About the Project

The DiSC project (Digital Security for Senior Citizens) aimed to support and upskill senior citizens to increase their digital skills and knowledge to be able to proactively identify and protect against cybersecurity threats and scams which take place through technology and devices.

The project was funded through the Key Action 2: Adult Education call of the Erasmus+ programme. The DiSC project started on 1^st December 2020 and lasted until the end of May 2023.

The project consortium was made up of five organisations which brought a wealth of experience and expertise from across Europe. CWEP (project coordinator) from Poland, e-Seniors from France, Innohive from Greece, FyG Consultores from Spain and Cuiablue from the UK. You can read more about the consortium partners here.

The project developed a framework of digital security competences to guide senior citizens to identify and quantify the skills which will help them protect themselves from digital security threats.

To ensure the framework is used in a practical way, DiSC also developed a digital benchmarking tool for end users to measure their level of digital security competence.

This was supported by an online serious game for the users to be able to practice digital security skills in a safe, virtual environment.

Finally, the project pursued to influence national and European level policy, by drawing together evidence-based conclusions and policy recommendations from data gathered throughout the project.

The intended project beneficiaries were senior citizens aged 55 and above. Additionally, the project also engaged organisations which focus on increasing the ICT competences of senior citizens.

The project concept was developed as an extension of a number of small-scale initiatives started at community level and aims to build on that and retain strong links to the consortium’s local and regional stakeholders.

As well as educating senior citizens about digital security threats, DiSC aimed to change the attitudes of senior citizens who believe they are too small to make a difference to national and European cybersecurity issues. It was done by raising awareness and changing the mindset of senior citizens and the ICT educators which train them.

Erasmus+ Project Number: 2020-1-PL01-KA204-082121