Seniors and Information Technology: A MIS-Fit?

The “digital divide” between the haves and have-nots in society continues to draw attention in traditional media outlets as well as academic research. Those yearning to join the computer revolution comprise several groups defined by wealth, ethnicity, country (even regions of countries), and age. While there has been research into the digital divide in all of these areas, the focus of this paper is Information Technology (IT) use by the elderly, or our senior citizens. Our interest in this group stems from the dynamic interaction of two forces: 1) senior populations are growing in percentage and sheer number both in the United States and internationally; and 2) as a group, the elderly have more disposable income to spend on IT than their younger counterparts. In order to coordinate our research agenda, the current investigation presents a framework that delineates scholarly inquiry into this topic by the elements of the framework. We look at what has been done, and what we feel needs to be done, in order to incorporate an important demographic group into the mainstream of computing society: our seniors.