SMIT is a multidisciplinary research center founded in 1990 that focuses on socio-economic, user, and policy aspects of information and communication technologies. It has over 30 researchers and research projects studying topics like social influences on technology, user practices, business models, cultural changes, health technologies, and more. SMIT works to contribute to an accessible information society through fundamental and applied research.

1. Studies on
Media,
Information and
Telecommunication
12/18/07 1

2. In summary
Key Facts
SMIT, is a multidisciplinary research centre for
Studies on Media, Information and Founded 1990 by Prof.
Telecommunication. Dr. Jean-Claude
Burgelman
It focuses on socio-economic, user and policy Director Prof. Dr.
aspects of Information & Communication Caroline Pauwels
Technologies and underlying infrastructures.
33 FTE researchers
(2007)
SMIT combines both fundamental and
applied research, and has been active in short
7 PhD (FWO/IWT)
and long term, as well as national and
programs (2007)
European research projects.
30 Research Projects
The centre endeavours a multidisciplinary (2007)
course with researchers within the fields of
communication science, sociology, political Partner in COST, ENCIP,
IAMCR, ECREA
science, economy, arts, etc.
Cooperation framework
In 2004, SMIT became part of the IBBT with TNO
initiative, and became IBBT-SMIT.
From 2008 on, new
premises:
IBBT-VUB Offices
Pleinlaan 9
2nd floor.
1050 Brussel

3. Key Competence
In order to contribute to the rise of a ‘user-friendly’ Information Society,
IBBT-SMIT has a triple, intertwined research scope.
1. Studies on social shaping of technologies & domestication in daily
practices. SMIT aims at formulating recommendations ex ante
technological engineering.
2. For a user-friendly information society to emerge, policy and regulatory
options and foresights are studied on their inherent strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
3. In-depth analyses on how ICT affect the overall business modelling of
converging multimedia & multiplatform industries is performed.

4. Digital Media Policy
Policy considerations have always been at the Key Projects
heart of our research on media, ICT and
telecommunications. IBBT-SMIT sees policy
PhD programme on EU,
analysis as an overall analytical framework to
WTO and national
understand government policy- both in its actions regulation issues in Media
and failures to act- and regulation. and Creative Industries.
Video-q-sac: IBBT (Video
Quality). Video streaming,
webTV, and other visual
content are becoming
more important. In video-
q sac the focus is on
Methodology: strategic uses of DRM and
 within a political economic framework, analysing the surrounding changes
how policy comes about, how different in copyright systems. It
stakeholders influence policy, how different layers also analyses the debate
of policy formulation interact and what the on Net Neutrality.
consequences are.
BILA II: (Flemish
 evaluative approaches, assessing outcomes and Government) Next
impacts against set objectives and goals Generation Networks.
 assessing outcomes and impacts against While industrialized
theoretical and moral frameworks countries are enhancing
their networks fast (IPTV,
 foresight studies making use of qualitative
VoIP,...) the question
research methods
remains what these new
developments mean for
Prof.dr. Caroline Pauwels the developing world.
(collaborative research
cpauwels@vub.ac.be
exchange between IBBT-
+32 2 629 16 29 SMIT and LINK Centre in
Johannesburg, S.A.).
Prof.dr. Leo Van Audenhove
leo.van.audenhove@vub.ac.be
+32 2 629 16 32

5. Media Market &
Innovation
The convergence and pervasiveness of media, Key Projects
telecom and the internet increases product and
service complexity and forces companies to
SPICE: IP FP6 (Service
rethink their business model. IBBT-SMIT analyses
Platform for Innovative
constant evolutions and shifts in the ICT market Communication
structure. We benchmark existing business Environment)
models, detect market trends and assess the development of a next
viability and potential implications of future generation mobile services
business models. platform (Alcatel Lucent,
France Telecom, ...).
E2RII: IP FP6 (End-to-
end Reconfigurability)
development, trial and
showcasing of
architectural design of
reconfigurable devices and
supporting system
functions to offer an
extensive set of
operational choices to
telecom actors in the
context of heterogeneous
systems (Nokia, Motorola,
...)
Methodology: MADUF: IBBT. Value
value network analysis network and financial
modelling of Mobile TV
business stakeholder interviews and workshops
using the DVB-H standard.
business model development and simulation tools
Partners include VRT,
Belgacom and Telenet.
.
Pieter Ballon
pieter.ballon@vub.ac.be
+32 2 629 16 26

6. Digital Media Use
The ‘Media - User Research’ cluster aims at Key Projects
rethinking new media technology and services
through user practices. The user expertise is
MADUF:IBBT (Maximising
situated on private as well as on professional level,
DVB-H Usage in Flanders)
mainly in the domains of e-entertainment and e- Setting up and leading an
work: interactive television, mobile applications, e- ad hoc Living Lab for
publishing, gaming, etc. Mobile TV services using
DVB-H technology. We
focus on potential
transition in viewing
practices and mobility of
television (Belgacom,
Telenet, ...)
LLECOS: (Living Lab
Experiments in
Community Sharing).
Testing a new kind of
personal broadcast
channels between
individuals (currently
developed by Microsoft
Methodology: Research Cambridge)
 investigation of the social context of new media delivering content
use and domestication among people and in continuously across
different types of offline and online communities. mobile and desktop
platforms. (Microsoft, i-
 user findings are embedded in the innovation
City)
process by using an iterative multi-method
approach in conceptualising, experimenting and E-Paper: IBBT The digital
evaluating new media. newspaper on electronic
 research is often framed within a broader Living paper. Setting up the first
Lab setting (focus on the new media use by people Living Lab with an
in their everyday setting). electronic newspaper
device. The outcome led
to redesigning the device
Prof.dr. Jo Pierson in order to better link in
jpierson@vub.ac.be with the social context and
reader practices. (i-REX,
+32 2 629 16 27
De Tijd)

7. Culture in the Network
Society
Research within this cluster(Cultuurlab) is situated Key Projects
at the intersection of culture and new media, or so
called e-culture. It studies the transitions in
Heritage 2.0 (IBBT) This
cultural creation, cultural distribution and
projects combines three
presentation, cultural participation and cultural main challenges: the
policy in the network society. creation of a common
metadatamodel for the
Flemish cultural heritage
sector, research regarding
the required network
technology to pass
location-based information
within, and the
development of a generic
system for the automatic
generation of context and
visitor related data.
Research questions: Pokumon (IBBT) This
How are real and virtual culture interwoven and aims at the development
of a disclosure tool for
how does this hybrid cultural world change the
multimedia content of
practices of cultural creation and participation?
Flemish performing arts.
Is the new generation experiencing culture in a This to fulfil the need to
new, more active way? disclose archived material
How can we understand the new relations to several categories of
end-users according to a
between cultural content and cultural actors in a
standardised metadata
network society?
exchange model.
How are existing roles in the cultural field
changing in the context of a hybrid cultural Policy Research (CJSM)
domain? The centre for Policy
Research on Culture,
Youth & Sports is a
Gert Nulens consortium for
fundamental and policy
gert.nulens@vub.ac.be
driven research for the
+32 2 629 16 44 Flemish Government.
Within this consortium
SMIT is responsible for the
research track concerning
e-culture.

8. Health care & well
being
Key Projects
eHealth is a relatively recent IBBT-SMIT research
domain in full development. Because of the public-
COPLINTHO: IBBT
private character of the sector, specific expertise is (Innovative
necessary. The eHealth cluster of IBBT-SMIT has Communication Platforms
for Interactive
expertise in doing socio-technical research on the
eHomeCare) developing a
interplay between health care practices and new multi-media platform
ICT developments. supporting the care
process
IM3: IBBT (Interactive
Mobile Medical Monitoring)
tele-monitoring with
cardiac patients at home
TRANSECARE: IBBT
(Transparant ICT
platforms for eCare)
Supporting independent
living of people with
degenerative
dependencies using home
care platforms
Methodology:
A multi-stakeholder perspective (patients,
informal and formal care takers, hospitals,
insurers, medical call centres, ...) is adhered in
our user research on current and future practices
and the experience of them in their everyday life,
as well as in the business analyses of plausible
business models.
Dr. An Jacobs
an.jacobs@vub.ac.be
+32 2 629 16 48

9. iLAB.o
iLab.o - open innovation in ICT - sets up test
and experimentation platforms and performs
Living Lab research for achieving policy and
business goals using experimental methods as
well as a multi-stakeholder analysis and co-
design with users, policy and business partners.
It is part of the IBBT-SMIT and IBBT-ETRO
research group based at the Vrije Universiteit
Brussel, Belgium, and makes use of a WiFi
mesh pilot network in the heart of Brussels.
Pieter Ballon
pieter.ballon@vub.ac.be
+32 2 629 16 26
WiFi mesh pilot network VUB Campus

10. Vrije Universiteit Brussel - IBBT
SMIT: Studies on Media, Information
and Telecommunication
Pleinlaan 9 - 1050 Brussels
www.smit.vub.ac.be - www.ibbt.be
IBBT-SMIT Contact:
Hans.De.Canck@vub.ac.be