What is Need

One of the biggest challenges for social intervention is to acquire more efficacy and innovation. The strategic detection of innovation opportunities is directly linked with the research and comprehension of unmet social and economic needs, but also with a profound evaluation of the usual ways to identify and answer to current and emergent needs. The contribution of ICTs, traditionally absent from social work and social care universes, can be very relevant at this level. Therefore, in this chapter, the authors discuss the boundaries and conceptions of (social) needs as a strategic dimension for innovation and evaluation on social intervention and reflect upon the key issues (difficulties and opportunities) associated with the use of ICTs in social work and social care systems.