In October of last year experts from different research disciplines, like control engineering, systems engineering, sociology, art, philosophy, and politics met in Krems (Austria) to discuss the interplay between recent developments in automation and the culture and social framework, with special emphasis on the approaches in the East and the West. Main topics of these intensive discussions were technology design, automation software and culture, social conditions, education, computer and art, design of man-machine-systems, CIM and culture as well as appropriate methods for interdisciplinary research. A selection of papers presented at this conference can be found in this volume.