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Studies on Inequalities in Information Society – Proceedings of the Conference, Well-Being in the Information Society. WIS 2012

Studies on Inequalities in Information Society – Proceedings of the Conference, Well-Being in the Information Society. WIS 2012, TUCS Lecture Notes, TUCS, 2012.

Abstract:

The fourth event of the biannual Well-being in the information society (WIS) conference series will again this year call together inter-disciplinary scientists and practical- ly oriented professionals to share results and experiences.
The conference series is established to discuss topics around health and well-being, information society and urban way of living. To the best of our knowledge the border crossing approach of the conference is unique, even in a worldwide perspective.
The importance of the special topic of this year, unequal access to information society resources, is continuously increasing. Here, especially two macro trends deserve to be mentioned, empowerment of individuals and the societal transition towards self- service. Regardless of personal attitudes of clients or professionals, individuals are expected to maintain or improve their life management, and by that support and pro- mote their health and well-being. The trend can be criticized but all the same is going to be the mainstream of the near future. This puts pressure on individuals and also the service production, demanding good access to information society resources. On the other hand, the trend of transition towards self-service is not just satisfied by provid- ing access to resources, but additionally demands a good readiness to use these re- sources. Almost nobody can just lean on support of others when taking care of daily matters. Due to the trend a whole new set of terminology has been created: e-health, e-business, e-service, e-government, you name it...
The previously mentioned information society resources form a key concept of the conference this year as well as the whole conference series. A common denominator of these resources is that they are only available through information technology. They comprise a variety of services including social media that all can be used for support and promotion of health and well-being.
Both trends put special pressure on individuals with some sort of sensory impairment. In order to take full advantage of modern computer user interfaces the user is ex- pected to possess complete vision, hearing and motor coordination.
One important issue, however, is to understand that we all are in some way disabled. A simple example would be that we all are deaf and mute in 99% of the world’s lan- guages. Actions taken to improve the life of disabled are supportive also towards the life of “normal” people they very seldom if never are in a contradiction with the needs of the general population.
Information technology must not simply be regarded as a problem and challenge for the impaired but also as a potential provider of solutions, including individuals with disabilities. The function of conferences like WIS is to make demand and supply meet.

BibTeX entry:

@PROCEEDINGS{pLi_Hongxiu12a,
  title = {Studies on Inequalities in Information Society – Proceedings of the Conference, Well-Being in the Information Society. WIS 2012},
  series = {TUCS Lecture Notes},
  editor = {Li, Hongxiu},
  publisher = {TUCS},
  year = {2012},
  ISBN = {978-952-12-2750-9},
}

Belongs to TUCS Research Unit(s): UTU Information Systems Science (ISS)

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