www.2mobility.

eu
E-Bridge to mobility was created after observing the
EU labour market and analysing the needs of Eastern
Europe emigrants (especially those from Bulgaria,
Poland, Romania and Slovakia).
They move from one EU country to another (in
particular the U.K., Germany and Spain) for
educational, financial or social reasons.

Bulletin 10 This project has been funded with support from the
European Commission. This publication reflects the

September/October 2010 views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be
held responsible for any use which may be made of the
information contained therein.

Digital exclusion of Polish seniors

Today, one in every three Poles is over 50 years old, but only one out of four seniors uses the Inter-
net. Poland is at the very bottom of the list in the European Union when it comes to using network
resources. Lack of access to the Internet is not the only consideration, but also little engagement of
public institutions and organizations that could support occupational and social activity of seniors
is problematic.
In 2009 30 percent of Polish people ern regions of Poland and usually
aged between 55 and 64 declared among the inhabitants of villages Barriers
that at least once in their life they and towns. For example, in Warsaw to Internet usage
have used the Internet. This is 18 as many as 42% of people over 50
percent less than an average in the use the network, in Poznań it is 41%, Financial barriers, range barri-
European Union. In a group of 65-74 while in Łódź only 31%. The level of ers, hardware barriers, psycho-
year olds only 8% of Polish seniors education is also a significant fac- logical barriers, auto-exclusion
have made such declaration. In the tor. Almost 60% of Internet users are from the world of new tech-
whole European Union the findings people having higher education, nologies, no need to use the
were on the mark of 25%. 32% are seniors with secondary Internet, lack of knowledge, lack
education, while 2% are Poles with of skills enabling the usage of In-
A research made for the Open- vocational education. ternet.
ing Report of the “M@turity on the
Network” Coalition shows how im-
portant it is to promote using the
Internet. A majority of the over 50s
in Poland who have so far had no
contact with the network, does not
envisage accessing the Internet in
the coming six months. Only 6% of
them declare that in the next few
months they will start using the net-
work and only 1% of seniors con-
firmed that.
Factors influencing access to the
network, are not only social and
economic but also location. The
smallest percentage of people using
the Internet is noticed in the East-
According to Polish seniors the rea-
son why they do not use the Inter-
net are not financial, but the fact
that they feel no need to use the
Internet and are not interested in it
at all. This type of declaration was
made by nearly two-thirds of Poles
over 60. This thesis is confirmed by
the fact that nearly a half of Polish
people aged over 50 have a com-
puter and 40% of them have access
to the Internet as well. At the same
time less than a half of them cur-
rently use the opportunities offered
by these technologies. There is also
a large group of people who do not
have access to the Internet, but this
has nothing to do with technologi-
cal barriers, as they could access it
if they wanted, as their neighbours
have it. Among people aged 50 or
over , no more than 28% of those
who do not use the network do not
have it in their area (more than half
of them does not know if there is ac-
cess in their neighbourhood). In the
Report “M@turity on the Network”
only 5% of respondents aged over
50 and not using the Internet indi-
cated high costs as a reason for not
using the Internet.
Research shows therefore, that the
biggest problem is a lack of aware-
ness in a society that knows little
or nothing about the Internet or
does not see the need to use it, or
that many people have only nega-
tive associations with the Internet.
The lower the awareness of the us-
age and opportunities offered by
modern technologies, the greater
the need to make everyone real-
ize how important it is to develop
a communication society based on
knowledge and modern technolo-
gies, including the Internet.
It is also worth emphasising which
of the opportunities offered by the
Internet are exploited by the 50+ generation of users. Most seniors use the
Internet mainly to search for information, check the weather forecast, con-
tact their relatives or for entertainment.
What are Polish people looking
for on the Internet?
Looking for the national and in-
ternational news (27%), check-
ing the prices of products (17%),
weather forecasts (13%), work-re-
lated information (12%), looking
for other people, e.g. on commu-
nity portals (12%), recipes (11%)
One of the reasons why the percentage of the Internet users in Poland is
still very low is the fact that people, who are not using the Internet have
a very limited knowledge about the applications, content and advantages
connected with the usage of this medium. Lack of knowledge may result in
low motivation to start using the web.
There is a great need to raise awareness in Polish society. Seniors are not
aware of the fact that the Internet supports occupational, social and cultural
activity, increases mobility and creates new opportunities to satisfy needs,
develop the areas of interest as well as participate in social life. Therefore, the
model for an active retirement should be promoted in order to increase the
self-realization and self-esteem of elderly people. It is important to help the
older generation maintain its independence, so that the elderly do not have
to rely on the care of their relatives which may be a direct cause of digital
exclusion resulting also in social marginalization.
Access to appropriate help is a barrier to the process of acquiring knowledge
linked to Internet use. The courses are often expensive and instructions dif-
ficult to follow. The use of English terms does not make the adventure with
modern technologies easier. Unfortunately, the desire to develop skills to
benefit from Internet use is also limited. According to the Central Office of
Statistics in 2007 only 11% of Poles aged 50+ have taken advantage of the
opportunity to follow courses. In spite of these statistics, seniors identify
courses and training as being the main way to acquire a sufficient level of
competence in the use of modern technologies.
Compared to seniors from other EU countries, the Polish 50+ generation
seldom takes up the opportunity to participate in courses: in the 55-64 age
group, the take-up rate is only only 3% in Poland, the EU average being 10%.
The take-up rate is no higher for courses organized by employers. Only 7% of
Polish seniors benefited from IT training, while the average in the Union was
17%. The take-up rate of the 65+ generation is even lower: none of the Polish
The „E-bridge” partners:
respondents took advantage of the
opportunity, whereas in the rest of
the EU seniors have been acquiring
IT skills.
A social diagnosis prepared In 2009
shows that the main reason for us-
ing the Internet is to search for na-
tional and international news as well
as viewing the WWW pages. Seniors
use the opportunity to communi-
cate with other people of their age
less frequently, on-line banking,
shopping or job seeking. The pos-
sibilities for professional develop-
ment via the Internet are hardly ever
considered by the 50+ generation.
It is also interesting to note that
more than half of seniors are look-
ing for information connected with
public administration on the Net.
Some seniors would like to use on-
line forms to deal with official mat-
ters without leaving their homes.
The findings of the Opening Report
of the“M@turity on the Network”Col-
lision indicates that Polish seniors,
who are use the network regularly
maintain their professional activity
for a longer time and often receive
higher salaries. It Is important to
point out that Internet users have a
greater chance of promotion. More-
over, contrary to the stereotypes,
instead of weakening interpersonal
relationships, the Internet reinforces
them, having a positive influence on
the self-esteem and well-being of
people aged 50+. Social Diagnosis
shows a very positive influence of
the use of this modern medium, us-
ing the Internet increases older peo-
ple’s desire to get involved in life.
The main economic priority of the
Community is e-integration and the
development of the communica-
tion society in an ageing Europe.
Modern technologies are expected
to support longer professional activ-
ity of elderly people and lower the
costs of care for dependent ones.
The plan assumes mobilization of
the society for professional and so-
cial activity in order to improve the
quality of life and economic situa-
tion of the EU countries.
Poland has a lot of work to do in this
field. The activity of many social or-
ganizations, public administration
institutions and business-related or-
ganizations preventing digital exclu-
sion is based on wide-scale promo-
tion of modern technologies. First of
all it is necessary to inform seniors
about the advantages for the whole
of society that Internet use brings
about as well as to educate the 50+
generation in the field of modern
technologies, starting by encourag-
ing seniors to communicate with
their families or search for interest-
ing and important information con-
nected with everyday life.
E-integration of the 50+ generation
is just beginning to get going. The E-
bridge to mobility project is one of
the few resources where seniors can
find out about modern technolo-
gies. E-bridge to mobility helps fight
the fear of Internet resources and
offers an opportunity to increase
professional competences, e.g. lin-
guistic skills. The project aims at in-
creased activity of users and promo-
tion of their mobility as they grow
older. Both the project web page
and the language teaching applica-
tions have been prepared in such a
way that every user can use them in-
tuitively. Seniors often give up using
the Internet because the websites
are too complicated for them.
The E-bridge web page is straight-
forward and user-friendly. On the
one hand the project products are
The „E-bridge” partners:
independent elements supporting
language learning, while at the same
time they complement one another.
E-bridge is trying to break down the
stereotypes of thinking about mod-
ern technologies as complicated
scientific solutions. Learn more at
www.2mobility.eu
The basic assumptions of a plan
to minimize digital exclusion:
• enabling unrestricted activity
of seniors on the labour market.
New technologies are expected to
support the activity and produc-
tivity on the labour market, as well
as the process of acquiring new
skills, mainly through e-learning
• enabling seniors to function
comfortably in society. The op-
portunities of establishing new
relationships as well as staying
in touch with family thanks to ICT
, especially in rural areas, as well
as in towns. Modern technologies
minimize social marginalization
• enabling seniors to function
comfortably at home. Sustaining
everyday activity, the will to live
a longer life, improving their men-
tal health and well-being and giv-
ing them a greater opportunity
of self-realization
The above text was based on the Open-
ing Report of the „M@turity on the Net-
work” Coalition prepared by a team lead
by Dominik Batorski Ph.D., on the initia-
tive and with support from UPC Poland
From alienation to adaptation
Poles aged 50+ and the Internet