The primary goal of the proposed effort is to generate a set of innovative research topics on the notion of simplicity as a driving paradigm in ICT development, maintenance and use. We believe that the philosophy of simplicity is strategically important, yet poorly understood, and rarely systematically applied. Instead, design principles attempt to focus on increased functionality within thinly disguised complexity, often at the expense of life cycle costs and total cost of ownership issues (e.g., training, system malfunctions, system upgrades). Often designers are unaware of the tradeoffs and impacts. With the increased use of ICT in such socially critical areas such as healthcare, society can no longer afford systems that do not perform as specified.

We believe that an understanding of simplicity is the key. Simplicity is foundational, its essence fundamental to many desired characteristics of ICT systems such as reliability, usability and trust. Thus, we believe that knowledge gained through research on simplicity can provide the EU a sustainable competitive advantage. To gain this knowledge we must ask the right questions, we must develop the proper research directions. To do so, the IT Simply Works team will organise a set of multidisciplinary experts to assist in surveying key research communities about their understandings and vision of the philosophy of simplicity. Only through such a multidisciplinary approach can we hope to achieve a basic and yet thorough understanding of the important issues to be addressed.

The results of this effort will be presented in a final report elaborating the vision of simplicity in ICT and proposing topics, initiatives and modalities for future-directed foundational research and its transformation for benefitting Europe's citizens, businesses, industry and governments.

We are inviting you to join, contribute and extend this vision together! In case you are interested, please fill out the participation form and take the survey.