Post-adoption research on the use of ICT by seniors in the Czech Republic with emphasis on information aspects

Information and communication technologies (ICT) have experienced a tremendous boom, which is still continuing, and these technologies are increasingly affecting the daily lives of all humanity. However, modern ICTs have not been adopted by everyone in the same way, and in particular the age group of seniors (65+ years) has different knowledge about them and also different experiences with them. This paper was written to explore the adoption of ICT by seniors with an emphasis on the informational aspects. Specifically, it aimed to find out the influences on seniors' use of ICT, as well as seniors' use of mobile phones, the status of their use of e-health, and their perceptions of their Internet security and data privacy. To do this, qualitative research was set out, specifically semi-structured interviews with 14 senior respondents (65+ years of age) who owned a mobile phone. The main results include confirmation of the strong influence of family, especially younger members, on seniors' ICT use, i.e., device choice and usage. Seniors have encountered or still encounter ICT mainly at work, but in their leisure time they mainly use new possibilities for information search and communication, especially social networks. They are satisfied with their phones beyond measure. Seniors are also often interested in using new ICTs, but they lack help from others. They often don't understand the behaviour of their devices or the apps they use. Their security and privacy online are important to them, but they often lack confidence and knowledge on topics such as how their data is handled on social media. The thesis concludes with recommendations in education of seniors, their connection to the development of applications or devices, and also motivation of seniors to use ICT.