RESEARCH ARTICLE
E-inclusion: Beyond indi idual socio-
demog aphic cha ac e is ics
Pa ı
´cia Sil a
1☯
*, Alice Dele ue Ma os
2☯
, Robe o Ma inez-Pecino
3☯
1Communica ion and Socie y Resea ch Cen e, Ins i u e o Social Sciences, Uni e si y o Minho, B aga,
Po ugal, 2Depa men o Sociology and Communica ion and Socie y Resea ch Cen e, Ins i u e o Social
Sciences, Uni e si y o Minho, B aga, Po ugal, 3Depa men o Social Pyschology, Uni e sidad de Se illa,
Se ille, Spain
☯These au ho s con ibu ed equally o his wo k.
*[email p o ec ed]minho.p
Abs ac
The changing demog aphic s uc u e o he popula ion, esul ing in unpa alleled g ow h o
he elde ly popula ion, means ha e-inclusion o his popula ion g oup is conside ed o be a
social and poli ical p io i y in he con ex o he In o ma ion Socie y. Mos esea ch s udies
ha e only conside ed indi idual a iables -such as age, gende , educa ion, income and
heal h- in he explana o y models o e-inclusion o senio ci izens, while igno ing mac o a i-
ables, such as he wel a e sys ems and public policies in each coun y. Simul aneously,
mos s udies ocus on small-scale samples, lack in e na ional compa isons and do no con-
side he combined e ec o se e al a iables ha in luence In e ne use. This s udy aims o
analyse possible di e ences be ween wo coun ies ha ha e di e en wel a e sys ems and
public policies, a e con olling o he e ec s o he indi idual a iables ha ha e been iden-
i ied in he li e a u e as ele an o In e ne use. The s udy ocuses on a sample o 8639
indi iduals, aged 50 yea s and o e , esiding in Po ugal and Es onia, who pa icipa ed in
he SHARE p ojec (Su ey o Heal h,Ageing and Re i emen in Eu ope). The esul s o he
logis ic eg ession analysis demons a e ha wel a e sys ems and public policies ha e an
impac on he likelihood o In e ne use, hus ein o cing he impo ance o de eloping public
policies o os e e-inclusion o senio ci izens.
In oduc ion
The In e ne has edesigned ou daily li es, blu ing he bounda y be ween he local and he
global, in e ms o os e ing access o knowledge and in o ma ion, and dissemina ing ideas
and alues. I has also changed he way ha people in e ac , and he manne in which hey
build hei social ne wo ks [1–3]. Howe e , some indi iduals emain on he ma gins o his
" e olu ion" [4]. The "digi al di ide" be ween hose who ha e access o in o ma ion and com-
munica ion echnologies (ICT) and hose who don’ , has conce ned he public au ho i ies,
gi en ha i is an obs acle o achie ing he In o ma ion Socie y, which is conside ed o be eco-
nomically mo e compe i i e and ha os e s g ea e social cohesion, pa icipa ion and con ol
o ci izens [5–7].
PLOS ONE | h ps://doi.o g/10.1371/jou nal.pone.0184545 Sep embe 14, 2017 1 / 10
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OPEN ACCESS
Ci a ion: Sil a P, Ma os AD, Ma inez-Pecino R
(2017) E-inclusion: Beyond indi idual socio-
demog aphic cha ac e is ics. PLoS ONE 12(9):
e0184545. h ps://doi.o g/10.1371/jou nal.
pone.0184545
Edi o : Filomena Papa, Fondazione Ugo Bo doni,
ITALY
Recei ed: Decembe 16, 2016
Accep ed: Augus 25, 2017
Published: Sep embe 14, 2017
Copy igh : ©2017 Sil a e al. This is an open
access a icle dis ibu ed unde he e ms o he
C ea i e Commons A ibu ion License, which
pe mi s un es ic ed use, dis ibu ion, and
ep oduc ion in any medium, p o ided he o iginal
au ho and sou ce a e c edi ed.
Da a A ailabili y S a emen : The SHARE da a
belong o he Su ey o Heal h, Ageing and
Re i emen in Eu ope – Eu opean Resea ch
In as uc u e Conso ium and a e ully a ailable
and can be downloaded om he SHARE Resea ch
Da a Cen e (h ps://sha e-p ojec .cen e da a.nl/
sha eda adissemina ion/use s/login) unde he
ollowing condi ions: Applican s mus ha e a
scien i ic a ilia ion and ha e o sign a s a emen
con i ming ha unde no ci cums ances he da a
will be used o o he han pu ely scien i ic
pu poses. These documen s mus be sen by mail
S udies on he "digi al di ide" iden i y senio ci izens as one o he g oups mos ulne able
o e-Exclusion [3]. This "digi al di ide" esul s om inequali ies in In e ne access, ypes o use
o In e ne echnology, knowledge o i s echnical ea u es, abili y o assess in o ma ion quali y
and, among o he ac o s, he di e si y o o ms o use [4]. Indeed, he e is a majo poli ical,
social and economic in e es in iden i ying he ac o s ha a ec In e ne use in o de o a oid
he "digi al di ide" and, in pa icula , o a oid he ma ginaliza ion o senio ci izens, gi en ha
hey cons i u e a as -g owing popula ion g oup [8].
Despi e he ele ance o he “digi al di ide”, scien i ic li e a u e s ill lacks a comp ehensi e
explana ion o echnology accep ance and, in pa icula , in e ne ’ adop ion by he elde ly [9].
S udies o olde age g oups ha e shown, in gene al, ha ce ain socio-demog aphic cha ac e -
is ics o indi iduals -such as age, gende , educa ion, heal h s a us and income—condi ion he
use o echnology [10–19]. The in luence o socio-demog aphic a iables on In e ne use has
been shown by s udies based on di e en echnology accep ance models -like he Uni ied The-
o y o Accep ance and Use o Technology (UTAUT)- (e.g.[9,20]).
Li e a u e e idences he impo ance o indi idual socio-demog aphic aspec s employing
quali a i e as well as quan i a i e me hodologies. In his sense s udies using quali a i e me h-
odologies ha e ocused in-dep h on small sample sizes anging om 10 o 24 pa icipan s [21–
23] o sligh ly bigge [24]. S udies wi h quan i a i e me hodologies, mainly su eys, also ana-
lyze he ele ance o indi idual socio-demog aphic cha ac e is ics such as: age, gende , educa-
ion [25–27], income [25–27], heal h [25,27] in he USA, Eu ope and wo ldwide (e.g.
[25,26,28,29]). All in all, hese s udies con i m he in luence o indi idual socio-demog aphic
cha ac e is ics on in o ma ion echnology use. (Fo mo e de ail see able in annex [4,19,25–
41]).
On he o he hand, se e al au ho s a gue ha inequali ies in ICT use, when obse ed indi-
idually, a e no mo e han a e lec ion o inequali ies in social s uc u es [42], and a e he e o e
ela ed o he economic, poli ical, his o ical and social cha ac e is ics o he espec i e coun-
ies [43]. In his ein, he e is a need o compa a i e s udies be ween coun ies wi h di e en
wel a e egimes o e idence he ex en o hese ac o s [44]. Analyses wi h la ge sample sizes,
ha include a compa ison be ween coun ies conside ing he simul aneous e ec o a ious
di e en ac o s, as in his wo k, a e pa icula ly impo an and needed since i is he eby pos-
sible o discuss he possible e ec o di e en policies and wel a e sys ems. Taking in o consid-
e a ion he li e a u e e iew conduc ed, he main objec i e o his wo k was o analyse he
exis ence o e en ual di e ences in In e ne use amongs indi iduals aged 50 yea s and o e ,
esiden in coun ies wi h di e en wel a e sys ems and public policies, a e ha ing con olled
o he socio-demog aphic a iables ha a e iden i ied in he li e a u e as being impo an o
explain In e ne use.
Ma e ials and me hods
This s udy ocuses on 8639 indi iduals, aged 50 yea s and o e , in e iewed in wa e 4 o he
Eu opean p ojec , SHARE (Su ey o Heal h,Ageing and Re i emen in Eu ope), in wo coun-
ies wi h di e en wel a e sys ems and public policies: Po ugal and Es onia.
De ails on he SHARE s udy in Eu ope ha e been desc ibed elsewhe e[45]. B ie ly, in wa e
4 (2010–2011), a su ey was conduc ed wi h ep esen a i e samples o he non-ins i u ional-
ised popula ion aged 50 + in 16 Eu opean coun ies.
To achie e ep esen a ion o his popula ion, SHARE employs a sample design which
in ol es baseline samples o he household popula ion aged 50 and olde a a pa icula poin
in ime in each coun y, supplemen ed by egula e eshmen samples o he sub -popula ion
o indi iduals who ha e u ned 50 since he o iginal baseline sample was selec ed [45].
E-inclusion: Beyond indi idual socio-demog aphic cha ac e is ics
PLOS ONE | h ps://doi.o g/10.1371/jou nal.pone.0184545 Sep embe 14, 2017 2 / 10
o he SHARE Resea ch Da a Cen e sha e-
[email p o ec ed].
Funding: This pape uses da a om SHARE Wa e
4 (DOI: 10.6103/SHARE.w4.500), see Bo¨ sch-
Supan e al. (2013) o me hodological de ails.
The SHARE da a collec ion has been p ima ily
unded by he Eu opean Commission h ough FP5
(QLK6-CT-2001-00360), FP6 (SHARE-I3: RII-CT-
2006-062193, COMPARE: CIT5-CT-2005-028857,
SHARELIFE: CIT4-CT-2006-028812) and FP7
(SHARE-PREP: N˚211909, SHARE-LEAP: N˚
227822, SHARE M4: N˚261982). Addi ional
unding om he Ge man Minis y o Educa ion
and Resea ch, he U.S. Na ional Ins i u e on Aging
(U01_AG09740-13S2, P01_AG005842,
P01_AG08291, P30_AG12815, R21_AG025169,
Y1-AG-4553-01, IAG_BSR06-11, OGHA_04-064)
and om a ious na ional unding sou ces is
g a e ully acknowledged (see www.sha e-p ojec .
o g)." Fo de elopmen o his pape we ha e
ecei ed suppo om: The Founda ion o Science
and Technology (FCT) as a PhD indi idual
schola ship o QREN – POPH – Typology 4.1 –
Ad anced T aining, subsidised by he Eu opean
Social Fund and by na ional unds om he MEC
(Minis y o Educa ion and Science).
Compe ing in e es s: The au ho s ha e decla ed
ha no compe ing in e es s exis .
In e iews we e ace- o- ace and ook place in he household. T ained in e iewe s con-
duc ed in e iews using exac ly he same ques ionnai e in all coun ies on a compu e assis ed
pe sonal in e iewing p og am (CAPI).
The SHARE p ojec , coo dina ed in e na ionally by he Max Planck Ins i u e o Social Law
and Social Policy (Ge many), has been app o ed by he E hics Council o he Max-Planck-
Socie y o he Ad ancemen o Science and by he E hics Commi ees o he ins i u ions
esponsible o he s udy in he pa icipa ing coun ies.
Gi en ha he SHARE p ojec has na ional samples o di e en sizes (in his s udy Po ugal
N = 1972 and Es onia N = 6667) and a sample design ha is no uni o m in he di e en coun-
ies, calib a ed indi idual weigh s we e used in he desc ip i e s a is ical analysis ha aimed
o p esen a compa a i e s udy o egula In e ne use s, and non-use s. We used he chi-
squa e es o assess he in e dependence be ween he wo quali a i e a iables. The sample
means we e also compa ed using S uden ’s - es s o independen samples. S a is ical es
esul s wi h p <.05 we e conside ed o be signi ican . The esul s om hese es s we e also
complemen ed wi h e ec size measu es (Cohen’s d/Phi). The in e p e a ion o esul s was
based on Cohen (1988)[46].
In o de o iden i y he de e minan s o In e ne use, a bina y logis ic eg ession analysis,
using he En e me hod, was subsequen ly ca ied ou . These analyses we e pe o med using
SPSS so wa e, e sion 23.
The ollowing a iables and co esponding me hods we e used in his s udy:
In e ne use: a dicho omous a iable ela ed o egula use o he In e ne in o de o send
and ecei e e-mails, o o o he pu poses such as shopping, b owsing in o ma ion o making
a el ese a ions. This a iable has he s a us o a dependen a iable in bina y logis ic eg es-
sion analysis -whe ein an a i ma i e answe o he ques ion on In e ne use is he e e ence
ca ego y.
Socio-demog aphic a iables: age; gende ; numbe o yea s o schooling and sel -pe cep ion
o inancial s ess. In he la e case, his a iable dis inguished be ween indi iduals who
epo ed ha hey expe ienced "majo " o "some di icul ies" in paying mon hly expenses, and
hose who claimed ha i is "easy" o " e y easy" o mee such expenses, acco ding o hei
incomes.
Heal h a iables: men al heal h was assessed using he EURO-D scale and included a ca e-
go y ha encompassed indi iduals who epo ed signi ican symp oms o dep ession, i.e. who
ob ained a sco e o equal o o highe han 3 poin s in he Eu o-D 12-i ems scale [47] and
ano he ha encompasses indi iduals who eco ded lowe sco es.
Physical heal h was add essed using wo a iables: he ADL scale and mobili y limi a ions.
The i s a iable, i.e. he ADL scale (limi a ions wi h ac i i ies o daily li ing), e alua es he
unc ional dependence o indi iduals, aking in o accoun he pe cei ed di icul ies in pe -
o ming some ac i i ies (d essing, including pu ing on socks and shoes, walking ac oss he
oom, ba hing o showe ing, ea ing, such as cu ing up ood, ge ing in and ou o bed, using
he oile , including ge ing up o down). This scale dis inguishes be ween indi iduals who
epo ed ha ing one o mo e di icul ies in basic ac i i ies o daily li ing, om hose who
s a ed no unc ional limi a ion.
The second a iable, ela ed o physical heal h, e alua es limi a ions in e ms o mobili y
le el, i.e. he abili y o walk 100 me es; si down o a ound wo hou s; ge up om a chai
a e ha ing been sea ed o some ime; climbing se e al ligh s o s ai s wi hou es ing; climb-
ing a ligh o s ai s wi hou es ing; leaning, kneeling o c ouching; placing o aising he a ms
abo e shoulde le el; pulling o pushing la ge objec s; li ing o ca ying weigh s o e 5 kilo-
g ams; picking up a small coin om he op o a able. This las a iable dis inguishes indi idu-
als who do no p esen any mobili y limi a ions om hose who ha e one o mo e limi a ions.
E-inclusion: Beyond indi idual socio-demog aphic cha ac e is ics
PLOS ONE | h ps://doi.o g/10.1371/jou nal.pone.0184545 Sep embe 14, 2017 3 / 10
Mac o-social- a iables: coun y o esidence, ha dis inguishes be ween indi iduals esid-
ing in Po ugal and Es onia. In he eg ession analyses, Po ugal was conside ed o be he e e -
ence ca ego y because i is he coun y whe e he e a e lowe a es o In e ne use.
Resul s and discussion
Indi iduals esiden in Po ugal and Es onia, aged 50 yea s and olde , who use he In e ne a e
a mino i y g oup. In Po ugal only 15.2% o esponden s egula ly use his echnology. In Es o-
nia he pe cen age o In e ne use s was 35.4%.
Table 1 shows he desc ip i e analyses o he socio-demog aphic, economic and heal h
cha ac e is ics o In e ne use s and non-use s in he whole sample.
Ou esul s a e consis en wi h indings om o he s udies, ha sugges he exis ence o di -
e ences be ween he g oups o In e ne use s and non-use s acco ding o age, gende , yea s o
schooling, inancial s a us, men al heal h (symp oms o dep ession) and physical heal h ( unc-
ional capaci y and mobili y) [15,17,48].
The a e age ages o he wo g oups (In e ne use s and non-use s) a e s a is ically di e en
(In e ne use s ha e 60.07 yea s on a e age, while non-use s ha e 67.14 yea s) wi h la ge e ec
size, in line wi h di e en s udies [16,25,27,38].
The g oup o In e ne use s is mainly composed o males (59.30%) while he g oup o non-
use s is essen ially composed o emales (wi h small e ec size). Wi h ega d o educa ion, on
a e age, In e ne use s ha e a highe numbe o yea s o schooling (on a e age, 11.76 yea s o
use s, compa ed o 5.31 yea s o non-use s, wi h la ge e ec size) like ound in o he s udies
[17,19,25,26,49].
In e ne use s also epo ha ing ewe inancial p oblems: 61.1% s a e ha hey can mee
mon hly expenses wi hou di icul y, compa ed o 41.7% o non-use s (wi h small-medium
e ec size).
The g oup o In e ne use s is posi i ely di e en ia ed om he g oup o non-use s, wi h
ega d o men al and physical heal h, wi h ewe symp oms o dep ession, ewe unc ional
limi a ions in pe o ming daily ac i i ies and ewe limi a ions on he le el o mobili y (wi h
small-medium e ec size).
A e ca ying ou his compa a i e desc ip i e analysis o In e ne use s and non-use s,
esiding in he wo coun ies, a logis ic eg ession analysis was unde aken, o assess whe he ,
a e con olling o he e ec o he a ious indi idual a iables, di e ences s ill pe sis ,
ela ed o he mac o-social aspec s o he wo coun ies (Table 2).
The socio-demog aphic, economic, heal h and mac o-social a iables en e ed in he eg es-
sion model explain 46% o he a iance in In e ne use by indi iduals aged 50 yea s o mo e.
We will i s discuss he indi idual a iables and hen he mac o-social a iables, which
cons i u e he main goal o his s udy. Wi h ega d o he indi idual a iables, he e is an
in e se ela ionship be ween age and In e ne use. The p obabili y o using he In e ne
dec eases by 10.3% o each yea o addi ional age (OR = .897; 95% CI: .890 o .904). This is
consis en wi h p e ious s udies [16,25,27,38].
Some s udies on gende ha e iden i ied he pe sis ence o inequali ies in he use o ICT
be ween male and emale senio ci izens [15,50]. On he o he hand, in con as o hese s ud-
ies, o he s udies sugges ha he numbe o emales using he In e ne is ending o inc ease
[51], mo ing owa ds g owing gende pa i y [52–54]. Indeed, ou esul s a e consis en wi h
he indings o hese ecen esea ch s udies, since we ound no s a is ically signi ican gende
di e ences, in ela ion o he p obabili ies o In e ne use (p = .345).
The le el o educa ion, as expec ed, is s ongly associa ed wi h In e ne use, whe ein indi-
iduals wi h mo e yea s o schooling end o ha e a highe le el o In e ne use. These esul s
E-inclusion: Beyond indi idual socio-demog aphic cha ac e is ics
PLOS ONE | h ps://doi.o g/10.1371/jou nal.pone.0184545 Sep embe 14, 2017 4 / 10
mi o he esul s ob ained in o he s udies, ha ha e highligh ed he impo ance o educa ion
in de e mining le els o In e ne use amongs senio ci izens [17,19,25,26,49]. Also, as was
expec ed, and in acco dance wi h he li e a u e e iew [17,18,26], absence o economic di i-
cul ies, is associa ed wi h a highe p obabili y o using his echnology, which implies ha cos
Table 1. Cha ac e is ics o In e ne use s and non-use s in he sample.
Use s Non-use s p alue χ
2
/ Ku osis/Skewness Cohen’s d /Phi
A e age age (SD) 60.07
(SD 8.337)
67.14
(SD 10.163)
p<.001 43.305 -.762/.304 1.002
Gende p<.001 5.191 -.024
Female (%) 40.70% 59.30%
Male (%) 59.30% 40.70%
Yea s o schooling—a e age and s anda d de ia ion (in yea s) 11.76
(SD 4.720)
5.31
(SD 3. 355)
p<.001 -50.959 -.383/.021 -1.167
Pe cep ion o inancial si ua ion p<.001 255.597 .172
Posi i e inancial si ua ion (%) 61.1% 41.70%
Nega i e inancial si ua ion (%) 38.90% 58.30%
Men al heal h (Eu o-D) p<.001 142.195 -.130
Exhibi dep essi e symp oms (%) 24.60% 39.60%
Don’ exhibi dep essi e symp oms (%) 75.40% 60.40%
Func ional limi a ions (ADL) p<.001 212.682 -.157
1+ ADL limi a ions (%) 8.30% 17.40%
Wi hou limi a ions (%) 91.7% 82.60%
Mobili y limi a ions p<.001 437.028 -.225
1+ mobili y limi a ions (%) 43% 55%
No limi a ions (%) 57% 45%
Sou ce: SHARE wa e 4, e sion 1.1.1 weigh ed da a. N (non-weigh ed): Use s = 2656; Non-use s = 5983
h ps://doi.o g/10.1371/jou nal.pone.0184545. 001
Table 2. De e minan s o In e ne use, acco ding o he cha ac e is ics o indi iduals aged 50+ yea s,
li ing in Po ugal and Es onia.
Va iables B OR (95% CI)
Sociodemog aphic and economic cha ac e is ics
Age -.109 .897 (.890 -.904)***
Gende (Female) -.058 .943 (.836–1.065)
Yea s o schooling .314 1.369 (1.343–1.396)***
Pe cep ion o inancial si ua ion (posi i e pe cep ion) .660 1.934 (1.711–2.185)***
Heal h
Eu o-D (3 symp oms o dep ession) -.157 .855 (.750-.973)*
ADL (1+ limi a ion) -.234 .791 (.647-.967)*
Mobili y (1+mobili y limi a ions) -.161 .852 (.747-.971)*
Coun y o Residence
Po ugal .575 1.777 (1.490–2.119)***
Cons an 2.439
Nagelke ke R Squa e = .462 p <.001
*p<.05;
**p<.01;
***p<.001
Sou ce: SHARE wa e 4, non-weigh ed da a. N (non-weigh ed) = 8283
h ps://doi.o g/10.1371/jou nal.pone.0184545. 002
E-inclusion: Beyond indi idual socio-demog aphic cha ac e is ics
PLOS ONE | h ps://doi.o g/10.1371/jou nal.pone.0184545 Sep embe 14, 2017 5 / 10
o compu e equipmen and he p ice o In e ne access con inue o be signi ican ac o s o
disc imina ion. Simila ly, wi h ega d o heal h, ou esul s a e consis en wi h p e ious
esea ch, ha es ablishes a co ela ion be ween he exis ence o heal h p oblems wi h lowe
In e ne use [17,25,27]. Hence, Eu opean ci izens aged 50 yea s and mo e in he wo coun ies
unde analysis ha ha e signi ican symp oms o dep ession, i.e. 3 o mo e symp oms o
dep ession in he EURO-D scale, a e 18.5% less likely o use he In e ne (OR = .855; 95% CI:
.750 o .973) compa ed o hose wi h unde 3 symp oms. In u n, indi iduals who ha e limi a-
ions in pe o ming daily ac i i ies a e also dis inguished om hose who do no ha e hese
limi a ions, since he o me a e 20.9% less likely o use he In e ne (OR = .791, 95% CI: .647
o .967). Also people who ha e one o mo e mobili y limi a ions a e 14.8% less likely o use
his echnology (OR = .852; 95% CI: om .7427 o .971) han hose who don’ ha e such
limi a ions.
O he s udies ha e also shown a ela ion be ween physical o heal h p oblems and echnol-
ogy [27].
Finally, ocusing on he main goal o his s udy, he coun y o esidence cons i u es an
impo an ac o o In e ne use. Al hough Po ugal has ewe In e ne use s han Es onia,
once he e ec s o indi idual a iables ha e been con olled o , he esidence o pe sons aged
50 yea s and o e in Po ugal is ac ually associa ed wi h a highe p obabili y o In e ne use.
In Po ugal, he majo i y o indi iduals aged 50 yea s and o e end o ha e a se o socio-
demog aphic cha ac e is ics ha a e s ongly ela ed o he p o ile o an In e ne non-use ,
because, in addi ion o heal h- ela ed limi a ions which a e an issue o conside [55], olde
Po uguese ci izens, especially hose who spen hei childhood and you h unde he dic a o -
ship egime, had limi ed o no educa ional oppo uni ies in he pas , and oday ha e limi ed
pensions [56] because hey only made limi ed pension con ibu ions, which hus hinde s hei
access o paid In e ne se ices. Howe e , he p obabili ies o Po uguese ci izens aged 50 yea s
and o e using he In e ne , a e ac ually highe han in Es onia, a e ha ing con olled o he
socio-demog aphic and heal h cha ac e is ics o he popula ion in he s udy. These esul s a e
pa icula ly in e es ing and ele an o de ini ion o public policies and may ha e been
a ec ed by he signi ican in es men s made in Po ugal o e he pas decade in echnology
p og ams [57]; adul educa ion (e.g. he New Oppo uni ies p og amme, EFA cou ses, e c.);
he p o ision o speci ic IT aining by senio ci izen uni e si ies, pa ish councils and NPOs,
o en a ailable ee o cha ge, and he c ea ion o public spaces o ee In e ne access.
Ano he ac o ha has p obably con ibu ed o his esul is he incen i e o use he In e ne ,
which has been achie ed in Po ugal, in pa icula , h ough inc easing compu e isa ion o
adminis a i e ac s (eGo e nmen ).
The esul s p esen ed he ein highligh he need o analyse e-inclusion, aking in o conside -
a ion no only socio-demog aphic, economic and heal h a iables, a an indi idual le el, bu
also he mac o-social a iables ela ed o he coun y o esidence. In his sense, u u e esea ch
should include, in addi ion o he a iables ha a e adi ionally included in s udies on ech-
nology-use, a iables ela ed o he impo ance ha di e en public policies may ha e on
educing he "digi al di ide" and os e ing he e-inclusion o indi iduals aged 50 yea s and
o e .
This s udy p esen s ce ain limi a ions ha mus be aken in o accoun in u u e esea ch.
SHARE’s da abase, which is o g ea alue o ca ying ou compa a i e analyses o Eu opeans
aged 50 yea s and o e , has signi ican in o ma ion gaps in ela ion o In e ne use by hese
indi iduals. I would he e o e be ad isable o collec da a on o he a iables associa ed o he
"digi al di ide", such as di e en ypes o In e ne use and he equency wi h which indi idu-
als use his echnology in he a ious coun ies pa icipa ing in he p ojec . I would also be
ad isable o u u e esea ch wi h SHARE da a o include a iables o he use accep ance o
E-inclusion: Beyond indi idual socio-demog aphic cha ac e is ics
PLOS ONE | h ps://doi.o g/10.1371/jou nal.pone.0184545 Sep embe 14, 2017 6 / 10
in o ma ion echnology models well in eg a ed in he Uni ied Theo y o Accep ance and Use
o Technology (UTAUT) [58] and i s ex ension UTAUT2 [59]. This in o ma ion would make
i possible o go u he he esul s o his s udy, which poin s o he impo ance o he mac o-
social con ex and public policies, in he cons uc ion o a mo e inclusi e In o ma ion Socie y.
Suppo ing in o ma ion
S1 Table. Quan i a i e s udies analysing he in luence o socio-demog aphic cha ac e is-
ics on echnology use.
(DOCX)
Au ho Con ibu ions
Concep ualiza ion: Pa ı
´cia Sil a, Alice Dele ue Ma os, Robe o Ma inez-Pecino.
Da a cu a ion: Pa ı
´cia Sil a.
Fo mal analysis: Pa ı
´cia Sil a.
Funding acquisi ion: Pa ı
´cia Sil a, Alice Dele ue Ma os.
In es iga ion: Pa ı
´cia Sil a, Alice Dele ue Ma os, Robe o Ma inez-Pecino.
Me hodology: Pa ı
´cia Sil a, Alice Dele ue Ma os, Robe o Ma inez-Pecino.
P ojec adminis a ion: Alice Dele ue Ma os, Robe o Ma inez-Pecino.
Supe ision: Alice Dele ue Ma os, Robe o Ma inez-Pecino.
Valida ion: Pa ı
´cia Sil a, Alice Dele ue Ma os, Robe o Ma inez-Pecino.
Visualiza ion: Pa ı
´cia Sil a, Alice Dele ue Ma os, Robe o Ma inez-Pecino.
W i ing – o iginal d a : Pa ı
´cia Sil a, Alice Dele ue Ma os, Robe o Ma inez-Pecino.
W i ing – e iew & edi ing: Pa ı
´cia Sil a, Alice Dele ue Ma os, Robe o Ma inez-Pecino.
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