MobileAge project releases policy recommendations on co-creation for inclusive digital services

The EU-funded MobileAge project, in which AGE is involved, is getting close to an end. During its final conference on 10 October, the project partners presented a first list of outcomes, including a series of policy briefings addressing key issues for inclusive digital services: co-creation tools, digital divide, accessibility, loneliness and social isolation, the GDPR and the access to free services.

Local governments are more and more using open data to provide public services to their citizens. However, they lack tools on how to involve citizens, especially older citizens, in the design, planning, implementation and evaluation of these initiatives. The EU-funded MobileAge project, together with older persons, local government and social care service providers, has developed and tested a co-creation methodology and tools in four pilot sites across Europe (Bremen – DE, South Lakeland – UK, Zaragoza – ES and Region Central Macedonia – EL) to improve social inclusion, access to healthcare, and mobility for seniors.

During the project’s final conference on 10 October, the MobileAge lessons learned and tools were presented. Focusing on co-creating with citizens, MobileAge showed how to make our neighborhoods better places to be active, carry a meaningful social life, and age healthily. Open data play here a key role, linking up different services and providing citizens with personalized information. In order to share MobileAge experience with other interested local authorities, the open source tools developed by the project were introduced to a wide audience of researchers, seniors and public authorities: an app development platform and an interactive guidebook to help plan, implement and evaluate co-creation activities with older persons.

The final versions of these tools will be presented during the European Commission’s ICT2018 conference which will take place on 5 December, in Vienna (Austria).

Key policy recommendations were also discussed, underlining that actions can be undertaken by all stakeholders to support the co-creation of inclusive open digital services.

The policy recommendations are available here. You can also watch the co-creators’ testimonies here, and find the conference’s presentations here.

For more information, please contact Ophelie Durand, ophelie.durand@age-platform.eu and Ilenia Gheno, ilenia.gheno@age-platform.eu