HUMAN AGING, DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AND THE ELDERLY IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF SANTA CRUZ DO SUL

Abstract

This article discusses the concepts of Development and Culture, approaching the theme of population ageing and the impacts of an increasingly connected society on the ways of life and manifestations of the elderly. The methodological process used in this research went based on interviews with 20 people, whose ages vary between 60 and 69 years old, living in the urban area of the city of Santa Cruz do Sul in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The results show that the internet is already part of the interviewees' daily lives. It is a communication and information tool incorporated into their routines, taking on a larger dimension as they become more comfortable expanding their uses and discovering new features. Thus, we conclude that the internet is a fundamental instrumental freedom to expand the capacities of choice and citizenship of the older people interviewed. Although they lived their childhood and adolescence in a period of deprivation of civil and political freedoms, thanks to the advancement of ICTs, broad freedom of expression and information is available. We concluded that this work is innovative in Regional Development studies because it places the older person as the protagonist of the territory they inserted, placing such individuals as agents. They can transform the reality of their region, from the access and appropriation of ICTs or their citizen presence participating in decisions that interfere with their daily lives.