David Wilcox and Drew Mackie | Contact

Since 2012 we have explored, with Nominet Trust and then Age Action Alliance, the importance of digital technology for older people, particularly in relation to personal wellbeing and the challenges of loneliness and social isolation. Those explorations led to two reports, and proposals for a learning network.

• Exploring the potential of digital technology in later life for the Nominet Trust 2013
• Further exploration with Age Action Alliance
• Learning network for the digital age

During 2015/2016 we worked on the Joined Up Digital Project with the Centre for Ageing Better, bringing together many of our ideas from the past four years.

We helped design and run a major simulation, hosted by the Centre, at which 50 people from the ageing field played through how digital tech and network thinking could benefit older people, represented by six personas.

We have developed:

• A series of blogs posts and papers More >
• Workshop games and simulations More >
• Proposals for local Living Labs that would bring together maps, apps and storytelling to build stronger, friendly communities More >
• Plans for a Digital Age Learning Network More >
• Discussion with the new Centre for Ageing Better about the role of technology in its plans. More >

Living Well in the Digital Age blog

We held a networking event in London on July 28 2015. Report here

The blog posts, papers, simulations and proposals cover action at three levels:

Policy and funding

• Overview of key provocation and challenges - confirmed through insights from a symposium
• Why Ageing Better funders and policy makers should embrace digital technology
• A joint workshop with the Grey Cells Open Policy Making team at DCLG showed how to relate local action to top-level policy
• Our plans for a Digital Age Learning Network

Local level

• Practical ideas for making sense of technology for Care, Ageing Better and Living Well
• Proposals for a Kit and local Living Labs.
• How to develop plans for digital participation in the face of spending cuts
• How to use digital tech to combat loneliness

Personal level

• A workshop with Age UK London exploring personal use of technology.

During the first phase of the exploration, into technology for Ageing Better Innovation, we identified some key challenges to address:

1. Promote greater understanding of ways that technology is changing the world that we all live in
2. Influence current digital inclusion programmes towards an approach that recognises the importance of familiar technology, mobile devices, and personalised routes towards adoption.
3. Encourage and support organisations in the ageing field in the use of social technology
4. Facilitate conversations and stories that make it easier to develop inclusive discussion of digital inclusion and innovation
5. Make better use of existing assets - research, practical experience and innovative projects that could be scaled.
6. Promote ways to introduce innovation into the Big Lottery Fund‘s Ageing Better programme, and other programmes.

The challenges were developed following discussion of a set of provocations. The key themes were also reflected in a symposium organised by the South East England Forum on Ageing, as you can see in this blog post.

We generated some ideas to meet the challenges, and gathered reports, research and other resources, and produced a report in Februrary 2015.

Report on the exploration February 2015

Here's the exploration September 2014 - March 2015 in detail

• The exploration process
• Challenges identified from the process
• Ideas to meet the challenges
• Resources on Ageing Better Innovation
• Report on the exploration February 2015
• Earlier exploration on digital technology in later life for Nominet Trust