Studies show that digital skills and literacy training programs for older adults can help to extend digital inclusion, which remains a policy challenge around the world. However existing research provides little insight into how policy-makers can best deliver large-scale programs. This article examines the design and implementation of a nation-wide, state-led digital skills and literacy program in Australia called Be Connected that aimed to empower older adults (50 years and older) to thrive in the digital world.
Impact / Outcome
The study found that in most cases, the different types of resources that the state provided as part of Be Connected helped organisations to enhance their capacity to deliver digital skills and literacy support. Organisations engaged with financial resources differently to administrative and educational resources, with implications for how Be Connected addressed digital inequities across communities. Standardised community grants were readily taken up by all types of organisations, enabling the program to reach older adults at numerous locations and of varied life circumstance. Use of administrative and educational resources, by comparison, depended on how well the resources could be integrated with existing organisational practices or the capacity of organisations to adjust these resources if needed. Organisations that were not already providing structured digital literacy and participation programs found it most difficult to use educational and administrative resources in meaningful ways.
Funding sources
Public/Private
Key Metrics
Enhance organizations to support older Australians in digital skills and literacy program
Operating model
Public-private partnershipYear published
01 January 2021