Theoretical and methodological basis for analyzing socio-economic participation of elderly people in regional technological environment

Relevance. The concept of technological environment is determined by modern concepts of information and at the same time “aging” society, the importance of new digital practices and relationships, ordered in space in relation to different economic entities, including taking into account their level of use of technological innovations and age characteristics. Technological environment is a special type of environment with processes and practices being rooted in the socio-economic system and not being limited by formal geographical, cultural, institutional or demographic boundaries. Technological environment opens up great opportunities to improve the quality of life of the fastest growing social group – elderly people. The technological space has recently become a factor that shapes quality of life. Thanks to this, satisfaction with the quality of life may be seen as an assessment by old persons their life as a whole with the individual conditions predetermined by the regional technological environment. Aim. Theoretical and methodological substantiation of the analysis of the socio-economic participation of elderly people in regional technological environment. This task requires both a systematic understanding of the effects that technological changes have on the lives of elderly people, and a systematic methodological tool for assessing the socio-economic participation and inclusion of elderly people in the technological space. Methods. A systems approach is used to examine the participation of elderly people in the regional technological environment in economic and social systems on a multi-level basis. Results. The authors have identified five elements of the regional technological environment (consumption of goods and services, employment and communication, education, health and care, housing and living environment). The paper introduces the examples of primary and secondary data sources for analyzing the inclusion of elderly people in the regional technological environment. It is introduces as well typical indicators characterizing each element of the regional technological environment. The authors analyzed possible qualitative and quantitative methods for studying the socio-economic participation of elderly people separately in the context of economic and social systems. They proposed the development of the concept of participation of elderly people in the socio-economic system of the region. This concept implies involving elderly people in managing certain elements of the technological environment. Conclusions. The proposed elements of the technological environment for assessing the socioeconomic participation of elderly people in the regional technological environment are not strictly delineated structurally; they can intersect and interact. Accordingly, practices of socio-economic participation may be of a combined nature, which may require a non-standard approach and the use of mixed research methods. The authors propose to use three main forms of elderly people participation in the socio-economic system of the region: their participation in putting forward proposals, developing alternative scenarios, and choosing a strategy for the development of the regional technological environment. The study confirms that elderly people participation in the socio-economic system of the region makes it possible to connect the motives, incentives and needs of people of different ages and socio-economic status in regional technological environment development, and helps to more fully utilize the resource potential of citizens. In practice, all forms of participation of elderly people in the socio-economic system of the region are used in a certain combination, since they are closely interconnected and complement each other well when solving a wide range of tasks related to the development of the regional technological environment.