Social computing - Implications for the EU innovation landscape

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the main implications for innovation and competitiveness of social computing trends that promote swift social and economic relations. They are increasingly being considered by policymakers, both as tool and object for policymaking (i.e. how social computing could play a role in information society policies). Therefore, a general issue for the paper is represented by the lessons to be learned in terms of policy‐related consequences for Europe.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on an extensive desk‐based survey of secondary data available from reports, studies and most recent statistics, from internet audience measurement companies, international research companies, research projects of non‐profit centers, international firms or the industry itself.Findings – The diffusion and usage of social computing applications have been growing at an exponential rate. A powerful feature emerges, i.e. the new user as supplier, co‐producer or innovator of the...