Next Steps

This report will be presented to the Senior Project subcommittee of the Citizens Technology and Telecommunications Advisory Board in early April 1998. The subcommittee will make a recommendation to the City on which project or projects to implement.

To implement one or more of the project options, the Advisory Board and the City of Seattle should act quickly to make a final determination of the project(s) to pursue. For those that require a Request for Proposals, a relatively non-complex process should be used, which allows creativity in how to accomplish the project goals within the available time and resources. The selection process should also occur as promptly as possible, so that the maximum time is available for implementation before the end of 1998.

As noted at the beginning of this report, the assessment process described here was not comprehensive due to limited time and resources. There is much more to learn about senior technology services, opportunities, and needs in Seattle. Future planning efforts would benefit from:

• Continued data collection and tracking.
• Inclusion of a larger sample of opinions on needs and priorities through a survey or other methods (those involved in the survey for this report indicated there was more to be gained through this approach).
• Increased ability to compare demographic information and other data across City sub-area boundaries, either through standardization of sub-area boundaries or creation of tools that allow accurate comparisons.
• Increased sample size for annual Citywide residential survey, so that findings related to racial/ethnic groups can be generalized.
• Additional research about local, regional, and national sources of funding for senior technology projects.
• Consideration of partnerships between senior technology and disability technology efforts where there are similar opportunities and needs.

This report will be made available to others interested in increasing seniors' technology literacy and access. The results of the project or projects funded will also be made widely available, and will hopefully serve as a foundation for additional efforts.