Bridging the Digital Divide: Challenges in Opening the Digital World to the Elderly, Poor, and Digitally Illiterate

A dvanced technological innovations and the Internet appear to be available everywhere. However, a large section of society is still on the wrong side of the digital divide, unable to fully enjoy the benefits of the revolutionary changes taking place. This article explores the scientific basis for secure easy-to-use Internet and web access for the elderly, the digitally illiterate, and others left behind in this rapidly evolving field. Our vision is to enable everyone to participate in today's digital society through devices that provide free access to information, offer appropriate security for the type of service needed, and feature easy-to-use authentication and interaction mechanisms. We propose technological innovations needed to achieve intuitive human-computer interaction; usable and measurable authentication, security, and privacy solutions inherently biometric in nature; and low-cost wireless broadband access that provides virtually free access to nondynamic content residing in remote servers and delivers essential electronic services.