There is no doubt that the modern societies or, better, the modern society as a whole, has to cope with an extremely interesting and, at the same time, equally critical social phenomenon of change. Although both social change and the management of change are not unknown in the history of human civilization and not outside the experience of the human race, this specific case has nevertheless the characteristics of a very difficult, serious and urgent problem as concerns both the present and the future of human societies.

It is obvious that the reference here is to the sudden, unexpected, extremely rapid and unbelievably wide and deep penetration of the so called Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in almost every aspect and side of the modern human life. The quality of this change, i.e. the creation of a parallel digital environment for human day-to-day activities (e-banking, e-learning etc.) and the quantity of this change, expressed in terms of speed, size, areas of influence and magnitude of power, make this case of change unique in the history of humankind and, at the same time, its management by the modern societies extremely difficult.

We should take into account that an enormous amount of changes, bringing forth a lot of new and hitherto unknown things, activities, capabilities, possibilities, media etc., took place almost within a single human generation. We should, thus, admit that the society and especially the scientific society must react both in time and with the broader possible view of the whole situation, if we are to cope effectively with this modern kind of the 'genie of Aladdin'. And, fortunately, this is obviously the case, if we take into account the extensive number of scientific activities (conferences, workshops, publications etc.), organized, taking place all over the world and covering every aspect of the problem at hand.

The workshop entitled 'Surveillance in Academia', organized by the Ionian University, Department of Archive and Library Sciences, in collaboration with LiSS (Living in Surveillance Societies Programme), is a very good example of such a scientific reaction and approach, which tries not only to handle the unavoidable technicalities of a new environment, but, at the same time, to address very important aspects of the whole situation, aspects having to do with attitudes, ethical and moral issues, established practices etc.

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