3rd e-age: Digital Empowerment of the Elderly

The initiative of National Academy of Digital Competences in Greece “3 e-age: Digital Empowerment of the Elderly", aims to tailor individual training and customised support to the elderly provided by Digital Assistants-Trainers, in order to perform basic digital tasks. The elderly get the opportunity to habituate to the use of their personal ICT equipment, to create and exchange information and data, to build capability to request and receive digital services and to enjoy communication and sharing with their loved ones at a basic level of security and a fair amount of digital citizenship. This action is aligned with national strategy of  digital transformation of the country (Digital Transformation Paper 2020-2025) and EU policy  (Digital Decade 2030) for reducing the digital divide in basic digital skill of citizens. This good practice tackles also  the pillar Digital Skills for All: developing digital skills to enable all citizens to be active in our digital society, of the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition.

The initiative is inspired by the social ambition to reach out, motivate and provide digital literacy services to elderly citizens deploying the local government network and the benefits of the principle of subsidiarity. Therefore, the sessions are held in wisely selected civic amenity sites, quasi-seniors’ comfort zones, the “Digital Corners”, which create the fabric of habits that foster social membership. In this context, the integration of ICT equipment into the daily activities with the guidance of the “Digital Assistants-Trainers”, transforms the upskilling sessions into a vibrant experience of developing habits. The “Digital Assistants-Trainers” play an important role for the success of the initiative with respects to the customised learning or support provided to the specific age group and the wide variety of backgrounds of the participants. Therefore, the sessions consist of interactive learning to meet participants’ needs and expectations, while the “Digital Assistants-Trainers” are a) trained to work under the principles of adult education and b) encouraged to genuinely motivate older people to use technology with confidence, responsibility and safety.

Key results

As regards to participation and inclusion, the initiative has been welcomed by the elderly in rural areas without any gender, education or occupation disparities. More than 1,400 beneficiaries with an average age of 71,5 years, have engaged to more than 7,000 digital skills development sessions. The demographics showed that the majority of the beneficiaries were women - 71,6% of total participants - retired - 88,7% of total participants - and between 55-80 years of age - 91% of total participants.

Why is this a good practice? 

A customer satisfaction survey was conducted, indicating high adoption to individual needs, while delivering strong results in terms of digital services use and program reuse. More than 94% of the participants rated the overall satisfaction at a high and very high level - 15,2% (4/5), 78,9% (5/5) - while a significant proportion of participants, exceeding 89%, reported increased digital applications use and confidence. Furthermore, more than 90 % of the participants said they would use the program frequently if made permanent, of whom more than 80% would return to it very often. Finally, the digital communities which were set up by the participants and the “Digital Assistants-Trainers”  indicate the positive acceptance of the program along with the continuous engagement in digital skills improvement.

The initiative has been rolled out in 6 municipalities in cooperation with local government authorities by now. Moreover, the initiative was drafted under RRF provisions and encompasses geographical, educational and social expansion. The wider geography in scope, will be reached through the national network of the local development institutions, providing scale and engaging beneficiaries across the country.