Book: 'Innovating for and by users' Edited by Jo Pierson, Enid Mante-Meijer, Eugène Loos and Bartolomeo Sapio EU Publications Office - COST298 - ISBN 978-92-898-0047-1 The book looks at socio-technological transitions and shifting roles of users in the design and innovation of broadband technologies and digital media. The different chapters aim to shed more light on the ‘black box’ of design and use of ICTs. In this way we hope to contribute to the empowerment of people in their relationship(s) with new media and - through this - to increase the quality of social life. The title ‘Innovating for and by users’ refers to insights on how to innovate by involving users more intensely in the design of technological innovations, which can lead to innovations that create more benefits for these users. The different authors deliver a timely reality check on the current information society in Europe from a users’ perspective, in a general (theoretical) sense as well as in specific domains (digital television, e-publishing, care sector...). This is done in an interdisciplinary way by integrating social science views and engineering approaches. The findings are based on academic and industry-driven digital media research in various European countries. For more information on this book, please visit: http://smit.vub.ac.be/ifbu Jo Pierson, Ph.D. IBBT - SMIT, Studies on Media, Information & Telecommunication Vrije Universiteit Brussel Offices: Pleinlaan 9, 2nd floor B - 1050 Brussels Belgium Tel: +32 2 629 16 27 Fax: +32 2 629 17 00 E-mail: jo.pierson@vub.ac.be http://smit.vub.ac.be