Older generation conquers the digital world: A program for more security!

Older generation conquers the digital world: A program for more security!

The digital world still seems to be a closed book for many older people. At a meeting of the SPD working group 60 PlusThis topic was dealt with comprehensively in the Main-Kinzig district on May 15, 2025. Despite the fact that around 25 million people in Germany are over 60 years old and three quarters of them use a smartphone, many are hardly active on the internet. Less than half have registered online and hardly use digital opportunities such as online banking or access to news.

The demand of the SPD AG 60 Plus was clear: there is a need for comprehensive support for older people in order to reduce fears and promote the safe use of digital devices. The event “Fancy Smartphones & Co.” In the “Zum Hexenturm” café in Gelnhausen, exactly these aspects come to the fore. According to speaker Erhard Hartmann, who leads a project in Linsengericht, it is important to make access to digital options easier. The project is intended to help reduce barriers and strengthen the digital skills of older people.

Digital participation is important

The need to integrate older people into the digital society is also clear in studies. A publication of the Per Senectuteshows that education, interest in technology and digital skills are crucial for how older people use digital technologies. In addition, social integration and access to digital offerings are crucial for a self-determined life in old age. It is clear that not all seniors have enough digital knowledge to benefit from the online world.

This digital injustice was addressed as part of the International Day of Older People 2021. The Federal Ministry for Senior Citizenshas launched the “DigitalPakt Age”, an initiative that aims to promote digital participation among older people. Among other things, 100 projects are supported with 3,000 euros each that provide low-threshold digital offers, such as training in the use of smartphones or support with digital official and medical appointments. The aim of the initiative is to introduce older people to the fun of using digital media and to exploit the opportunities offered by digitalization for them.

A call to action

At a time when society is increasingly moving towards a digitalized world, it is crucial that everything is done not to exclude older people from this development. The SPD AG 60 Plus is proactively calling for the establishment of a “Di@-Lotzen base” in the Main-Kinzig district in order to give seniors comprehensive access to digital participation opportunities. A project that has the potential to change the lives of many older people and bring them back into the digital world.