The problem

Inspiration

The digital world is ageless.

The digital divide

The world of new technologies has evolved exponentially in recent years and many seniors have been left behind. However, their involvement is increasingly greater due to the multiple benefits offered.

The current situation: COVID-19

Unfortunately, seniors have been hit the hardest by the coronavirus crisis. Not only in the aspect of their health, but also socially by the lack of affection, entertainment and communication. The access to services that have become essential electronically, such as food, electronic banking and transportation, is a struggle for this demographic.

The solution

Overview

We propose an adapted virtual platform, complete in entertainment, communication and operability for seniors. This platform will be available as a web version and a mobile APP for Android and iOS. A variety of digital services provided are the following:

Communication

Due to the current confinement restrictions, many are suffering from loneliness, anxiety and depression. We offer an exclusive and adapted social network for seniors, promoting their communication and social wellbeing. The network’s primary functions are: profile management, friend list, direct messages, multimedia content sharing, comments and reactions to publications, among others. Useful advertisements will be properly added within the content.

Health

Health centers are the most dangerous sources of COVID-19 infection. Online health services are facilitated so that seniors may avoid entering these centers, unless it is strictly urgent. We offer direct access to each user's personal health portal depending on their location, as well as an information phone number. Medical video calls can also be requested through our online consultation button. Doctors will be able to prescribe medications through the platform. Our goal is to relieve the workload in medical consultations and, ultimately, improve the care of senior citizens. The agreements with public entities will allow us to collect the database of patients with health centers and medical personnel.

Online Grocery Shopping

Supermarkets are another main source of contagion. Grocery shopping online would eliminate the risk of contagion and, additionally, allow seniors to avoid heavy lifting. However, current online supermarkets are not well adapted to them. We offer an easy, secure way to buy the groceries they need. Users will be able to create shopping lists and receive their order at their door for a small fee. A delivery service company would get the products from the supermarket chosen by the user and delivered at the scheduled time.

Electronic Banking

The confinement has limited our banking access. Electronic banking allows us to check accounts and make transactions. However, seniors do not usually use this service since they are suspicious and unaware. We securely redirect to the online platform of the main banking entities using a guided, easy and intuitive visual interface.

Entertainment

Most seniors are living alone, away from their families, whom they have not seen for a long time. Lack of communication and access only to negative news provided by television increases loneliness, anxiety and depression. We feel it is important to provide an alternative entertainment through games, radio, magazines and virtual activities, such as museums and theaters. Our team will update the database of links to multimedia content.

Transportation

Current mobility is low because of reduced access. We offer public transportation information. This information is currently open and available to many cities throughout Europe. In order to provide this service, we will use an external API offered by Google.

Fiscal Services

All citizens are obligated to pay taxes even during the current crisis. This could be difficult if you lack the tax knowledge or access to tax advice. We securely redirect to the tax portal of each country of the European Union, guided to complete tax requirements. Additionally, we provide information telephone numbers and contacts to consultancies per location. These consultancies will pay to appear in the platform.

Software development

We are developing a mobile APP and a web version covering all the above-mentioned digital services. Since a large number of users are expected, the platform must be easily scalable. In order to achieve this goal, we will use a cloud-based solution, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), allowing us to dynamically use the resources of the necessary infrastructure. For the development of the backend, we have a NoSQL database (MongoDB). In addition, we are developing a robust API. For the development of the frontend, we are using multiplatform technologies. In this way, we can reuse the source code for the development of the APP in iOS, Android and the web version, which makes deployment and maintenance faster and cheaper.

UX design

The visual interface of the virtual platform is one of the main keys of this project. The design is based on the principles of usability and accessibility to adapt the different services to seniors. We have elaborated a prototype of the mobile version of the APP which fully represents the idea of the solution. This prototype can easily be turned into a ready-to-use product for Android and iOS when using multiplatform technologies.

Business plan

The complete development of our virtual platform and maintenance entails costs in, mainly: software development, infrastructure rental, team staff, marketing campaigns and advertising. In terms of revenue, a large, segmented user database has a lot of value in itself. The main income will be the advertising that will appear on the timeline of the social network. We will also charge a small fee for each transaction made through online grocery shopping. We will receive financial support from banks to offer direct access to their online banking. We will look for public subsidies that support the care of senior citizens. Consultancies will also pay to offer their services through Raíces Social Network.
As a future approach, after the COVID-19 crisis and when non-essential services are recovered, a series of products and services adapted to seniors (like Groupon) will be offered. Private companies will pay a fee to advertise. Advertisements exposed to a strictly segmented audience can generate large revenue.

During this weekend...

The idea of Raíces Social Network was originally born to solve the problem of the digital divide in Spain. However, this problem affects the whole of Europe. The EuVsVirus hackathon has given us the opportunity to expand the framework of our project at a European level and could even be exported worldwide. During this weekend we have been studying the needs of the European population and adapting the proposal to it, thus expanding our target audience. As a result of this weekend's work, we have produced effective material to present the proposal, including a textual pitch, a video pitch and a prototype of the mobile APP. We have worked with several digital tools, some worth mentioning are Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere, Marvel, Google Docs, Hangouts and Zoom, among others. Communication with our mentor has been a success and has allowed us to significantly improve the quality of the project. We have mainly used the Slack platform for Hackathon tracking and Zoom for video calls.

The impact of Raíces Social Network to the crisis

Before the COVID-19 outbreak, the digital divide was already a recognized problem, there being a clear need to integrate seniors in the world of new technologies. However, there is still no solution aimed at this type of population. With the current health crisis, the problem has worsened and the impact that a platform like Racíes Social Network has on society is even greater. The communication of users with their family and friends through the social network aims to reduce the feeling of loneliness. Likewise, the digital services offered in Raíces Social Network will allow us to improve the quality of life of our elders. In short, Raíces Social Network will provide important cognitive, emotional and psychological benefits.

The necessities in order to continue the project

Raíces Social Network is an ambitious project, since it covers multiple services. To carry it out, it is necessary to have financial support and establish various collaborations with private companies and public organizations. Once funding is secured, we need to build a solid software infrastructure and launch marketing and advertising campaigns. Likewise, the technical and legal limitations of each service must be studied, as well as data protection. With the platform in operation, different maintenance tasks will have to be carried out. To accomplish all of this work, we must form a multidisciplinary work team and receive the support of users so that Raíces Social Network can grow and reach the home of every senior in Europe.

The value of Raíces Social Network after the crisis

The digital divide between a young and older audience has existed since before the COVID-19 crisis. The main associated problems that affect older people, such as depression, loneliness and boredom, have been aggravated by the situation of COVID-19, but will remain latent after this situation. Therefore, the need to continue facing these problems when the crisis is resolved is essential. In this way, our elders will be able to continue enjoying our services, breaking the digital divide. In addition, the physical conditions of older people limit them in daily activities such as shopping or going to the bank, among others. For this reason, digitally bringing the essential services to the homes of seniors will continue to have significant value after the crisis.