L4D Learning for Democracy

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                                    PREFACE

Information, communication and media technologies have transformed the economy and our everyday lives in the last decades, and continue to surprise and challenge us with novel uses and unforeseen effects on society. While instrumental uses of technology, for information processing, military and business efficiency often leads the way, playful and social uses follow close behind, quickly becoming a fundamental part of contemporary culture. However, in addressing the social challenges of society – exclusion, unemployment, ill health, educational failure, discrimination – use of these products and techniques often lag behind or are even blamed for creating new social barriers.
Previous research has demonstrated how 'conventional' ICTs such as the PC and internet applications can support socio-economic inclusion processes for populations at risk of exclusion such as migrants, youth at risk, and the elderly and their carers. Recent growth of research and commercial activity in the use of digital games for non-leisure activities and the promise of gamification as a building block of social innovation promoted DG CNCT and the JRC-IPTS to launch a study, Digital Games for Empowerment and Inclusion. The goal was to better understanding of how this hugely popular media form is being applied to issues of concern for social inclusion policy, and inform future policy options.
The main output of the study is the JRC Scientific and Policy report " The Potential of Digital Games for Empowerment and Social Inclusion of Groups at Risk of Social and Economic Exclusion: Evidence and Opportunity for Policy. This is accompanied by two JRC technical reports, of which this is one. This report provides a picture of the industrial, market and policy context of digital games, both the mainstream videogame industry, and an emerging 'serious games and gamification' industry. It has presents a wide range of descriptive and analytical material in a form accessible to readers with no existing knowledge of the field, drawing primarily on a JRC-IPTS report on videogames and a series of market reports produced by the research team LUDOSCIENCE with business intelligence publisher IDATE. It then reflects on the potential of these industries to support the use of digital games for inclusion and empowerment, and the potential facilitating role of policy.
It is hoped that this report will support policy makers and other stakeholder in their decisions about the potentially exciting contribution to economic and social goals of the creative, cultural and technological industries that develop digital games and gamification"