[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/6152\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003ESocial sciences can unlock the full value of new technologies - Prof. Luc Soete\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhy were social sciences initially seen as being of lower priority than \u2018hard\u2019 sciences?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018If you look at the historical context and the role of the European Commission, EU research programmes emerged as an extension of industrial policy. Research policy was all about competitiveness; it wasn\u2019t connected to university research or education. Almost by definition, social sciences and humanities were not high on the list of priorities at that time.\u2019\u003Cem style=\u0022font-size: 13.0080003738403px; line-height: 1.538em;\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat do you see as a major landmark in the evolution of EU support for social sciences and humanities research?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The Targeted Socio-Economic Research (TSER) programme, under the Fourth Framework Programme, was a big one. With the rise of new technologies and high-tech industries, and the development of new services, there was a need to analyse the economic and social impacts of the changes that were taking place.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat research questions could social sciences help to answer?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Looking at the 1990s, there was for instance a big question about whether science and technology would create jobs or would in fact lead to unemployment. Digital technologies were emerging rapidly and ICT was having an impact beyond industry; it was having an impact on society.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018When the Services Directive (to remove legal and administrative barriers in the services sector) was being crafted, there was also a lot of discussion about diversity in Europe \u2013 economic, social, linguistic, cultural \u2013 and how this impacts on industry in the EU. Pulling social sciences into the Framework Programmes then became very logical.\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018With the rise of new technologies and high-tech industries \u2026 there was a need to analyse the economic and social impacts of the changes that were taking place.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EProfessor Luc Soete, Rector Magnificus of Maastricht University, the Netherlands\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018There is an incredible opportunity to look at how new digital technologies will change the way we deliver particular services. We would be in a much stronger position if more research had been done on the impact of digital technologies in a fragmented telecoms market.\u2019\u003Cem style=\u0022font-size: 13.0080003738403px; line-height: 1.538em;\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat kind of relationship needs to develop between social sciences and technology development, particularly in terms of EU projects?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We are now living in a very different world from an industrial point of view (compared to when TSER was launched). Social and hard sciences are more integrated now; behavioural sciences are essential for research policy. When we talk about technology platforms \u2013 whether it\u2019s ICT or life sciences; nanotech or food \u2013 extracting the value from these technologies requires much more understanding of social and behavioural sciences. Social sciences are now viewed as presenting opportunities for the creation of value.\u2019\u003Cem style=\u0022font-size: 13.0080003738403px; line-height: 1.538em;\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow important was the launch of the European Research Council (ERC) in 2007 and its commitment to fund social sciences research?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018When the ERC was created it was pretty obvious that it would include all research, including social sciences and humanities. It had a tremendous impact on this area, nurturing quality research by giving prestigious grants to young researchers, and promoting mobility for scientists.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Of course, the amount of funding available could be more and mobility also creates issues of brain drain which are being addressed, but overall the ERC has made a significant difference.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-it1jtsyl82eetibhfhg1ggqnfv-drbgutou9cmlsawu\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-IT1JTSyL82EeTIbhfhg1ggQNfV_DRbguTou9CmLSAWU\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]