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In 2008 the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs selected NEC and its consortium members to deliver the Broadband for Seniors initiative nationally, as part of the ‘Making Ends Meet - Plan for Older Australians, People with Disabilities and Carers’ program.

NEC Australia implemented the program by installing over 2,000 kiosks at seniors’ organisations such as community centres across the nation, providing them with the tools to engage with web-based services, ranging from social media, smartphones and tablets, and photo-sharing services such as Flickr.

Broadband for Seniors has provided training to over 250,000 seniors, offering them important strategies to manage security, identity and information-sharing risks, including threats posed by malware, which do not discriminate between young and old computer users.

In 2012 NEC Australia worked with the federal government to revamp the Australian Government-funded Broadband for Seniors website, a newly-designed platform to help senior Australians widen their knowledge of the web, cloud computing and collaboration technologies. The website revamp is part of the Australian Government’s $25.4 million commitment to the Broadband for Seniors program.

“This program positions Australia well in a global sense, with many countries focussed on digital inclusion policies to avoid the “digital divide,” in this case one based on age. It has been fascinating to watch the evolution of usage by kiosk users, knowing that this is just the beginning, with new technologies for both health care and social interaction just around the corner,” said David Cooke, NEC Australia.

NEC Australia delivers the program in partnership with the Adult Learning Australia, Australian Senior Computer Clubs Association and University of the Third Age Online.