DIGI CITIZEN
KELA
I am very familiar with KELA. I could say that Kela has supported me in different life situations throughout my life. KELA has supported me in my studies, maternity leave, childcare leave, etc. Kela paid the last child benefit for our family nine months ago. At the moment I do not actively use Kela’s services. However, I have paid the student health care fee through the KELA website. My daughter does not receive student financial aid when she lives at home, but Kela pays school travel allowance because her travel distance is over 7 kilometres long. I ordered a European Health Insurance Card from the Kela service. I have always thought that travel insurance alone is sufficient when travelling. After researching the matter, I found that the European Health Insurance Card is complementary to travel insurance. It is a good supplement if your travel insurance does not cover everything.
OMAKANTA AND KEVA
OmaKanta has been around for years. You can see your doctor’s visits, examinations and even dental appointments. It’s a really easy and functional website. In the past, when a child’s guardian couldn’t see the health records of a child under 10, it made things a lot more complicated. Fortunately, this was changed. I made my own living will years ago and would recommend the same to anyone who wants to do so.
I went to the Keva website. I work in the private sector, so Keva did not show me the information. I did a retirement age calculator at tyoeläke.fi and my lowest retirement age is not until 66. My target retirement age is 68 years and 10 months. That’s still 24 years away, huoh! It’s important to do a job you like. According to the occupational pension calculator, just two years longer working life will increase my pension by about 15%. That’s a good incentive for many people. Two months ago, my mother applied for her pension online. I watched from the sidelines to make sure she knew how. It was very easy and hassle-free even for a 67-year-old with only basic digital skills. She also responded to feedback that it was easy to apply electronically.
DIGITAL SHOPS
eBay is a huge marketplace where millions of buyers and sellers meet all over the world. eBay sells everything from clothes to goods to home electronics. I discovered the online shop. I haven’t shopped there, but I could.
Amazon is already a more familiar name. I see more of their ads. You can find almost anything in the range. Quality can vary though. There is a dedicated app available for your phone. The downside is that if you return the product, you have to pay the shipping costs yourself. In my opinion, these online shops are reliable. At least my own friends have made great bargains. Payment is secure and easy. When I make a purchase decision, I always read people’s reviews of the seller and the product. They make the buying decision easier.
Booking.com and Trivago are both familiar to my family. For example, we have booked hotels abroad using the websites. Both are easy to use, the information is sufficient and we have never had any major problems. I compare prices from different service providers and directly with the hotel’s own price. Sometimes the price difference can be due to things like whether breakfast is included in the accommodation or whether the room has an earlier/later check in or check out. Once, when booking, we paid a few dozen euros for a transfer from the airport to the hotel. That ride never arrived. We posted feedback after the trip. Booking.com contacted us, but did not acknowledge their mistake and we were left without a refund. That is my only negative experience with that company. I still consider it to be fairly reliable, although I will not be ordering any more transfers from them.
APPLICATION
I have a leased car at work. The car is from a leasing company called Arval. The company owns own my work car. They have a great app called “My Arval Mobil” where I can see all the information about the car. The app also shows me when and where I filled up the gas, the mileage, the last service, any damage and when the contract expires. I can also see all my car-related purchases, windscreen washer fluid, car wash, oil, etc. The app makes it easier to keep a logbook and makes my life easier. The information in the app comes within a few days delay.
DIGITALISATION AND THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
Digitalisation is moving ahead at a rapid pace. I have to work hard to keep up. Fortunately, I have three young children to guide me when needed. My children and I are about 20 years apart in age and I have found that everything is more natural and easier for them. Digital skills are taught in schools and my children are interested in everything digital-related in their free-time. I’m interested in learning new things as well. My parents’ generation have had to learn digital skills a bit later in life, so not everything feels as easy for them. My mother is “barely” getting by with a computer or a smartphone. Quite often she has to ask for help with fairly simple things. She will soon be 68. She has spent her career in the care sector and over these decades digitalisation has changed a lot. Fortunately, her employer has provided training to ensure that everyone has been able to do their job.
Digitalisation is a very good thing, but learning new things is not easy for everyone. Services are moving more and more online that it causes difficulties, especially for older people. I believe that for future generations this will not be a problem.
DIGITAL LITERACY TEST
I took the digital literacy test and got a score of 83%. This was better than I expected. On the other hand, the breakdown of the areas is correct. Being social online is my biggest strength. I think carefully about what I write and where. I only engage in constructive conversations and never say anything bad about others.
SELF REFLECTION
The assignment as a whole was very interesting and made me think about the possibilities for older people to cope in today’s digital world. On the other hand, so many things were easy and familiar for me already, that my self-esteem grew with the task, as I realised that my own skills were reasonably good.
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