Getting Seniors Online

Americans are living longer and becoming increasingly dependent on a constantly-changing telecommunications environment for health care services, access to public and private services, and staying in touch with family and friends. One of our greatest challenges as a nation is ensuring that low-income seniors become actively engaged in navigating the 21st Century telecommunications infrastructure – the Internet. The Benton Foundation and Connected Living hosted a conference on May 22, 2012, bringing together evaluators, practitioners and policymakers to exchange ideas and offer best practices, and explore how to continue working on this issue in a post-federal stimulus era. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provided funding for partnerships and projects that focused on bringing unserved and underserved communities online through the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP).