For a number of years, the Parliamentary Office for the evaluation of scientific and technological choices has taken an interest in the impact of the new information and communications technologies on the daily life of the public. This new report considers the use of these tools for educational and civic purposes. What should be the place and the functions of the computer, and the role of networks, in every school curriculum? As regards education, the report stresses how the present situation can give rise to inequalities: there is no generalisation of local initiatives. However there is a need for a determined policy, in this field as in that of civics: the objective of a democracy is to create the conditions in which a member of the public not only receives respect, but can also participate in the political life of the country. Using the new information and communications technologies is a prerequisite for the development of political life. The issues raised by networks are far more than any technical problem: in the future neither the role of the press nor the public’s way of thinking will be the same.