There has been much talk in recent years about  "The Information Society". The term arises from the fact that private individuals, workers and organisations are becoming increasingly information dependent. People use such technology for a whole range of everyday tasks, ranging from important financial transactions through cooperating with others to home entertainment. We use information systems in all kinds of situations; at home and at work, on business trips and on holidays, while we are stationary and while we are moving.

The information systems that we use in our everyday life are typically composed of a whole range of sub-systems, connected and working together using communications networks (e.g. internet-based computer games). The dependencies between sub-systems can be many and varied in large composite systems. Construction, testing and adoption of such systems requires deep insight into a wide variety of human, organisational and technological challenges. Our expertise at SINTEF covers this whole spectrum, and our work on methods, tools and techniques simplifies the task of building secure and dependable systems which match the real needs of their users.