This book constitutes the refereed post-conference proceedings of the 7th EAI International Conference on Smart Objects and Technologies for social Good, GOODTECHS 2021, held in September 2021. Due to COVID-19 pandemic the conference was held virtually. The 24 full papers presented were selected from 53 submissions and issue design, implementation, deployment, operation, and evaluation of smart objects and technologies for social good. Social goods are products and services provided through private enterprises, government, or non-profit institutions and are related to healthcare, safety, sports, environment, democracy, computer science, and human rights. The papers are arranged in tracks on machine learning; IoT; social considerations of technology; technology and ageing; healthcare.

Demographic Analysis - Selected Concepts, Tools, and Applications presents basic definitions, practical techniques, and methods, as well as examples of studies based on the usage of demographic analysis in various institutions and economic entities. The volume covers studies related to population distribution, urbanization, migration, population change and dynamics, aging, longevity, population theories, and population projections. It is an asset to academic and professional communities interested in advancing knowledge on diverse populations in various contexts such as public policies, public services, education, and labor markets. The book aims to help students of demography as well as practitioners of other fields of social sciences and people in government, business, and nonprofit organizations.

The booming increase of the senior population has become a social phenomenon and a challenge to our societies, and technological advances have undoubtedly contributed to improve the lives of elderly citizens in numerous aspects. In current debates on technology, however, the »human factor« is often largely ignored. The ageing individual is rather seen as a malfunctioning machine whose deficiencies must be diagnosed or as a set of limitations to be overcome by means of technological devices. This volume aims at focusing on the perspective of human beings deriving from the development and use of technology: this change of perspective - taking the human being and not technology first - may help us to become more sensitive to the ambivalences involved in the interaction between humans and technology, as well as to adapt technologies to the people that created the need for its existence, thus contributing to improve the quality of life of senior citizens.

Critical Gerontology Comes of Age reflects on how baby boomers, caretakers, and health professionals are perceiving and adapting to historical, social, political, and cultural changes that call into question prior assumptions about aging and life progression. Through an exploration of earlier and later-life stages and the dynamic changes in intergenerational relations, chapter authors reexamine the research, methods, and scope of critical gerontology, a multidisciplinary field that speaks to the experiences of life in the 21st century. Topics include Medicare, privatization of home care, incarceration, outreach to LGTBQ elders, migration, and chronic illness. Grounded in innovative research and case studies, this volume reflects multiple perspectives and is accessible to lay readers, advanced undergraduates and graduate students, and professionals in many fields.

Social welfare is riddled with ingrained problems that have already defeated all standard approaches, and reform calls for counterintuitive action. Digital Social Innovation (DSI) is primarily about promoting grassroots initiatives to address localized societal problems, and is not normally talked about in relation to welfare reform, but perhaps social innovation initiatives, with their localized and case-based approach, could help to solve the enormous structural problems faced by our welfare democracies today. This book addresses the potential and implications of DSI for the reform of the European welfare state. The 14 papers collected here focus on key issues, such as the nature of social innovation and its effects; scaling up to address structural problems and make systemic change; new social risks and challenges; the role of digital thinking and emerging technologies; public governance approaches; tolerance of institutions; integrating innovation in the welfare system; and the empowerment of marginalized citizens. These topics are examined from an integrated and multi-disciplinary perspective, taking into consideration not only current EU debate on policy trends for social protection, but also the nature of digital transformation and its effects on social change. The book also highlights barriers to adoption, as well as the potential limitations and failures of this emerging approach. Digital social innovation is an emerging discipline that deserves more attention from policy makers and more resources from government. Drawing on welfare studies, political science, sociology, psychology, law and computer science, this book will be of interest to researchers, practitioners and policy makers alike.

In recent years, social innovation has experienced a steep career. Numerous national governments and large organisations like the OECD, the European Commission and UNESCO have adopted the term. Social innovation basically means that people adopt new social practices in order to meet social needs in a different or more effective way. Prominent examples of the past are the Red Cross and the social welfare state or, at present, the internet 2.0 transforming our communication and cooperation schemes, requiring new management concepts, even empowering social revolutions. The traditional concept of innovation as successful new technological products needs fundamental rethinking in a society marked by knowledge and services, leading to a new and enriched paradigm of innovation. There is multiple evidence that social innovation will become of growing importance not only concerning social integration, equal opportunities and dealing with the greenhouse effects but also with regard to preserving and expanding the innovative capacity of companies and societies. While political authorities stress the social facets of social innovation, this book also encompasses its societal and systemic dimensions, collecting the scientific expertise of renowned experts and scholars from all over the world. Based on the contributions of the first world-wide science convention on social innovation from September 2011 in Vienna, the book provides an overview of scientific approaches to this still relatively new field. Forewords by Agnès HUBERT (Member of the Bureau of European Policy Advisers (BEPA) of the European Commission) and Antonella Noya (Senior Policy Analyst at OECD, manager of the OECD LEED Forum on Social Innovations)

This book focuses on the dynamic process of aging and on interventions to support the development of older and integrated societies, from a multidisciplinary point of view. Gathering contributions from researchers and professionals with different backgrounds, including social and health sciences, education, engineering and IT, biology, geography and environmental science, it aims at understanding the phenomenon of population aging, in order to contribute to the development of future functional communities, fostering well-being and autonomy of the elderly, their integration and participation. Based on the proceedings of the 2nd International Congress Age.Comm Longevity and Development, organised online on November 11-12, 2021, from Castelo Branco, Portugal, this book addresses a wide range of specialists dealing with the process of aging, integration and community development in the societies of the future.