Sympathy for the cyborg: research visions in the information socieity

Information and communications technologies are encroaching on every sphere of modern life. New modes of networking and cross‐referencing are revolutionizing our management of data and thus the concept of knowledge itself. Now the advent of embedded technology and artificial intelligence promise to re‐open the debate about whether we are becoming masters of technology or its slaves. Co‐ordinating public policy with product‐oriented R&D has never been more important, for either the economic or cultural future of Europe.