Within the US, multiple national regional telecommunications and IT policy/strategy papers and programs exist that concern themselves with issues of relevance for older (and/or disabled) people. General Services ICT (which is more commonly referred to within the United States as IT) is referred to by almost every government, private and public agency that has older Americans as its focus.
The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) provides global public policy, business networking, and national leadership to promote the continued rapid growth of the IT industry. The Association plays the leading role in issues of IT industry concern including information security, taxes and finance policy, digital intellectual property protection, telecommunications competition, workforce and education, immigration, online privacy and consumer protection, government IT procurement, human resources and e-commerce policy.
This organisation, in addition to numerous others, have as their focus the expansion of IT services throughout the United States. In addition to these agencies, the government on both a federal and state level has emphasised IT as a priority. For the past decade, the US government has explored the digital divide and universal access; and a great deal of research and legislation has also become available regarding seniors and this topic.
The number of Americans who are utilising electronic tools in their daily lives is rapidly increasing, however the digital divide still remains, particularly for seniors. Within the US, the digital divide appears to be more a reflection of income than age.
In addition, there were 29 bills relating to general services ICT (IT) proposed during the First Session of the 106th (1999) Congress. The proposed legislation was grouped into six categories: Digital Signatures, Encryption, IT Oversight, Privacy, Research and Development, Security and Miscellaneous Telecommunications/Electronic Commerce.
The driving force for the implementation of ICT among the senior population in our country has been the explosion of the senior population and the lobby groups representing them. Older Americans compose a larger proportion of the United States' population than ever before. The largest identifiable legislative/regulative barriers for seniors and ICT appears to be attitudes, lack of knowledge and perception. In the U.S. seniors are often perceived to be old, lonely, and poor-even though the reality is one of a strong, vibrant, educated community. Seniors in the U.S. through their lobby groups (primarily AARP), tend to lobby for legislation, funding, etc. that are aimed specifically at their market, rather than focusing on inclusion within general legislative activities.
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