Are you a silver surfer or are you digitally divided? This term silver surfer has come to mean someone of a mature age who uses the Internet. Exactly how or why the term has come into use is not clear. We do not have silver drivers, or even silver shoppers yet there are huge numbers of people who come into the more mature age category who do both. Whether you like the description or not it seems to have found favour with government. Before Christmas we received this information from the Cabinet Office [CAB 171/01].
UK ONLINE, the Government's drive to encourage everyone in the UK to make the most of the Internet, is helping older people get online through Open House, a progressive initiative in partnership with Age Concern England and backed by Abbey National.
Abbey National has pledged its support by providing Internet access for older people at Age Concern centres and by regionally promoting Open House. This is part of the bank's aim to bring the benefits of being online to all members of the community. The Open House scheme, which will run at a selection of Age Concern centres across the country, will allow older people to gain free Internet access and benefit from the support of trained Age Concern Volunteers, helping them to take their first steps on the Internet in a friendly and relaxed environment.
As part of the national drive to enable everyone to make the most of the Internet, UK ONLINE is particularly keen to help older people get connected. The initiative aims to highlight how relevant the Internet can be to their lives, for example helping them to pursue their interests and using email to keep in touch with their wider family. Open House also aims to dispel fears of the Internet being too complicated, helping to avoid a digitally divided society.
The Governments E-Envoy Andrew Pinder, said:
"Whilst Internet use has increased to 51 % for the population as a whole, only 16% of people over 65 have ever used it".
The Open House scheme will demonstrate to potential silver surfers how easy the Internet can be to use and how much can be gained from doing so. It is very encouraging to see the commercial and voluntary sectors working together to support the UK ONLINE campaign through projects such as Open House.
UK Online is driven by Government investment in education and training to avoid the development of a digitally divided society. It is a partnership between Government, Industry, the voluntary sector, trade unions and consumer groups, to make the UK one of the world's leading knowledge economies and to ensure that everyone in the UK who wants it will have access to the Internet by 2005. »
This ends the message from the Cabinet Office. It says above that there is a partnership between Government and, among others, consumer groups. As far as the Editor knows there has never been an approach from Government to the National Consumer Federation, or even the National Federation of Consumer Groups, to form a partnership in this or any other initiative. One wonders, therefore, which consumer groups are involved?
"Source: Office of National Statistics: June 2001
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