This paper summarizes 14 case studies from 13 countries commissioned by Unesco to describe the educational provisions for adults in the special context of scientific and technological development and to study a selected number of programs at greater depth. The countries chosen by Unesco are all countries with developed or developing industries, that have some tradition in offering educational programs for adults and that now try to facilitate working with new technologies by these means. The following countries contributed: Australia, Czechoslovakia, Federal Republic of Germany, German Democratic Republic, Ireland, New Zealand, Poland, Republic of Korea, Romania, the Soviet Union, Sri Lanka, Sweden, and Thailand, along with the European Bureau of Adult Education, which provided input from nine additional European countries. The summary provides information and examples from the various countries in terms of the following: (1) background of the new forms of adult education; (2) the functions of adult education in societies with developed or developing industries; (3) the participants; (4) the different forms and methods; (5) content of adult programs; (6) the adult teachers and their training; (7) responsibility and costs; (8) structures; and (9) future needs. The paper concludes that despite the diversity in approaches and structures among the countries, one tendency can be distinguished: adult education is becoming increasingly important and no longer represents a second-chance education for adults or a copy of the educational system for youth, but is forming a new, unique system of education. (KC)