Digitalization for all

Digitalization for all is an idea that is aimed at promoting access to the digital economy by so many people which include persons with disability and the elderly. This idea realizes that society is not generic therefore several categories of people must be considered  separately. The digital gap for persons with disability are wider. In order to bridge this gap persons with disability must participate in technological training and education. Also, the training programmes and devices must be accessible to the different needs of persons with disability like the provision of assistive technology.

Also majority of the older generation that's sixty years and above  must be involved in the digital economy by training them and providing affordable devices that suit their needs.  This solution will help enroll persons with disability and the elderly on to digitalization train to make their lives better by helping them get job, education, networking.

The problem I am working to solve is the challenge in digital inclusion. Even though technology is moving at a faster rate yet not everyone is moving along with it. There are certain categories of people in the world  who lag behind when it comes to the participation in the digital economy and these group of people include persons with disability and the elderly. This problem affect the whole world yet it affects more people in Africa. This is due to the fact that there are several negative connotations and perceptions to disability in Africa and so they are mostly neglected and rejected. Most of them are not even enrolled  in regular schools and to talk of technological  training. Again, lots of elderly people especially pensioners think that is the end of their lives when they stop active work. Therefore, they do not see the need to learn new things. They think they are not part of the technological age but training these groups of people in technological programmes can help them discover other interesting aspects of live and even increase their revenue base. Training persons with disability in technological programmes will help them put their time to good use

My solution is to bridge the digital gap for persons with disability and the elderly. This can be done by organizing technological trainings for persons with disability and the elderly. These technological trainings must suit the different needs of the target groups. For instance since persons with disability have several peculiar needs, assistive technology should be provided for them during training so that the training will be accessible to them. Also, the elderly should be included in the drafting of the technological trainings. Training programmes for both elderly and persons with disability should start from the beginners level for their understanding. However, this will be dependent on their level of knowledge. Again, technological devices and offers like computers, smartphones, data bundles and others should be affordable. This is because most of the people that fall within the target group have low income rate especially in Africa and therefore cannot afford expensive devices and offers. All of these is to help promote an inclusive digital economy for all.

My solution serves persons with disability and the elderly. Persons with disability are underrepresented in several spheres of life like education, employment, income, networking and others. This is as a result of their disability and society's relationship to them. They face several barriers in their lives like information barriers, technological barriers, transportational barriers, negative perceptions and connotations especially in Africa. The other group that falls within the target population in the elderly. This group because of their age and their educational background, it is believed that it does not matter if they are sidelined when it comes to technological know how. But these people stand at a risk since they cannot even operate their own mobile money accounts on their phones and thus seek the assistance of others to be able to do it. What I am doing is to assess and understand their needs to be able to notice their challenge which is currently lack of technological know-how and inability to afford devices and offers . My solution will address their needs by providing technological trainings  for them and to ensure that affordable devices and offers are provided so that despite their low-income rate they can still be able to patronize. The trainings will be drafted by factoring their level of knowledge so that they can understand and participate fully. Also, their consensus will be taken into account to know any further challenge and their ability to participate in the programmes . This will help them participate and benefit from the rapid rate of digitalization and to be able to realize their dreams.

The problem I am addressing which is lack of technological know-how among persons with disability and the elderly and the inability for these groups to afford certain technological devices and offers like computers, smartphones , data bundles and others. The solution I have designed is to organize technological trainings and ensure the affordability of devices and offers for persons with disability and the elderly. Both the problem and the solution is in alignment  with the challenge  in the sense that it helps promote digital inclusion and hence promoting the target group to have access to the digital economy.

The reason why I selected this stage of development for my solution is that my solution has not been worked on, it is still at the idea stage and I am yet to start working on it when I get the needed funds and training materials.

My solution is innovative because it will help bring changes in the lives of persons with disability and the elderly. It will help provide diversity in the economy since we will  have different groups of people participating in the digital economy in the areas of education, job creation, employment, social networking and others.

My solution has not served anybody yet since it is an idea.