The Grey Digital Divide and Citizenship

1
The Grey Digital Divide and Citizenship

• Anne Morris

2
Structure

• What is citizenship?
• Internet usage
• Current use of Internet by older people
• The ageing society
• Barriers of access to Internet
• How can we improve digital literacy?
• Conclusion

3
Citizenship

• refers to the equal membership of a national
  societal community, where those individual
  citizens are theoretically guaranteed equal
  rights of speech, association, etc., and equal
  rights of political participation. Bagguley
  ()
• Objective dimension specific rights and
  obligations
• Subjective dimension a sense of loyalty and
  belonging to a community (community
  participation)

4
E-government

• Huge and growing
• UK has approx 9 million pages in .gov.uk domain
• Number of users of web pages growing
  exponentially

5
Users of e.direct.gov.uk
Data obtained from http//www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk
/e-government/resources/webstats.asp
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Internet Use by Life Stage, 2003-2005
Source Oxford Institute Research Surveys
2003/2005
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50 Age Concern 50 Own survey
26 Age Concern 28 Own survey
8 Age Concern 10 Own survey
8
UK age distribution, 1955-2055

• Source Government Actuary's Department (GAD),
  2003 principal projections and Office for
  National Statistics (ONS)

9
Age composition of the older population, UK
Source http//www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.as
p?id1263
10
Aged over 100 in the UK
Figure 3 Projected number of people aged 100 and
over, 2005-2050, UK                             
                                                  
                                                  
      
Source GAD, 2003 principal projections and
Office for National Statistics
11
Survey work

• Lots of surveys
• Own work In-depth interviews of 120 computer
  users and non-users with people aged 55 in
  Derbyshire. Also interviewed IT Trainers.
• Age Concern, IMC, Selwyn et al, Fox, Coyne and
  Nielsen, Milward, Mates, Cody et al, Goodman et
  al

12
Current use of Internet by older people

• 70-87 of Internet users aged 55 access from home

Managing bank accounts
Research holidays flights
News
Contacting family and friends
Family history
Local information
Range of activities declines with age
13
Gender differences

• Female
• Email
• Holidays
• Online games

• Men
• Finding information
• Hobbies
• Internet banking
• Checking news
• Online shopping

14
Regional differences

• Higher take-up of Internet use of over 60s in
  the South East
• Older users in North more likely to use for
  hobbies (78 compared to 69 in South/Midlands)
• London surfers more interested in banking than
  elsewhere (38 compared to 32 elsewhere)

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Impact

• Two-thirds of ICM survey thought the Internet has
  had a positive impact on their lives
• Online shopping
• Communicating with others
• Increased confidence, boost self-esteem
• Keeping mentally alert and contemporary

16
Keeping mentally alert

• Learning can delay onset of age-related diseases
  such Alzheimers and dementia (Swindell, 2000,
  p252)
• Older adults with lower educational levels more
  likely to end up institutionalised than those
  with higher educational levels (NIACE, 2002, p20
• People who do crosswords and play chess are less
  likely to get dementia

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Barriers of access
Access to IT
Lack of IT skills experience
Web design
Fear of new technology
Feeling too old
Barriers
Cost
Lack of interest
Concerns about security privacy
Design of equipment
Disability
18
Interest in the Internet by life stage (2005)
Source Oxford Internet Institute surveys
2003/2005
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How can we improve digital literacy

• Make the internet relevant for older users
• Baby Boomers Bistro Silver Surfers'
  website
• Improve web design
• Promote benefits, citizenship activities public
  services
• Develop confidence and skills in using ICTs
• Provide suitable training
• Make special equipment easily available
• Accessible technology
• Provide financial support Financial help

20
Age Concern digital competency framework

• Level 0 Unengaged
• Never used ICTs, or not in the last 3 months
• Level 1 Digital Communicators
• Use ICTs to communicate in new ways
• Level 2 Digital Enquirers
• Comfortable accessing interactive content, plus
  all activities of Digital Communicators
• Level 3 Digital Transactors
• Comfortable carrying out digital transactions and
  contributing content, plus all activities of
  Digital Enquirers

Source E-Government Briefing Outlook 16 Nov 2004
21
Training older adults

• Raising the PC literacy of a population
  provides every person with the opportunity to
  participate in the global economy. Britains
  leaders can address the overall competitiveness
  of the British economy by developing older
  peoples computer skills.
• Intel Corporation Chairman Craig Barrett.

22
Training

• Learndirect
• Local library
• Local community college
• Local community centre
• UK Online centres
• Age Concern

23
Conclusions

• Ageing society 50 of population over 50 by 2030
• A grey digital divide is evident
• Some evidence that this divide is reducing
• We mustnt be complacent to ensure active
  participation in society

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• Just because people reach a certain age does
  not mean that they should be written off. Through
  our work with Britains seniors we know that many
  of them still have a huge amount to offer to
  society and the economy.  However, we are
  increasingly worried that some older people will
  be left behind. There is no doubt that computer
  skills provide the key to a more enriched later
  life allowing increased independence, mental
  stimulation, and access to information and
  services, not to mention potential savings of
  200-300 per year for the average internet
  shopper.