DiDIY Objectives
The DiDIY Project intends to develop a human-centric and multi-perspective approach to the scientific study of the transformations generated by the increasing social adoption of atoms-bits convergence (ABC) devices in order to:
- establish a conceptual framework that will enable the analysis, exploration and understanding of the impact of DIY in a human-centric digital age, and
- produce well-founded transferable information, models and guidelines to support both education and policy making on DiDIY as it is forming, intended as an ongoing phenomenon that, while surely enabled by technology, should be driven and shaped by social and cultural strategies, not technology.
As a multidimensional phenomenon, DiDIY will be studied in the Project according to multiple perspectives, including
- how it is reshaping organization, work, education and research
- how it is impacting on creative society and legal systems,
- how creative design and ethics are changing due to DiDIY itself.
The progressive development of a systemic interpretation from these diverse dimensions will be the main challenge for the multidisciplinary project team, whose expertise ranges from process engineering to ethics and from management to sociology.
This will allow us to collaboratively perform the in-depth analysis and exploration required to understand a complex phenomenon with critical implications on such fundamental notions as identity, privacy, relationships, culture, reputation, motivations, responsibility, attention, safety and fairness, and to offer some pragmatic interpretations that will foster a DiDIY-based human-centric development in Europe.
The DiDIY Project and the ICT Horizon 2020 work programme
The following table describes how the Project addresses the several objectives of the call "ICT 31-2014 Human-centric Digital Age of the Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies" of the ICT Horizon 2020 work programme.
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Call objective |
Project contribution |
Work plan relation |
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There is a need for exploring the two-way interactions between technology and society in order to lay foundations for future thinking in ICT and for future regulatory and policy-making activities in the DAE areas. |
The Project aims at full exploration of the interaction between DiDIY and individuals, organizations and society, looking at two specific main areas of use (“how it is reshaping…” section of the document) , i.e. work and education, and its impact on society, legal systems, creativity and ethics (“how it is impacting …” section). |
WP2 to create a common framework, WP3 and WP4 for “reshaping” and WP5 and WP6 for “impact exploration” |
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The Research & Innovation Actions should aim at in-depth exploration of the development of fundamental notions such as identity, privacy, relationships, culture, reputation, motivations, responsibility, attention, safety and fairness, |
The analysis of the listed notions is among the aims of the “how impacting” section of the planned research, aiming at clarification of social, legal, creative and ethics related issues. |
WP5 and WP6 devoted to “impact exploration” |
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in the hyper-connected age where the limits between offline and online are blurred in numerous ways. |
Because of the concept of DiDIY itself, the proposal will systematically take into account technologies, means and habits of the “hyper-connected age”. |
WP3 and WP4 on reshaping; WP2 on conceptual framework |
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Gender, generational and cultural differences in behaviours should also be considered where relevant. |
The DiDIY phenomenon may have an important impact in transforming the current negative relationship between women, elder citizens, migrant and other minorities, and technology and engineering. A reshaping of work and education modalities may have relevant impact in this direction. |
WP2 on conceptual framework |
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How do humans cope with information overload and attention scarcity? How do ICT environments and processes affect the ways individuals deal with information flows and focus their attention? |
The Project will approach this issue both from the organization and individual point of view, in investigating the way the phenomenon is reshaping work and education as well as its main societal and legal impacts. |
WP3 and WP4 on the “reshaping” |
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How does the blurring between online and offline world affect the way people experience their different settings (work, leisure, family)? How can smart and connected environments support individuals and society? |
Again, DiDIY-related technologies and approaches are just in the core of this debate. Their impact on different areas of our lives will be fully investigated. |
WP5 and WP6 on “impact exploration” |
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What are the norms and behaviours that should be considered for behaving ethically and being fair to each other in a hyper-connected digital world? How should their adoption in the digital culture be fostered? |
The Project will analyse ethical implications in any area of its study. In addition specific attention will be paid to legal implications, relating to the ways DiDIY is changing rights and responsibilities of individuals, organizations, and the society as such. |
All WPs for ethical issues; WP6 for legal matter investigation. |
