Ahead of UN International Day for Older Person, Oxford tech start-up committed to tackling digital ageism has stark warning for tech giants

Ahead of UN International Day for Older Person, Oxford tech start-up committed to tackling digital ageism has stark warning for tech giants

Generation Z - the first digital native generation - will be future victims of digital ageism, and risk becoming digitally illiterate, if firms don’t systemically change their approach to developing tech products.

This is according to Mung!, believed to be the world’s first AI-driven tech start-up tackling digital ageism, which is warning of a digital illiteracy and isolation epidemic if big tech firms don’t design their products to be inclusive of older people.

The firm, co-founded by Oxford DPhil students Linda Hong Cheng, Tongshan Liu and Marek Rychetský, have made their call to action on the UN’s International Day of the Older Person, which is calling for improved support for older people worldwide.

Mung! emphasises that with the breakneck speeds of technological advancement and ageing worldwide, the risk is significant and will badly impact business’ and society more broadly if it is not addressed. Setting out the challenge, and the consequences of inaction, Linda said:

‘Excluding older people from the digital world is both bad ethics and bad business. Older people make up an increasingly large global demographic and powerful consumer market. Businesses that don't cater to the ageing market aren’t going to stay in business for long. Mung! helps businesses adapt to the urgent needs of the older consumer market through innovative, bespoke software and consulting services.

‘Digital ageism isn’t just bad for business—it stoppers social progress in every sphere. Digital literacy is absolutely necessary for surviving and thriving in society, recognised by UN Sustainable Development Goal 4. Digital illiteracy exacerbates poverty, inequality, and mortality rates.

‘Mung! is at the forefront of eradicating digital exclusion and ageism—revolutionizing tech and AI for good, making technology accessible and inclusive for all ages."

In the UK alone, there are over 7.3 million elderly smartphone users, yet only 46.2% know how to look up information online, 50.4% know how to use a QR code, and 52.1% know how to shop online. By 2050, the number of people aged 65 or older is projected to more than double globally - rising from 761 million in 2021 to 1.6 billion.

Mung! recently held its first Digital Skills Workshop for elderly people at Saïd Business School, where Dean Soumitra Dutta spoke and praised the firm for its work and mission.



ENDS

For more information, or to speak to someone from Saïd Business School, contact Jonny Stone at jonny@bluesky-pr.com or call 01582 790704.

Note to editor

Find out more about Mung!’s products, services, and community workshops dedicated to combatting digital ageism: mungtech.com.


Join the Mung! Movement to make tech inclusive for ALL ages: contact@mungtech.com.


About Saïd Business School: Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford is a vibrant and innovative business school, embedded within a 900-year-old world leading university. We create programmes and ideas that have global impact and reach. We educate leaders, change makers and innovators across every industry and sector. Our groundbreaking research and exceptional teaching transforms individuals, who transform businesses, which transforms the world. We create ïmpact from within. www.sbs.ox.ac.uk