The Vodafone Ireland Foundation has already passed its target of reaching 20,000 people in the first year of its Hi Digital digital skill training programme for over-65s, launched in conjunction with ALONE and Active Retirement Ireland last October.
More than 26,000 sessions have been completed to date as part the initiative, which Vodafone Ireland Foundation head Liz Roche confirmed the charity is planning to extend beyond its initially five-year commitment.
Topics covered at the sessions, which take place online and in-person from this week for the first time, include how to set up a smartphone, online shopping, staying safe online, and using messaging platforms such as WhatsApp.
Participants at a Hi Digital class in Tyrrelstown, Dublin 15 on Tuesday were taught about the various phishing scams, and directed to haveibeenpwned to see if any of their passwords had been leaked, while being warned not to listen to "sensationalism" about the internet on Claire Byrne Live.
The in-person classes will be held nationwide at Gigabit Hubs, created as part of Vodafone's SIRO joint venture with the ESB, and Public Broadband Connection Points that have been funded by Vodafone; the government, local authorities, and National Broadband Ireland, which is rolling out the National Broadband Plan to connect rural areas with high-speed internet.
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"We actually have 20,000 unique users already, so we're delighted with the results to date. With the [online] community classes, we're hoping to reach another 10,000 by the end of the year," Roche said. The foundation has a stated aim of reaching 230,000 people over the first five years of Hi Digital.
"That's ambitious, we really want this to be widespread and really take off in the community. We think we can do it. ALONE have 4,000 volunteers to train, so ... that alone really gets that reach out there."
The programme itself has its roots in the donation of 2,000 smartphones by Vodafone to ALONE at the start of the pandemic, with many recipients needing assistance setting them up, necessitating the introduction of a smartphone helpline, some calls to which took hours to resolve.
ALONE found that its members were often confused about technology or concerned about privacy. Figures from Vodafone and Deloitte show Ireland has a digital literacy rate of 19% among over-65s, below the EU-wide average of 25%, and the skills gap was only exacerbated by Covid-19 as communities retreated and some essential services were cut off.
Roche agreed the establishment and development of Hi Digital has been a process of discovery, adding: "This started organically from those donations of smartphones through ALONE and then the smartphone helpline being set up.
"I think the amount of users just shows the need, the demand, and we plan to develop this between now and 2026. We'll constantly add modules and lessons; we will listen to older people and get their feedback. What else do they want to see? We continue to evolve and develop," she said.
Funding for the foundation is split equally between Vodafone Ireland and the Vodafone Group, and €2m has been poured into Hi Digital to help ALONE and Active Retirement build resources, fund trainers and train older volunteers, with the rest going into the programme's online platform, donations of devices to all its centres and raising awareness of the programme.
"The next phase of our Hi Digital programme will see us reach a larger demographic of people as we roll out to 26 counties with in-person training for the first time," Roche said. "We will now be able to reach an even larger cohort of older persons who can and will benefit from the platform to stay connected and manage activities online in a safe and secure way, with confidence."
"As we further emerge from the pandemic, we are delighted to be able to offer these in-person classes with BCPs and Gigabit Hubs, which are located in most towns and villages across Ireland, meaning no one should be far away to participate in the free classes.
"We believe this initiative, as it grows from strength to strength, will help in combatting isolation and loneliness, reducing the generation digital divide that exists and its effects on the mental health of older people."
Photo: Liz Roche, Head of Foundation and Sustainable Business, Vodafone Ireland at the first Hi Digital face-to-face digital skills training class at Tyrrelstown Community Centre. (Pic: Naoise Culhane)
