Micro-census studies in Europe prove that baby and infant care not only concern a large part of humankind but also have far-reaching implications on politics and economy. This seems especially obvious when taking into account the decreasing fertility rate and the resulting demographic consequences. Low female employment rates and economic and legal obstacles to a more equal sharing of parental leave, as well as a societal neglect of the father's role in the education of small children, prompted the initiative to develop baby-care guide customized for men's needs.

This free and anonymous service is offered as a digital online guide for fathers-to-be. It is based on Adobe Flash technology and is installed on an open Internet platform. The playful content of the guide aims at helping men to acquaint themselves with the key basics for infant health care.

The guide seeks to raise men's social awareness on the one hand, and on the other, provide them with didactically founded and medically substantiated information on child health care. By providing the guide for free, socially or geographically disadvantaged people are not excluded from the service.

Based on the positive experience with DAD in Austria, the overall aim of the project, starting in June 2007, is to evaluate its deployment to other European markets. The localised versions of the service will be installed in the partner countries Austria, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Poland, and Romania. A comprehensive evaluation of the service in each market will take place over the project's eighteen-month duration in which the acceptance of the service by users is validated and an assessment from the sponsors' side undertaken.

After the successful implementation of the service in the participating countries, the goal of the DAD Project is to present a deployment plan and business strategy to pave the way for European-wide deployment of the service.