Europe - older people and ICTs

Final Report of the Seniorwatch 2 Study - Assessment of the Senior Market for ICT Progress and Developments
see also e-inclusion

The SeniorWatch 2 study followed up developments in the ICT markets for older people, as they can be observed since 2002 when the first SeniorWatch study was conducted.

In conceptual regard, the analysis relates to three different ICT utilisation contexts that have particular relevance to the aging population as follows: • Usage of ICT in everyday life that are becoming increasingly important when it comes to participating in social and economic processes. This aspect had been extensively addressed by the first SeniorWatch study which provided strong evidence for the existence of a considerable access and usage gap as well as multi-layer causations. • Application of ICT with a view to enhancing quality of life and the provision of health and social care to older people. Again, this area was already addressed by the first SeniorWatch study which yielded strong evidence for the existing of a yet largely unmet demand in this area. • Utilisation of ICT with a view to enable an older workforce to better cope with working life. This is an area that had not been investigated in great detail by the 1st SeniorWatch study, but some other research suggests that opportunities do exists in this regard.