Cozy Cloud, accessible technology for digitally illiterate people

Toni Codina on 2 September 2022

Personal data platform for digitally illiterate people, especially the elderly and people from low-income households. It aims to solve their digital exclusion through a digital channel that is close and very easy to use.

It offers users an intelligent and decentralised data storage system, which allows secure control of one’s own data. Cozy brings together several services (storage applications, bank aggregator, password, contact and photo manager) and data, simplifying use with simple and easy-to-use functions: direct links to share a folder or document, password management with automatic generation of strong passwords, automatic online data retrieval with a simple click, alerts and help to monitor the budget, etc.

The user has a USB key with which he can open his Cozy digital home from any computer. The content of this key is systematically synchronised to the user’s digital home. The USB key physically symbolises the possession of their data (and also, for certain groups, the security of not running the risk of losing a photo, a letter, a diploma… the only witnesses of their history), although it will of course be kept in a cloud. The password is really just the simplified access key to your personal space, inaccessible without a password. The browser – Firefox – is installed and configured to the key and therefore the user does not leave any personal data (cookie, browsing history, etc.) on the computer where he/she enters the key to access his/her personal space.

It includes Cozy Cloud, a data storage service in the cloud that preserves privacy and allows automatic import of your own documents, such as invoices, online purchases or bank details (Cozy Collect), access to documentation from any synchronised device (Cozy Drive) and a backup copy of photographs available when you need them (Cozy Photos).

Characteristics of innovation

Lab, Aging, Bank of innovations, Cross-cutting intervention, Independent living, New technological tool, Personalization of the service, Poverty and exclusion, Process simplification, User empowerment

Localization

France

Partners / Funders

Secours Populaire Français, Samu Social de Paris, Fondation AFNIC, Framasoft

Genesis

Not having access to the Internet or not knowing how to use digital tools is a handicap for around 17% of the French population, according to a study by the National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE). However, digital technology should not exacerbate inequalities and should not become an obstacle to integration into society but, on the contrary, a valuable aid. That is why, since 2015, this French startup, driven by community education associations, aims to be an inclusive technology that is accessible to everyone, user-friendly and respectful of users’ privacy.

Level of implementation

Cozy Clud has become an operational solution available from any device and country (with access in English, French and Spanish, among others), which simplifies the daily digital life of users, especially those in a precarious situation, as it allows an easy and secure use of its services.

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Getxo Zurekin, community accompaniment at the end of life

Toni Codina on 17 May 2022

A local community network that supports and accompanies people who are in a situation of advanced illness, offering a model of health, social and community care to improve their well-being and quality of life that goes beyond the resources and capacity of the health and social services systems.

The network acts in different areas: raising public awareness of the importance of care and support for dependent people or those at the end of life; training neighbors in palliative care; and promoting research to foster a paradigm shift in community care.

The network also provides information on the resources available in the municipality in relation to palliative care and the situation of people with advanced illness, in the form of a local observatory that seeks to detect support needs based on a pioneering collaborative methodology where citizen participation is key.

Getxo Zurekin believes in the strength of the community and in networking among people of the same population to take care of each other, to reach where public services cannot reach.