History and Past Activities
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History and Past Activities |
ESA Conference: Ageing Societies, New Sociology
September 23-26, 2003 in Murcia, Spain
Two streams of sessions of the
Research Network 18: Sociology of Science and Technology (SSTNET)
Convenors:
Raymund Werle: Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Köln, Germany (werle@mpi-fg-koeln.mpg.de)
Marja Häyrinen Alestalo: Dept. of Sociology, University of Helsinki, Finland (marja.alestalo@helsinki.fi)
Luísa Oliveira: DINÂMIA/ISCTE, Lisboa, Portugal (luisa.oliveira@iscte.pt)
Maarten Mentzel: 38 Johan de Wittstraat, 2334 AR Leiden, The Netherlands (m.a.mentzel@planet.nl)
First Stream: Governing Science and Technology in the Era of Globalization
Wednesday Sept. 24
09.00 - 11.00 session 2 (Campus de La Merced)
Chair: Maarten Mentzel
2.1. Author(s): Pelkonen, Antti
Institution: University of Helsinki, Department of Sociology
Professional Category: Researcher
City: Helsinki
Country: Finland
E-mail: antti.pelkonen@helsinki.fi
GOVERNING INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES — ISSUES ON TECHNOLOGY POLICY AND REGULATION IN FINLAND
In recent decades, the significance of information and communication technologies in economic and social change has been remarkable worldwide. Although ICT has been regarded as a generic technology, it has mainly been emphasized as a means to promote international competitiveness. Also the more general emphasis on economic aspects in public policies in many western industrialized countries has raises the question of social dimension in technology and innovation policies as an increasingly important theme. In addition, the recent efforts by the European Union to highlight the concept of governance imply a growing concern over the social dimension and citizen perspective in various policy fields.
This paper examines the means and limits of national technology and regulatory policies in relation to ICT in Finland in the context of an increasing influence of the European Union and a rapidly proceeding process of globalisation in the economic, scientific and technological fields. As these developments tend to restrict the possibilities and scope of national policies, also the Finnish national strategy faces a need of reconsideration. Finland has been considered a paradigmatic information society and successful national policy measures - such as an intensive technology policy emphasizing new technologies, early liberalisation of telecommunications and promotion of networking between public and private sectors - have been regarded as key elements. How is the development of information and communication technology currently governed and how are the social dimension and citizen aspects taken into account?
Sociology of Science and Technology NETwork - last update: April 2006