ICT for elderly people : «Yes, ‘They’ Can!»

This paper aims to promote a reflection and a discussion about the use of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) by the elderly people because this group of citizens has the serious risk of being «e-Excluded». Some initiatives of the European Union and of Portugal are presented and explained to make clear the efforts that were done and some that are still being done to promote and allow the participation of elderly people in order to the use of ICT in their daily activities: «e-Inclusion». Because elderly people constitutes and heterogeneous group this paper tries to put in evidence some of the main barriers and constraints when elderly people use ICT. However the paper also aims to present some trends for the future that may overcome the present difficulties to promote an active ageing with the help and support of technologies/ICT. Keyword: Technologies/ICT, Elderly People, Active Ageing, European Union EU, Portugal, e-Initiatives, e-Inclusion. 1. European Context and ICT Policies It is well known that all industrial societies are ageing what implies profound economic and social (mainly) implications in what concerns the dramatic and deep increase of the old age dependency ratio in the future years in the European Community. Figure 1 shows the age pyramid in EU-25, 2003 (% of total male/female population): 2011 e-CASE & e-Tech International Conference January 18-20, 2011, Toshi Center Hotel, Tokyo, Japan