Older persons are often excluded from the development and use of online public services. The Mobile Age project therefore aims at developing digital mobile applications, based on open data, helping senior citizens access public services in their community in an easier, more personalised and efficient way. Such mobile applications will be tested in four pilot sites in Europe (UK, Germany, Spain and Greece).
Mobile Age is based on the concept of co-creation and will develop mobile open government services together with senior citizens. This means that older persons themselves will decide which services they want to access, which kind of applications they would like to use, and which requirements in terms of accessibility and mobility they opt for. This will allow citizens, in particular senior citizens, to become part of what we call open government (online access to public services and information using open data), which will be mutually shaped by older persons, empowered to improve the quality of life in their communities.
The four pilot sites will each implement a specific use case of relevance for seniors’ citizens: social inclusion (Bremen), extending independent living (South Lakeland), a safe and accessible city for seniors (Zaragoza) and personal health information (Central Macedonia).
Throughout the project, particular attention will be paid to:
- The use of available open data to provide citizens with location-based information and better access to public services;
- The personalisation of access means to public services through user profiles that automatically adapt the content to the citizen’s preferences in terms of type of information, presentation and accessibility;
- The integration of disparate public services and sources of information into a single entry point;
- The availability of the mobile application on different devices and in diverse situations (outdoors, in transit, at home, etc.).
The project team will also analyse users’ behaviours on the applications to gain an insight into the opportunities and challenges seniors experience when using mobile technology.
Three innovations offered by Mobile Age
The project will firstly produce digital applications to be used and scaled-up in local authorities throughout Europe. To do so, it will make sure that its technical innovative platform, the Open Senior Citizen Public Service Engagement Platform used to build the applications can be re-used in other contexts and by other public authorities.
Moreover, it will compile a Best Practice Guide for Co-Creation of Open Public Services and publish policy briefings targeting European, national, regional and local public authorities.
It will also publish a framework for impact assessment and evaluation for co-creation approaches in the field of open public services for older persons.
By doing so, Mobile Age will ensure the inclusion of seniors in digital services, eases their administrative tasks thanks to user-friendly applications, and supports their access to civic participation, active ageing and their involvement in developing age-friendly communities. The project will also increase transparency and trust in public administration through sharing and reuse public information.
Project Consortium
The project is coordinated by the University of Lancaster, UK.
The consortium includes also the following partners: Tingtun AS (Norway),, AGE Platform Europe (Belgium), Evangelische Stiftung Volmarstein / Forschungsinstitut Technologie und Behinderung (Germany)), Government To You (Belgium), the Institute for Information Management Bremen GmbH (Germany), the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece), the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spain), the City of Zaragoza (Spain) and the Region of Central Macedonia (Greece).
Moreover, the German and UK partners will work closely with the local authorities in Bremen and South Lakeland, as well as with local seniors’ associations, in order to implement the pilot sites’ activities.
Get in touch with Mobile Age!
www.mobile-age.eu (available from mid-March on)
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mobileageeu/
Twitter account: @MobileAgeEU
Contact person: Ophelie Durand (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.”>ophelie.durand@age-platform.eu) and Ilenia Gheno (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.”>ilenia.gheno@age-platform.eu)
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