Digital Kin offers free smartphone guides for seniors and rural communities in Cyprus

Nicosia, Cyprus. A platform developed by CYENS aims to help seniors and people in rural and remote areas of Cyprus use smartphones and digital services with greater confidence, independence and safety. Digital Kin provides free, practical instructions in Greek as everyday services increasingly move online.

Practical digital skills

Digital Kin was developed by a team led by Fotis Liarokapis of the Extended Experiences (EX) Research Group at the CYENS Centre of Excellence, in strategic collaboration with Cyta.

The initiative focuses on skills needed to communicate with family, access healthcare services, make payments and find information online. It is built on the principle that technology should make life easier rather than create another barrier.

Step-by-step guidance

The platform has six learning areas and more than 85 step-by-step guides adapted for Android smartphones and iPhones. They cover basic smartphone functions, communication, internet use, online safety, digital services and useful applications.

Users can learn to make calls, send messages, take photographs, install applications, browse the internet and manage common settings. Rather than relying on technical terminology, the guides use short visual sequences that users can follow at their own pace after selecting a topic and their type of phone.

The guides can also be downloaded as PDFs for users, family members and carers to print or consult offline. This allows people who are not yet comfortable navigating online services to use the material.