It is widely acknowledged that access to essential services and information, maintaining and enhancing social support networks and opportunities for meaningful social and civic engagement are increasingly compromised by a lack of digital literacy.

According to the Government this is more prevalent among older adults and people with disabilities as they more prone to lag behind other social groups in the adoption and effective use of ICT.

The number of initiatives undertaken by the Malta Communications Authority (MCA) in an attempt to address this has continued unabated. The new training programme – .comm – lehen digitali is yet another initiative in an ongoing stream of activity that is targeting senior citizens and individuals with a disability to encourage increased ICT uptake and enhance active living among this segment of the population.

Roderick Marmara from the MCA stated that, “ICT offers great potential to support lifelong learning for everyone. More importantly however, applying technology effectively can have a significantly positive impact on individuals suffering from varying forms of disability from communication difficulties to mobility issues.

“ICT offers increased opportunities for communication through assistive technologies and social networking, and opens new avenues for increased independence through online shopping or online banking facilities. ICT enables the engagement of socially isolated and vulnerable individuals before they are caught in a spiral of ill health, depression and dependency.”

In her address the Parliamentary Secretary for Rights of Persons with Disability and Active Ageing, Justyne Caruana, mentioned that this is part of the initiatives the Government is taking in order to promote and enhance independent living and active ageing.

She said that the Parliamentary Secretariat is providing various learning programmes to enable older persons to engage in active citizenship. Recently, government day centres have been transformed into lifelong learning hubs with curricula covering various subjects including ICT which was also extended to residential homes, thus targeting the digital divide among older persons.

Commenting on this initiative, the Parliamentary Secretary for Competitiveness and Economic Growth, Dr José Herrera said that “with the launch of this programme we are trying to break all existing barriers which limit and restrict senior citizens and individuals with disability from exploring all opportunities possible through the proper use of ICT.”

Dr Herrera emphasised that such initiatives are at the core of the Government’s agenda as stated in the last budget.

For more information visit www.activeageing.gov.mt. or call on 25903175.

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