Social cohesion, the organisation of work and Information and Communication Technologies: Drawing out the lessons of the TSER research programme and the Key Action on socio-economic research.

Infowork was an Accompanying Measure funded by the European Commission. The project involved three researchers and ran between 2001 and 2003. The purpose of Infowork was not to carry out new research, but to bring together existing research projects into a 'cluster' in order to develop and disseminate their findings. The projects were all concerned with the relationship between the organisation of work, the labour market and information technologies; they were all funded from the Targeted Socio-Economic Research Programme (TSER) or the Improving Human Potential Key Action (IHP). The cluster comprised the projects Flexcot, Nesy, NUEWSO, Precept, Servemploi, Sowing and Whole. In particular Infowork focused on the implications of the research findings for the viability of the European social model which combines economic growth and social cohesion.

The project involved a series of workshops which brought together researchers from the cluster and a final policy conference in Brussels in April 2004.

Infowork has four research themes:

Are there realistic choices in technology and work organisation in Europe today?
This research theme is mainly concerned with national differences in terms of technological and organisational choices. The often claimed disappearance of national differences in management techniques and organisation of labour is tested against the results acquired in the TSER projects.

Do contemporary organisational and technological changes undermine trust in the workplace and so endanger the creation of skills?
New forms of work, enhanced levels of personal commitment, individualisation of skills acquisition are today associated with increasing pressure on the workplace and growing job insecurity. We look at the possible impact of this situation on social cohesion in the enterprise and in the wider society.

How does the 'new economy' impact on paid work, non-paid work and social life?
Broadly, this theme looks at the relation between workplace arrangements and civil society. We question if flex-time arrangements effectively reconcile work and private commitments. We also look at the inequality-effect induced by the changing work time structure and at the blurring of boundaries between work and non-work skills.

Has social research funded by the EC changed how social research is carried out in Europe?
A secondary objective of this project is to ascertain the extent to which TSER and IHP programmes have contributed to the development of social sciences within the union.

The technical annex of the Infowork project is available for download (PDF, Infowork Technical Annex, 150KB).

Infowork focused on the contribution of the cluster research projects to four themes: Technological and Organisational Choice, Trust and Knowledge in the Workplace, Work Life Balance and EU Social Research.

For each theme we produced an initial 'position paper' to stimulate discussion within the cluster and a final policy paper for public dissemination.

The following reports are all available to download:

Bibliography of Cluster Research (PDF, Infowork Bibliography.pdf, 312KB)

Technological and Organisational Choice (PDF, Infowork Technology.pdf, 541KB)

Working and Living in the European Knowledge Society (PDF, Infowork Knowledge.pdf, 326KB)

Synergies and Innovation in EU Research (PDF, Infowork Synergies.pdf, 336KB)

Newsletters containing information about the progress of 'Infowork' for researchers in the cluster and other interested colleagues are available for download here.

October 2002 newsletter (PDF, Infowork Newsletter1.pdf, 41KB)
August 2002 newsletter (PDF, Infowork Newsletter2.pdf, 87KB)

'Involving users in social science research – a new European paradigm?' accepted for publication in European Journal of Education, summer 2006.

'Something new in old Europe? Innovations in EU-funded social research', Innovation: European Journal of Social Science Research, vol. 17 no. 3 (2004), pp.187-204.

'Understanding technological and organisational change', in M. Heitor, E. Lorenz and B. Lundvall (eds.) Towards a Learning Society: Innovation and competence building with social cohesion for Europe, London: Edward Elgar, 2003, pp.101-121.

For further information on a specific researcher, please click on the appropriate link.