THE TOPIC

The project will explore a wide and rarely investigated topic within the JRC that has important implications for our futures society: Social change in an hyperconnected era.

This subject is both a pretext to build the lab on something concrete but also a good opportunity for the JRC to explore a new topic in a different way. The first thing being that this subject has not been requested by any DG but is a freely chosen topic to investigate for the JRC.

WHY CHOOSE “SOCIAL CHANGE IN AN HYPERCONNECTED ERA” AS AN EXPLORATORY TOPIC ?

When approaching large research topics in the past, we have set up long-term (ca 2 years) processes which are quite academic and scientific in nature. At the same time we have demand from colleagues in policy DGs which are fast moving, and sometimes more ‘hands-on’, requiring different, quicker approaches.

Using design thinking to construct a process where we invite stakeholders to co-design several study projects ranging from short experiments to longer studies looks like a potentially promising way of engaging stakeholders further throughout the whole process, making sure that the outcome is as relevant as possible, in terms of format and timing.

By designing a comprehensive process, while drawing on the unit experiences in the past, the exploraiton of the topic of Social change in an hyperconnected era will hopefully deepen our understanding of what the EU Policy Innovation Lab should become, while offering plenty of ideas for different type of activities for the unit as a whole.