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An article written by Jonas Mielke

Bremen. A Sunday in Zaragoza, Spain. The sun is burning, it's hot in the north-East of Spain. For seniors, the heat can become a hurdle: Should we go outside? Should we wait for the bus, if there were no tree that provide shade? When do we need to leave to get home before nightfall?

These information are relevant for seniors, but the card services of major Internet providers do not provide it. They show the fastest connections for car, bike and train, where the nearest car sharing station is, or in which bars in the city it is still busy late at night. This is relevant for people who naturally move through the digital world. Other information is important for seniors. Where is a bench for a short break on a walk? No offer, no users. Computer Science Professor Herbert Kubicek from the University of Bremen says it's like with the hen and the egg. "Seniors say: "There's nothing in there for me, then I won't buy the expensive device or the Internet connection," says Kubicek. An investment dilemma. At the same time, there are also few special pages for seniors on the Internet, because so few are online.

In Germany, ten million people over 70 years have never been on the Internet. This figure comes from Kubicek's study "Use and Benefits of the Internet in Old Age". "It does not include people who just wrote an e-mail," he says. "Otherwise, there would be another ten million people." Kubicek, together with a large telecommunications company, awarded tablets to senior citizens' institutions for the study. Before and after, he interviewed people. "Older people are generally more careful when they don't dare to do something," says Kubicek. "If they feel they can't handle it, they won’t try." The psychologists call this self-efficacy expectation. In order to overcome the inhibition, Kubicek has experienced two central motivations of seniors, which bring them into the internet. Family relations and mobility. "Everything to do with maps or bus schedules is exciting," says Kubicek.

This is where the four pilot projects of the EU research programme "Mobile Age" come in. In Zaragoza, maps are being created that take account of barriers for seniors, in Thessaloniki a health app is being developed, in Lancaster, England an event app especially for seniors and in Bremen digital city district guide have been created. Juliane Jarke leads the Bremen project, the computer scientist works at the Institute for Information Management (Ifib) at the University of Bremen. She collects data that are interesting for mobile seniors in Bremen. The prototype for the district Hemelingen is online now, for Osterholz it already exists a few months. A mobile website that displays cultural facilities, meetings and advice, but also routes for walks, benches, toilets or sports and exercise activities. On an interactive map, users can click on the places they want to see on the map. This way, seniors can plan from home or quickly check what is in their area on the way. "In the development of technology for seniors, the focus is often only on deficits," says Jarke. "But many seniors are very active, and want to develop something in this direction."

The presentation as a mobile website and not in an app is important for the target group. "Seniors often have older devices that they get from their families," says Jarke. "With apps it will then be difficult to offer something sustainable for all different and older operating systems." The mobile website is more accessible. Users were involved in the development of the digital district signpost. "You can't develop an offer like this in a vacuum," emphasizes Jarke. They went through the city districts together, noted down and digitized the data. "There is a lot of potential for society in the expertise of seniors," says Jarke. She hopes that also in other city districts in Bremen older people will found groups and also create aa similar guide.

Some of the helpers in Osterholz and Hemelingen have never had a tablet in their hand, others already fit in the digital world. "The youngest was 55 years old, the oldest 80," says Jarke. On the one hand the web page is for all seniors in the districts, but also for helpers in order to support and motivate them. "The project idea is much more motivating for seniors than abstract explanations about the devices or the Internet," says Jarke. This is how you learn faster to handle the devices.

Günther Meyer has been a participant from the very beginning. The 68-year-old used to work as a software developer and engineer. He's retired now. "He went to every park bench in order to see if they existed," says Juliane Jarke about Meyer. "In Hemelingen alone there were a few hundred," he says.

Meyer from the city of Bremen has the data. Open data of the administration, which Meyer has checked and which will be digitized and made usable by the project. Whether he now also uses the digital city district guide himself? "I've been everywhere," he says, laughing. But some other helpers would have discovered completely new corners during the tours of data collection. The helpers noticed that Meyer knew the answer to many technical questions. The 68-year-old has been working with computers for a long time. "The desire arose for me to lead a group." Since January Meyer now offers a computer meeting in the community centre in Hemelingen on a voluntary basis. "I don't do lectures there," says Meyer. "We always try to find a solution together. "Problems with photos and images, dialing into the W-Lan or adding contacts: Simple things that you can quickly solve when you have someone to help you," says Meyer.

For Herbert Kubicek, such consultation hours are the best way to bring seniors to the Internet - and to keep them there. "We need a nation-wide infrastructure for consultation hours and permanent assistance," he says. "The federal and state governments would have to do much more." This infrastructure is needed permanently, because even today's digital natives will need help in the future to understand the new technology. Not only in Zaragoza, Thessaloniki, Lancaster and Bremen - but everywhere.

The digital district guides are available on the Internet available here & here

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