TNO Research Institute invites ePractice.eu users to take part in a quick survey on the user experience and impact of ePractice.eu. The survey contains 10 questions which only require a few minutes to be answered to.

Research institute TNO Information and Communication Technology in the Netherlands and the Danish Technological Institute (DTI) are conducting a comprehensive study on the impact of social computing on the public sector, a research which has been commissioned by the European Union's Joint Research Centre (IPTS).

The overall aim of the study is to analyse the effects of social computing trends (take-up and use of social networking websites such as MySpace, YouTube, Wikipedia) on public service sectors (e.g. healthcare and education sector).

The study consists of several research steps such as a literature study, case studies, surveys and a foresight exercise. Until the beginning of December 2008, the research is in the stage of conducting surveys on 4 types of social computing websites, namely: support communities (e.g. Endometriosis UK), professional communities (e.g. Doctors.net.uk), political communities (e.g. petities.nl) and crime watch communities (e.g. Geluidsnet).

The aim of the survey is to gain insight into the drive for users to participate in online social communities and the impact the participation has on existing services, processes and organizations.

Participation in the survey is completely anonymous. The data collected through the survey will be used only for the purposes of the social computing research. When the survey is completed, all data will be destroyed; TNO will remove all data from their computer systems and destruct all printed survey data.

The research will end in February 2009. After completion, the results of the research will be published on the ePractice.eu portal.

Further information:

• Link to the TNO ePractice online survey