The primary goal of this project is to study the nature of adoption and social absorption of mobile technologies and services in the segment with the highest usage and adoption rates, the youth. This objective follows the argument that true mobile innovation will arise when the adolescents of today become working adults; this is because this is the most adaptive user base that learns to assimilate new technologies in unique ways. The work plan of the project consists of four phases:

1. Literature and Background
2. Field Studies and Surveys
3. Synthesis and Reporting
4. Exploitation and Diffusion

The contribution of this project is the understanding of the continuous impacts of the mobile telephony and services in respect to:

• Social Changes among teenagers. In which way the mobile phone affects the social relationships of the youngsters? Are there any correlations between communication patterns and social networks? Which are the needs for communication of the teenager and how the mobile phone facilitates the communication process? Which is the role of the family? Does the mobile phone increase the feeling of security and the level of independency?
• Education and the school environment. Do school rules inhibit the need for communication? Which is the response of the teenager? Could the mobile technology characteristics enhance the operational processes of schools? For instance, with the Short Messaging Service the teachers could inform the parents when their kids are absent or the pupils could be informed about their grades.
• Business prospects and opportunities. Companies participating in the mobile industry should segment, analyze and target the youth market with a unique, flexible and at a minimum cost product offering. Thus, the analysis of the social behaviour and the communications usage patterns of the youngsters is a valuable tool for all the actors in the mobile value chain. More than this, as the youth of today will be the professional mobile users of tomorrow, this study will serve as a gauge of future demand patterns.
• Development of Descriptive Social Interaction Scenarios. (case studies of how mobile technologies are being assimilated in the daily life of adolescents).