
Age-friendly access to digital public services
Mobile Age provides the foundation for developing mobile open government services to senior citizens.
IF – 02/2019
The Mobile
Age project was launched in 2016 to ensure that older generations
can also take part in digital communication with municipalities and cities. The
interim results were discussed in an event hosted by the European Parliament’s Intergroup
on Active Aging in January 2019 called ‘The future of Europe is co-created. Digital
public services for age-friendly cities and communities.’ Mobile Age is an Horizon
2020 project funded by the European Commission which
aims to help senior citizens by facilitating access to information and services
through the use of mobile technologies (e.g., smartphones and tablets).
Four
European cities, Bremen in Germany, Lancaster in England, Zaragoza in Spain,
and Thessaloniki in Greece are developing online applications that can be used
on tablets and smartphones in an age-friendly and user-friendly way. The
special feature of the project is that older users are actively involved in the
development of content and usability. The aim of the project is better
participation in public life in old age and to define needs together and across
generations. For example, on Bremen’s website,
the rubrics of Sports & Activities, Culture and Meeting Others were
developed jointly with older people based on their needs.
The
project’s outcomes are overall positive, showing how older people can continue
to be fully involved in developing new online services. It also sends a message
for older people to be more actively involved in policy decisions, because the proportion
of the population aged over 65 is steadily growing in Europe.