Project idea: UNISERVE

UNISERVE

Objectives of the project: 

Europeans are living longer than ever thanks to economic growth and advances in health care. Average life expectancy is now over 80, and by 2020 around 25% of the population will be over 65. Fortunately, the Information Society offers older people the chance to live independently and continue to enjoy a high quality of life. Currently, however, a number of barriers prevent the older generation from fully embracing Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Many older people face barriers in exploiting ICT products, services and applications to their full potential. Some are physical. For example, 21% of over 50s have severe hearing, vision or dexterity problems, making it difficult or impossible to use standard ICT equipment. Moreover, only 10% of people over 65 in Europe use the internet.

UNISERVE is a project that through an innovative technology concept and user interface will improve the independent living and mobility of seniors in the “self-serve-society”.  ICT threatens to disconnect elderly of the self-serve society and in this regard, UNISERVE will target the following objectives:  

• • Create wide spread access to, acceptance, trust and use of the developed services

• • Improve the interfaces and usability of devices and solutions for older people

• • Customize ICT solutions for individual needs and wishes of older people

• • Develop new ICT solutions to be provided by existing (or new) service providers, channels and market segments, and adapted for seniors

To reach these objectives the project will follow a two-fold approach. 1) The first approach focuses on the development of hands-on ICT equipment and 2) the second approach focuses on the development of an inclusive internet platform for seniors. 

1) The development of ICT-equipment will provide a range of self-serve environments unified in an innovative user-friendly devise with opportunities for individual choice and personalization. 

focus will be on the self-serve aspect of the daily life for elderly by providing services as older demand and will use. E.g. elements elderly find important, like choose their hot meal for the day on a self-serve service will be a part of this project. By daily use of self-serve solutions, the elderly will have more thrust and to a wider degree accept the ICT solutions. 

2) The development of an inclusive internet platform guarantees the utilization of the ICT equipment but also enhances access and acceptance of ICT and the internet. 

www.SeniorTell.eu – will be developed as a discussion forum and information site for elderly people, developed on the basic principle of “elderly helps elderly”. Seniors can use this venue as a virtual place to visit new friends, find new travel companions ect.

Examples of a selection of information that may be available on the internet portal are: contact to hospital and doctor, prescription renewal, public transport, travel, accommodation swap, home care, disabilities, assistive devices, housing, banking, library, technology, communications, weather. The venue can be divided into public and private groups such as. hobby, sport, blended discussion forum, politics, contact new friend / traveling companion, online visit friend, engineering, communications, cooking recipes and much more. 

Targets of users are elderly with little or no familiarity with technology and elderly with impairments.

Partners envisaged: 

End user organisations and SME's