Abstract
In today’s knowledge- and information-based society, information literacy and information utilization skills are indicators of one’s competitiveness, and play a very important role in various fields (e.g., in one’s career, hobbies, as well as in daily life). In particular, information literacy and information utilization skills in older people are becoming essential for them to lead affluent lives. Moreover, information and communication technology is essential form of technology that can allow the elderly to ask for help in cases of emergency, as well as in daily life. Meanwhile, according to a recent Korean national statistical index, the digital divide among older people is more serious than that of the general public. The purpose of this paper is to statistically show that the digital divide among older people is more serious than other information-weak groups, as well as the general public. In addition, the purpose of this study is to identify the priorities that affect the digital divide among the three elements of the digital divide (digital access, digital capacity, and digital utilization) for older people. Based on that, we propose a variety of ways to solve the digital divide for older people. This study is expected to be widely used in future research and policies as a basis for solving the digital divide among older people.
Highlights
The 21st century is characterized by a knowledge- and information-based society, whereas literacy and utilization skills of information and communication technology are important for everyone to live their daily lives
We present reasonable measures to reduce the digital divide among older people
We present the previous works on the digital divide status of other countries
Summary
The 21st century is characterized by a knowledge- and information-based society, whereas literacy and utilization skills of information and communication technology are important for everyone to live their daily lives. Information and communication technology is becoming essential tool throughout all areas of everyday life, including occupation and leisure, and is the measure of individual competitiveness. Older people are the most vulnerable people in our society; they are subjects that we need to focus on as they need help in their daily lives (e.g., for physical or economic reasons, as well as for other reasons). Information and communication technology provides older people with the necessary means to lead their daily lives. Older people need basic information literacy and utilization skills. Information literacy means the ability to understand theory and principle of information; information utilization means the ability to solve ordinary problems in everyday life using various software tools, such as a word processor
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