Good practice

Pro Senectute Digital Seniors – National Digital Skills Programme for Older Adults (Switzerland)

Switzerland · Bern · See the Switzerland profile

Switzerland's largest elderly welfare organisation runs digital-skills courses and Digital Coach support in 130+ cantonal offices since 2010. Its 'Digitale Senioren' study shows 88% of Swiss 65–74-year-olds have basic digital skills in 2025, more than double the 2010 figure.

130+

Cantonal offices

88%

Swiss 65–74-year-olds with basic digital skills (2025)

Details

Maturity: Established
Promoter: Pro Senectute
Period: 2010–present
Keywords: civil society, elderly welfare, digital skills, volunteering

Context

Switzerland's Pro Senectute, the country's largest elderly welfare organisation, runs digital-skills courses and Digital Coach support for older adults across its cantonal offices.

Results

Operating in 130+ cantonal offices since 2010, its 'Digitale Senioren' study shows 88% of Swiss 65–74-year-olds had basic digital skills in 2025, more than double the 2010 figure.

Implementation

Implementation detail (cost, timeline, staffing, conditions for success) is not yet available for this practice.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

C-NAPSE web research — accessed 2026-06-21
Pro Senectute — accessed 2026-06-21
Digital Seniors 2025 – swissinfo.ch — accessed 2026-06-21
Pro Senectute — digitalization page — accessed 2026-06-21
Digital Seniors 2025 report (ResearchGate) — accessed 2026-06-21
The generational digital divide climbs to age 80 – swissinfo.ch — accessed 2026-06-21

Quality score: 88/100

How is this calculated?

Evidence: Observational / pre–post

Top 18% in this catalogue (573 scored practices)

Scores cluster high, so position within the catalogue is often more telling than the number alone.

Evaluation

Evaluated by C-NAPSE

Score profile — the dimensions behind the score — how it's computed

Innovation level2/5

Nationwide volunteer-based digital coaching delivered across all 26 cantons is operationally distinctive, but the training format (small groups, one-to-one support) is conventional.

Sustainability (ongoing)1/1

Continuously operating since 2010, embedded in Pro Senectute's 130+ institutional offices and 18,000-volunteer network with stable financing.

Evaluation evidence1/1

Five-year 'Digitale Senioren' study series (2010–2025) with nationally representative samples and peer-reviewed outputs confirms the 88% basic-skills rate for 65–74-year-olds.

Demonstrated reach1/1

Covers all 26 cantons; Pro Senectute serves 700,000+ older adults; nationally, 9 in 10 over-65s now use the internet.

Documented learning1/1

Published study reports document improvement trajectories and canton-level policy uptake; findings used in ProSenectute's curriculum updates and published externally.

Cite this

Evidoria. Pro Senectute Digital Seniors – National Digital Skills Programme for Older Adults (Switzerland). Persistent ID: b992f09c-f9ed-4e91-92d0-cac2b46245b2.

Export as decision brief (PDF)

Similar practices you may find useful

★ 72

Concept / ITU Digital Transformation Centres – Senegal

Senegal

ITU and Cisco operate 62 Digital Transformation Centres across Senegal via NGO Concept, delivering free basic-to-intermediate ICT training. Over 41,000 …

★ 96

SAP Autism at Work — Neurodiversity Hiring for Digital-Sector Careers

Germany

Since 2013, SAP's Autism at Work programme has hired 215+ autistic employees across 16 countries into tech roles, self-reporting ~90% …

★ 96

Gaza Sky Geeks

Palestine, State of

Since 2011, Mercy Corps' Gaza Sky Geeks has trained over 60,000 Palestinian youth in coding, freelancing and startup skills through …

★ 96

The Last Mile — Software Engineering Education Inside US Prisons

United States of America

Since 2010, The Last Mile has taught incarcerated Californians offline software engineering despite no prison internet. Now in 16 facilities …