Abstract
Nowadays, the depopulation of Europe’s rural areas and the ageing of the population in these areas has led to the disappearance of basic services such as supermarkets, fishmongers, household goods, etc. In response to this problem, there are European and local initiatives to mitigate these effects by investing in Internet and Communication Technologies (ICT) infrastructure and logistics services for these areas with the aim of moving services to these isolated areas. The problem with these services lies in the difficulty of the use of ICT by aged people due to digital divide and, at the same time, the high cost in human resources, time, vehicles, and fuel presented by delivery services in these areas. This work presents a system that combines the use of intelligent personal assistants (IPA) to facilitate access to information technology for aged people to place orders and the optimization of delivery routes in a rural environment by a socially-oriented logistics company. This work presents a case study based on the fixed delivery routes of a social logistics company and describes how the proposed system could help in the optimization of routes and the reception of orders by the elderly via ICTs thanks to the use of IPAs. Subsequent to the study, route cost savings have been observed as well as the homogeneity of the cost of the routes it can provide compared to a static and predefined fixed route planning. This study also shows how the IPAs make possible the reception of orders in real time placed by the older adults from their homes. This work is aimed at improving the sustainability of services in depopulated rural areas while saving costs for the logistics companies that perform these services.
Highlights
At present, 20% of the European population is over 65 years old and, according to the “Ageing Europe” report [1] of the European Commission, this percentage is expected to increase to 23.8% by 2030
Many of the people living in these areas are aged people and may have health problems, making it difficult to use private transport to access these services in near towns
It was established as a restriction that a town must be visited at least once every three weeks to maintain the company’s contact with that population
Summary
20% of the European population is over 65 years old and, according to the “Ageing Europe” report [1] of the European Commission, this percentage is expected to increase to 23.8% by 2030. Rural areas in southern Europe like the one mentioned previously are experiencing a depopulation [3] which is affecting them and aggravating their situation This depopulation is causing the closure of local services and businesses in local towns due to their lack of customer demand. This means the extinction of basic services (supermarket, clothing store, fruit shop, parts store, etc.) in an increasing number of towns in Europe where they were previously provided and, people of these towns are compelled to travel to nearby towns to access these services. Thetescehansiqsuisetsantotsparolscoesssetnhde itnhfeorimnfaotriomnarteioceniv(eadnsawndercso)mthprloetuegthhearecqounevsetresdaaticotnio.n Fifropmosstihbele.scTiheensteific liteatrhsaestiussrtyaesn,tettshmeaalsstyiocsstreeenmvdiaettwhiceprieenvrffiooerrwmmapetdeiorfbnoy(ramDneesdwBebarrysc)eDltohesrBoeautrgcahel.lao[1sc0oe]nt pvarel.ers[s1ea0nti]tospnar.eFgsreeonnmetsrtaahlegaesrccnhieeirntaetlicftaiucrrclehitieotrefacVttuuArrese,. of VADs.iaDgiraagmraomf Foigf uFriegu1rseu1msmuamrimzeasrtizheesotvheeraolvl feuranlcltifounnicntgioonfitnhgesoefstyhsetseemssy. sFtiegmurse. 1Fisghuorwes1hsohwowthsehseow thessyestseymstsememspelmoypldoiyffedrieffnetrteencthtneicqhuneisqoufeasrotiffiacriatilfiicnitaellliingteenlcliegetoncceomtopcleotme pealecthesetaecphinstveoplviendvoinlvtehde in theVVAAssnnoormrmalaol poepreartaiotino.n
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