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In digital revolution we often seem trapped in a Kafkaesque world of technological advances, some desired, some disliked or even feared, which we cannot influence but must accept. This book discusses the need to redress this situation. It argues that technologies succeed or fail according to their relevance and value to people

This article was published in the journal, Gerontology [© S. Karger AG] and the definitive version is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000353630 ; Digital technologies are becoming more pervasive in all areas of society. Enabling everyone to have access and capability to use the Internet and associated digital technologies, summed up in the term 'digital inclusion', is seen to have wide-ranging benefits to the individual, to the economy and to society. For older people, being digitally included can help them to maintain their independence, social connectedness and sense of worth in the face of declining health or limited capabilities, as well as also offering new opportunities to improve their quality of life. At present however, access to the technology and to the benefits is not equally distributed either between or within nations, and older people tend to be on the 'wrong' side of what is termed the 'digital divide'. Governments globally are developing strategies to promote digital inclusion and indeed Internet uptake is increasing steadily, including amongst older people. However, such strategies have focussed on getting people online, and there appears to be an assumption that once someone is online they will remain 'digitally engaged'. In fact statistics show that some users give up using the Internet, and there is emerging evidence that older people are more vulnerable to the factors which can lead to this outcome. The authors see this phenomenon as a potential but largely unrecognised 'fourth digital divide' which has serious implications for social inclusion. The objectives of this article are (a) to raise awareness of the phenomenon of digital disengagement by considering some of the emerging evidence, (b) to explore some of the potential implications of not recognising and therefore not addressing the needs of the digitally disengaged older population, and (c) to reveal the prevailing gap in knowledge which future research should address.

PurposeThere is recognition that digital ICTs have the potential to support older people to live independently, to "age well", to promote social inclusion and to facilitate access to commercial and government services. Research conducted by the Sus‐IT project under the "New Dynamics of Ageing" Programme has focused on how to help older ICT users to remain digitally engaged given the barriers that they can face and which can quickly erode their confidence or capability. Access to appropriate learning and support resources is a key issue for sustaining older ICT users. The aim of this paper is to investigate older people's ICT learning and support needs.Design/methodology/approachOlder people themselves have been central to the research; more than 1,000 older people have participated in this research through open workshops, established formal and informal panels and groups across the UK, and through contacts with a number of organisations working with older people. Key research users (e.g. organisations representing older people and those providing services and products to be used by older people) have also collaborated in the research in a variety of roles.FindingsFindings show that older people value very highly the benefits and independence that computer use gives them, and they are often exceptionally tenacious in trying to remain digitally connected – persisting in the face of many obstacles, and often without awareness or use of existing aids to accessibility. If disengagement begins, it is usually a gradual process, rather than a single event, and likely to result from a combination of factors – changes in physical and cognitive abilities, in support, in technology and in personal circumstances. The availability of help and support emerges as a factor of paramount importance to sustaining digital connection.Practical implicationsThe conceptual model of the risks of sustaining digital engagement of older people arising from the research has significant implications for both policy and practice – for instance, in relation to "digital by default". A user‐generated strategy for provision of sustainable, community‐based ICT learning and support for older people is a key output from Sus‐IT.Originality/valueThe issues surrounding sustaining digital inclusion in older age are multi‐faceted and complex – and addressing these will have significant benefits not only for older people but also for the economy and society.

This book chapter is reproduced by kind permission of the publisher. ; The paradoxical requirements of knowledge sharing and information security bring various knowledge management (KM) issues that affect both individuals' day-to-day work and the overall organisation's performance. This was the basis of a case study tackled by a team from Loughborough University. The Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) is an organisation that combines knowledge and expertise from partnerships with academia, industry and the UK government, in order to deliver innovative low carbon solutions. Operating within a complex governance structure, the organisation works to meet the expectations of various stakeholders, comply with legal parameters of its membership model (to protect its unique knowledge and arising intellectual property), deliver innovative solutions many of which are of a competitive nature, and, disseminate this knowledge effectively and on time. Thus, the management of both, 'knowledge sharing' and 'information security', is an operational challenge for the ETI. The aim of the KM initiative was to (i) understand the current knowledge sharing and information security practices at the ETI and (ii) identify ways of improving knowledge sharing within and beyond the organisation. The KM initiative consisted of the development of an innovative and creative Action Learning (AL) approach through which ETI project teams combined their knowledge and experiences to identify their organisation's current knowledge sharing and information security practices and collectively devised practical solutions. Thus, through the combined effort of its project teams, the ETI was able to learn effectively and efficiently as an organisation about its challenges and the subsequent changes required, incorporate these in its KM strategy and initiate relevant changes to improve its KM. In addition to the value and benefits it has brought for the ETI, this innovative initiative has made methodological, theoretical and practical contributions to and received excellent feedback from international KM and AL communities.

The term 'digital assistive technology' refers to the use of ICTs for the support of older people's everyday tasks. These tasks could range from online shopping to information seeking and searching the web in a variety of ways eg. by the use of desktop or ubiquitous computing. Currently, research under the New Dynamics of Ageing Programme, funded by the ESRC, EPSRC, BBSRC, MRC and AHRC, and research funded by other bodies, including SPARC, tries to improve older people's quality of life through the exploitation and exploration of new developments in computing and information technology. However, the acceptance rate of digital assistive technology by older people is still low, while the abandonment of already existing technologies increases. The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework for process requirements to inform the decision‐making of designers and implementers of digital assistive technologies. These process requirements should facilitate the development of more adaptable user‐centred systems that can dynamically accommodate the changing needs of older people and decrease the rate of abandonment of digital assistive technologies.

This volume and its companion, The new dynamics of ageing volume 2, provide comprehensive multi-disciplinary overviews of the very latest research on ageing. It reports the outcomes of the most concerted investigation ever undertaken into both the influence shaping the changing nature of ageing and its consequences for individuals and society. This book concentrates on three major themes: active ageing, design for ageing well and the relationship between ageing and socio-economic development. Each chapter provides a state of the art topic summary as well as reporting the essential research findings from New Dynamics of Ageing research projects. There is a strong emphasis on the practical implications of ageing and how evidence-based policies, practices and new products can produce individual and societal benefits