Studying the social consequences of dissemination of the information and communication technology in EU countries

The article describes the European approach to analysis of the social consequences of informatization. There are considered five big projects, and ISESP RAS research fellows took part in four of them. Technological success in telecommunications has resulted in emergence of new services, acceptance of which by consumers is of vital important for their development. Changes in demand lead to new lifestyles, to development of new tastes, to change in the attitude to communication services on the whole. From 1996 in EU have been investigated various aspects of relationships, ways of consumers’ behavior and perception of the available and expected in the nearest future communication services. There are examined the models of use and the communication needs in different segments of market, such as elderly people, families with children, tele-workers, etc. The world there is going a fundamental reorganization of the society that should adapt to the new opportunities, to acknowledge the fact of dying out of old traditions and to understand emergence of new phenomena. Blurring of the old and emergence of new social boundaries change the rules of life.