Silver Surfers
On Friday Diane Abbott, MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, surfed the met with Hackney OAPs at an event organised by Age Concern Hackney and volunteers from the Department for Works and Pensions. Diane Abbott visited the Silver Surfers Chat Room on Silver Surfers Day 27th May 2005.
The event was part of efforts to publicise the implications of e-government, e-participation and e-democracy for older people in a bid to avoid social exclusion in old age.
Diane spent the afternoon chatting to web-savvy local pensioners about issues relating to the impending e-revolution and the prospects of increased e-government.
Diane Abbott said: “The internet will become increasingly useful for older people. It will become a vital tool for avoiding the social exclusion of older people. Whilst it can never replace personal interaction the net can provide a link to the outside world. It can be useful not only for shopping or accessing news and advice on age-related issues but also as vital for participation in the democratic process”.
Diane added: “Those working to increase e-government or e-democracy must be sensitive to the needs of older people. It is important that they are not left behind but are trained to use the internet to their advantage”.
back ⇢