Do Old People in Rural Areas Go Online, and Should They Do that?

Despite Estonia’s reputation as an e-country and a pioneer in e-governance solutions, a digital divide persists, leading to a double exclusion of rural elderly. This paper aims to address this challenge by examining digital learning among elderly as a means to overcome this exclusion. The analysis of focus groups and expert interviews revealed that due to the lack of digital skills, the elderly in rural Estonia experience difficulties with using basic digital services (e-governance, e-banking, e-health, e-commerce) as well as accessing social networks. Furthermore, the elderly usually leave a very small digital footprint, which makes this community irrelevant for the service developers and further increases the digital divide. Four groups of needs were identified: access to the digital world, alleviation of fears and knowledge of secure conduct in the digital world, basic skills in accessing and navigating the digital world, and ability to communicate through e-services. We developed an intervention to overcome these deficiencies. The intervention is planned for the second half of 2024 and will be held in randomized controlled trials (RCT). While the experimental group is learning to use digital devices in small groups led by a local community researcher, the control group initially receives materials for self-study and participates in the intervention after the experimental group has completed their lessons. After the intervention, we can find out how the development of digital skills affects elderly well-being and inclusion in digital society. This research is supported by the Estonian Research Council grant PRG1919.