Digitization

Pensioners’ offensive: clear demands to politicians

The President of the ÖVP Seniors' Association, Ingrid Korosec, and Peter Kostelka, President of the SPÖ Pensioners' Association.

(Bild: APA/HANS KLAUS TECHT)

Pensioners are going on the offensive and putting clear demands against age discrimination on the table for politicians. By the fall, very specific proposals will be drawn up for the next government to implement. This roadmap was defined at a round table with numerous experts.

Concrete measures would include obliging companies to support people who are not digital. "Banks would have to offer a hotline, for example," explains ÖVP Seniors' Association President Ingrid Korosec in an interview with the "Krone" newspaper. The first step is to define subject areas (official business, private companies, etc.) and then work out solutions. The next government will have to implement the legislation.

Some services now only available online
Old people should not be left behind, says Pensioners' Association President Peter Kostelka. "At the moment, the repair bonus, the tradesman bonus or the subsidy for replacing a heating system can only be applied for online. That can't be right."

The world is becoming increasingly digital.

(Bild: APA/dpa)

Efforts are already being made to help older people. But that's not enough. Together with the Association of Towns and Municipalities, so-called digi-interpreters are being sought for every municipality throughout Austria. Their job is to explain digitalization in a way that everyone understands and to act as a point of contact for us, providing feedback on where things are going wrong in terms of digitalization.

State offers course
Thousands of digitization courses are also being offered. The topics covered by these free courses range from online security to digital official channels and artificial intelligence. State Secretary for Digitalization Claudia Plakolm (ÖVP) recently attended one such course.

(Bild: Florian Schroetter)

"It is important to me that everyone in Austria is familiar enough with digitalization to cope with everyday life. Because it is important for our future that no one is left behind, whether young or old," says Plakolm. "However, I am also committed to ensuring that we pay meticulous attention to older people who are struggling with the digital path, that there is also an analog path or that we explicitly provide good support."

Social Affairs Minister Johannes Rauch from the Green Party takes a similar view. "Digital technologies are part of everyday life in all social groups. Of course, this also affects older people, who are one of the largest age groups. It is therefore necessary to enable older people to use digital media."

Minister of Social Affairs Johannes Rauch

(Bild: krone.tv)

Enabling participation for older people too
The aim of the Ministry of Social Affairs is to enable older people to participate equally in all areas of society. This includes analog services or supporting people in accessing digital services. In order to enable those people who do not or only rarely use the internet or digital technologies to participate, the Ministry of Social Affairs has been supporting a range of measures and initiatives such as online courses for years.