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The information society is an engine of growth, but it must be kept on track if it is to serve wider social and environmental goals. While ICTs can foster resource efficiency they may also feed environmentally damaging consumption – paradoxically, the information society could be less sustainable than the industrial society. At the same time, the digital economy’s 24‐hour treadmill is increasing the pressure on individuals, families and societies. To achieve environmental and social equilibrium, should we simply adapt to the demands of the information society, or do we need to rethink our economic and social priorities?

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have featured strongly in all the recent national foresight studies. This paper documents some of the common trends that emerge from a comparison of these different studies and attempts to draw some strategic conclusions. The first section charts their relative importance. The main trends identified in the national foresight studies are then discussed by main technological areas in turn: software, components and peripherals, advanced telecommunications and telematics applications. Finally, the third part of the paper, strong interactions that ICTs have with other technological disciplines is considered, especially in relation to new materials, nanostructures and bioinformatics.

A review of recent foresight exercises reveals some important drivers of research in Europe. In this editorial, we introduce five main areas where science and technology will be required to deliver tangible gains for society and the economy in the coming years. It is no longer enough for research agendas to be dictated by the supply of expertise from the science base. Increasingly, they must respond to social values like access and sustainability, and humanize the interface between technology and people.

Reports on a scenario exercise regarding the impact of digitisation on European media content industries, focusing on employment trends and changing skills. Concludes that the Internet will profoundly restructure but not destroy, existing industries. Highlights the needs for multidisciplinary and multimedia training programmes for the new digital age.

Presents a view of the forecast impact of e‐commerce on developments of value chains in several economic sectors, with a time horizon of 2005. Highlights the scenarios that were built and demonstrates that the impact of e‐commerce technologies on value chains may vary widely across firms and sectors, as a function of sector‐specific characteristics. Concludes that the impact of e‐commerce technologies and practices on firms in the current decade may be expected to be of the same magnitude as the impact of management techniques such as just‐in‐time, or total quality management, in the 1990s.

To survey ambient intelligence research in Europe, the USA and Japan and, in particular, in the context of the issues of privacy, identity, security and trust and the safeguards proposed to protect them.

This paper is based on research being conducted by the SWAMI consortium under the EC's Sixth Framework Programme. SWAMI stands for Safeguards in a World of Ambient Intelligence. The consortium comprises five partners: the Fraunhofer Institute (Germany), the Technical Research Center of Finland (VTT Electronics), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium), the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) (Spain) and Trilateral Research & Consulting (UK). The 18‐month SWAMI project began in February 2005.

Most AmI projects do not take into account privacy, security and related issues. However, a reasonable number do (perhaps a quarter of those in Europe) to a greater or lesser extent and some have proposed safeguards.

This paper references only a limited set of the research projects being carried out in Europe, the USA and Japan. More detailed information can be found on the SWAMI web site (http://swami.jrc.es).

A mix of different safeguards will be needed to adequately protect privacy, etc. in the new world of AmI.

Until now, there has been no reasonably comprehensive survey of AmI research projects in Europe, the USA and Canada focused on privacy, security, identity and trust issues. None has considered the range of safeguards needed to protect privacy, etc.

Questioning gender is about taking an active, critical role in the technological design of our daily behaviour. It is a deconstruction of the oppositions that exist in the discourses of Ambient Intelligence designers, the ICT industry and computer scientists. What underlies the assumption that Ambient Intelligence will, by disappearing into our environment, bring humans both an easy and entertaining life? The gender perspective can uncover power relations within the promotion and realisation of Ambient Intelligence that satisfy an obvious wish for a technological heaven. The deconstruction of the promise of progress and a better life reveals what is overvalued, what is undervalued and what is ignored. This paper is a deconstruction of the view, currently prevalent in the discourses of Ambient Intelligence; a view of humans and the way they live. A view that will influence the way women and men will be allowed to construct their lives.

In this paper, the role of three different types of competences in the labour market for higher education graduates is investigated. The article distinguishes discipline‐specific competences, general academic competences and management competences, the first being an example of competences acquired at school, which are of direct use in the labour market, the second being a type of competences also acquired in school, but which fulfil an indirect role by facilitating the acquisition of new competences after graduation from school, and the third, management competences, being an example of competences acquired mainly in a working context and, like discipline‐specific competences, being of direct use in that context. This paper shows that, first, the level of discipline‐specific competences obtained in higher education offers a comparative advantage for graduates working inside the own discipline‐specific domain, and therefore has a pay‐off for those graduates who are able to find a job in this domain; second, the management competences are valued in the labour market but seem to be more likely acquired in a working context than in higher education, and third, the general academic competences acquired in higher education do not pay off directly, but have a significant supportive role when learning competences that have a direct pay‐off in the labour market, like management competences, but are more likely acquired outside education.

The research explored, over seven years, the strategies and impact of six UK pressure groups. The main method used was in‐depth interviews. In addition, extensive searches of several literatures and database, archival, print, government and online works were undertaken, as was unobtrusive monitoring of consultations and other group communications. The data strongly suggested that these groups raised awareness of, and debate about, compelling broadcasting issues that affect viewers and listeners as citizens. At times, they achieved legislative changes. Groups that built strategic relationships with target publics, in tandem with media advocacy and media education, were more likely to achieve their goals, but relationship building was itself a successful outcome and contributed to ad hoc alliances/coalitions that increased organizational effectiveness. Overall, these groups had an impact on the range and quality of broadcasting issues discussed and on citizen engagement in broadcasting issues on national, regional and, increasingly, global levels. This research is one of the first studies from the activist perspective and posits public relations' value to democratic dialogue. It also presents a cross‐cultural perspective that may be transferable to other societies.