The aim of this study was to identify clearly the potentials and opportunities created by the rapid progress in information and communication technologies (ICTs) with respect to meeting the challenges of the ageing EU population; to analyse in depth the risks and problems posed by the rapid growth of the knowledge society and diffusion of ICTs for elderly people; to explore whether industry provides products and services which meet the specific requirements of elderly users. This involved providing reliable estimates about the size and structure of such markets in Europe, and assessing the extent to which EU industry is prepared to respond to imminent changes in market demand; to identify policy measures and programmes that have proven to be successful in exploiting the opportunities and avoiding the risks posed by Information Society developments; and to help understand the conditions under which such policies could be transferred to other contexts, i.e. act as good practice examples to be emulated in a process of benchlearning and to outline the key elements of required policy responses (in the form of new policy approaches and adaptations of existing policies) which are needed in order to minimise the risks and maximise the benefits of technological development for the elderly.
Full description: The aim of this study was to identify clearly the potentials and opportunities created by the rapid progress in information and communication technologies (ICTs) with respect to meeting the challenges of the ageing EU population; to analyse in depth the risks and problems posed by the rapid growth of the knowledge society and diffusion of ICTs for elderly people; to explore whether industry provides products and services which meet the specific requirements of elderly users. This involved providing reliable estimates about the size and structure of such markets in Europe, and assessing the extent to which EU industry is prepared to respond to imminent changes in market demand; to identify policy measures and programmes that have proven to be successful in exploiting the opportunities and avoiding the risks posed by Information Society developments; and to help understand the conditions under which such policies could be transferred to other contexts, i.e. act as good practice examples to be emulated in a process of benchlearning and to outline the key elements of required policy responses (in the form of new policy approaches and adaptations of existing policies) which are needed in order to minimise the risks and maximise the benefits of technological development for the elderly.
Through its multi-method approach including literature analyses, secondary analyses of representative survey data and expert interviews the study measured how the use of ICTs can have a positive impact on the quality of life of older individuals, enabling a better understanding of the abilities and willingness of older persons to use ICTs. This allowed analysing as to how technologies can be developed that are more appropriate for the needs of older people, how support in the use of these technologies can be better organised and how public intervention can contribute to achieve these goals, what the technological barriers are for older people and develop a better understanding of the reasons that utilisation of technology and the comfort using it decreases with age as well as propose solutions to compensate the lack of access to and the use of technologies. In subsequent work analysis continued of the risk of differential access to new technologies and an increasing digital divide between the older and the younger generations in order to develop a strategy for Information Society Technologies which face the demographic change and to what extent market mechanisms, under the pressure of demographic ageing, could help resolving the problem of accessibility of new technologies for older people.
Through its approach, the study provided figures on the market