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ELDY - bringing the computer to the elderly

Acronym of the case:

ELDY

Web address of the case:

http://www.eldy.eu

Country of the case:

Italy

elderly | Seniors | freeware


Posting Date: 27 June 2008
Last Edited Date: 22 September 2008

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Author:

Enrico Neri (Eldy)Italy | eldy.eu
Type of initiative
  • Project or service
  • Promotion/awareness campaign
Case Abstract

Eldy is a project to bring elderly to an enriching web and computer experience. Eldy is the name of the project, the name of the freeware software and the name of the no-profit organization behind the initiative. With Eldy senior can use email, browse the web, chat, get weather info, see digital pictures, streaming, etc, in a clear GUI, with big labels in a friendly language. Eldy is both easy and nice - so the experience is effective and entertaining. Eldy has over 150.000 users in Italy and is a fast growing community given the strategy of Local Public administration, that is strongly helping the diffusion of the software (i.e : over 1.400.000 cd's are being distributed and a lot of training initiatives are being put on place).

Description of the case
Domain
eInclusion
Topic
ICT and Aging | ICT and community development | Digital literacy and competences
Sector
Education, Science and Research | Culture and Media | Local/Regional Community Development
Start date - End date
September 2007 (Ongoing)
Date operational
January 2007
Target Users
Older people (60+) | Minorities and migrants | People with no or poor digital literacy
Target Users Description
We target the senior. Our payoff is "Tutti in rete appassionatamente" (All on Net with passion).
Scope
National
Status
Implementation
Language(s)
English | French | Italian | Dutch
Policy Context and Legal Framework

Project Size and Implementation
Type of initiative
Participation
Overall Implementation approach
Partnerships between administration and/or private sector and/or non-profit sector
Technology choice
Proprietary technology | Standards-based technology | Mainly (or only) open standards
Funding source
Public funding regional | Public funding local | Private sector | Charity, voluntary contributions
Project size
Implementation: €1,000,000-5,000,000
Yearly cost:
€500-999,000
Implementation and Management Approach

Local administration and local non profits can distribute the software and organize training courses in schools and social centers.

Technology solution

Eldy is freeware, released with standard EULA (end user licence agreement) perpetual and free-of-charge.Eldy is a Java desktop application, a desktop itself and a framework; Eldy is also a Linux distribuition. All servers are Linux Debian and web services based. Eldy servers provide all email, chat, RSS and web services.

19-9-2008. ELDY LINUX released: http://deb.vegans.it

Impact, innovation and results
Impact

Eldy is the first software to allow over 55 to enjoy the internet and the computer.

Eldy has over 150.000 users since January 2007. These users are mostly (>95%) over 55 and most of them (>70%) did not use computer before installing Eldy or having Eldy installed.

Lessons learnt

Lesson 1 - If we provide senior and illiterate users a clear software, they get in love with technology.

Lesson 2 - Technology is empty without a community and friends to be found just a click away.

Lesson 3 - Software is a good starting point, but without traning, motivational support and - also - marketing, even the best software on a brillant CD is completely useless.

Comments

04 July 2008 | 2 replies
03 July 2008 | 1 reply
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