D3.21. Political, social and industrial opportunities arising from the use of emerging technologies

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The present document is the first version of the deliverable “Report on the political, social and industrial opportunities arising from the use of emerging technologies” (D3.21) of the COSMIC Support Action. The purpose is to look into the political, social and industrial implications of the use of emerging technologies in crisis situations, in relation to existing policies and standards for the development and use of such technologies, as well as to highlight the opportunities which may arise for industrial stakeholders and the general public. We also address the inherent challenges and limitations posed by privacy and security issues, in the context of mass utilisation of emerging technologies and information gathering/sharing. On the policy front, we present applicable measures and current EU legislation such as the Directive on data protection and the “Telecommunications Package”. Proposed reforms in existing legislation in areas such as data protection and the role of the Universal Provider in telecommunication services are presented from the point of view of their effects on crisisladen social networks services. In a similar fashion, we examine EU policy directions on emerging issues such as the openness of the Internet and the freedom of citizens to access and run applications and content. With regard to standardisation we identify challenges such as the underlying telecommunications technologies, the presentation layer of social media, the data involved and the means of interacting with social media services. For the latter, we draw attention to the complex interplay between market leaders and their competitors and correspondingly between proprietary and open standards. Moving on to the subject of privacy and security, we identify and discuss the various privacy-related issues for stakeholders to consider, including transparency, legitimate purpose, data protection, anonymity and the impact of data collection on surveillance. In addition, we consider the various challenges surrounding the protection of information as well as the potential impact of the use of new media technologies on citizens’ safety. Our findings point to the need for added measures by organisations (and possibly members of the public) with the aim to protect those with whom they are interacting. This analysis will be further developed within the COSMIC project as part of our on-going work into the various social opportunities and challenges regarding the use of new media applications in crisis management. Additional aspects that will be investigated in the final deliverable (D3.22) will include counter-surveillance (especially against misuse of power by security officials during political crises), lateral surveillance for emergency response, and utilisation of social media for mobilisation and organisation of social activists