Abstract
Telecenters take on a prominent role within the current information and communications technology (ICT) ecosystem in Brazil. They are seen by a great many as a key means to foster the digital inclusion of the older population in the country. This paper draws upon a rapid ethnographic study conducted with 78 older people in a center that teaches computer classes to seniors in Brazil. The results show that providing older people with technological infrastructures is not enough to strengthen their digital inclusion if their basic and non-instrumental needs are not taken into consideration in defining educational activities to be carried out in public centers. Participants’ basic needs when it comes to interacting with ICT, such as coping with accessibility issues, were dynamic, whilst non-instrumental needs, fulfilled by using these technologies, such as interacting with relevant others, remained fairly constant throughout the study. Drawing on the results of the study, strategies for fostering the digital inclusion and well-being of older people in Brazil that go beyond telecenters are suggested.
Highlights
Despite important efforts to foster digital inclusion in Brazil, most of its aging adults have never accessed the Internet
Providing citizens with a technological infrastructure and places where they can use computers and go online is a step forward towards increasing their digital inclusion, why would older people want to go to telecenters? What daily needs do they have that could be fulfilled by using information and communications technology (ICT)? And how do we enable older people to meet their needs in public access centers (PAC)? Do we organize formal or informal courses, or both? Warschauer (2004) claims that what is most important is not so much the physical availability of computers and the Internet, but rather people’s ability to make use of these technologies to engage in meaningful social practices
Coping with technical accessibility issues, difficulties in having physical access to computers and a lack of independence when using them were the most important and basic needs that participants had to fulfill in order to use ICT autonomously and truly uptake these technologies
Summary
Despite important efforts to foster digital inclusion in Brazil, most of its aging adults have never accessed the Internet. We aim to contribute to foster the digital inclusion of older people in Brazil. We argue that social policies have concentrated on providing older people with an appropriate technological infrastructure, which is of the utmost importance if we want them to access digital resources. We argue that assuming that this physical aspect of digital inclusion will encourage older people to use computers and the Internet is risky. If they have the infrastructure and technology, but we do not know how to put them at the service of our older citizens, we might not achieve our objective
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