Latin America. ICTs present an opportunity to improve the quality of life of older adults through different programs that are developed in several Latin American countries, according to the ICT report for older adults in Latin America, published by 5G Americas.
Citizens aged 60 and over are considered elderly people, and this is an increasingly numerous segment, which is expected to reach 185 million individuals at the Latin American level by 2050, according to data from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC, collected by the study.
The adoption of ICT by older adults enables their access to benefits in the areas of Tele Health, for example, with preventive applications and even in alert systems through the Internet of Things (IoT) Tele Education, Tele Work and e-Government, introducing facilities for the management of procedures and reducing the need to travel and wait in care centers and government agencies.
However, for the use of these advantages to be effective, it is necessary that these initiatives take into account the need to educate in the use of these new technologies, a condition that is accentuated given the generation gap of this age group. In this sense, this difficulty is added to the other gaps or barriers to access, such as economic, social and geographical gaps, among others.
A joint effort between the public and private sectors is also needed to promote the development of connectivity, both from the point of view of infrastructure for fixed and mobile access to voice and data services, and with regard to the acquisition of access devices, such as cell phones, computers and tablets. Mobile connectivity is especially important, given that in this age group the main access to ICTs – in markets such as Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay – is through cell phones, according to ECLAC data from the study.
The ICT report for older adults in Latin America published by 5G Americas includes a compilation of initiatives and situations of access to ICT for the elderly in countries such as Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico and Uruguay.
The document can be downloaded by clicking here.
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