Digital By Default, Older People, Digital Public Services, Social Exclusion is a PRIN (Projects of Relevant National Interest) project.
Funded by the Ministry of University and Research (MUR), with a two-year duration from October 2023 to 2025, it is coordinated by the University of Milano-Bicocca and carried out with IRPPS-CNR and the Politecnico di Milano, Department of Architecture and Urban Studies.
Digital by default aims to document whether and under what conditions the digitalization of public services represents a source of social exclusion for the elderly, focusing on the interaction of factors at play at the macro, meso, and micro levels.
What are the project’s objectives?
- To investigate the representation of elderly men and women in public discourse regarding the use of digital public services, by performing a critical qualitative analysis of digital policy programs at the European, Italian, and regional levels.
- To describe the digital support system of two Italian regions, Lombardy and Campania, by conducting documentary research and carrying out a qualitative study involving key informants.
- To explore the use of digital public services by the elderly in Italy, by analyzing data from European surveys and adopting a comparative approach.
- To investigate the daily practices of digital public service use among the elderly, by collecting and analyzing data from the fifth wave of the qualitative longitudinal study on the quality of life of the elderly during the Covid pandemic.
The project has important implications not only for science but also for policy-making. It allows for a better understanding of the risks the digital revolution may pose to certain segments of the population, such as the elderly, by investigating digital inclusion issues in old age at different levels of government (European, national, regional), and exploring changes over time in the representation of the elderly, the awareness of policy-makers, and the role of European, national, and regional institutions in digital policy programs.
Participants
Emanuela Sala – PI – University of Milano-Bicocca
Emma Garavaglia – Vice PI – Politecnico di Milano
Tiziana Tesauro – Scientific Coordinator of the IRPPS-CNR Unit
Simone Carlo – Catholic University of the Sacred Heart Milan
Elisabetta Ruspini – University of Milano-Bicocca
Daniele Zaccaria – Department of Business Economics, Health and Social Care
