contract on the provision of telework consulting services

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 05:00:02 GMT

30 July 2010 - The Sparkasse Frankfurt - a large German savings bank - and empirica have signed a contract on the the provision of consulting and evaluation support for the telework implementation and evaluation at Frankfurt Sparkasse. The contract will have a duration of 15 months and is to be seen as part of the larger initiative entitled 'beruf und familie' (job and family) in which the Sparkasse Frankfurt has undergone a successful audit.

International study on the the management of intellectual property in knowledge transfer activities started by empirica

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 05:06:02 GMT

30 July 2010 - empirica has been commissioned by the European Commission DG Research to conduct a study to help set up a monitoring and reporting system and support the monitoring and reporting process to follow up and promote the implementation of the Commission's 2008 Recommendation on the management of intellectual property in knowledge transfer activities and Code of Practice for universities and other public research organisations.

More information:

http://empirica.com/themen/info_ges/projekte_en.php?taken=aaul2