| Sumario: | Lifelong learning has replaced the earlier notion of youth and adolescence as the period of learning in preparation for a whole life integrated in society. People are able to internalize new information and acquire new skills at any age up to the end of life1, except in case of specific memory-attacking diseases. A normal life requires quite a few memory skills. However, society as a whole still seems to hold on to the earlier notion of education as preparation for and continuation of professional life, i.e. education for jobs. Purpose Working out the notion of lifelong learning for ageing people in present society. Method Analysis of the structural lag2 of older people to participate in a society characterised by fast innovations3,4, and deriving suggestions for solutions. Results and discussion Stemming from developments in technology, a stream of innovations has deeply changed society and is continuing doing so. It follows that the time horizon of education has shrunk and a necessity has arisen of permanent education and training of skills up till the end of life. Some options will be outlined for permanent education, thus enabling lifelong learning3,5. It is presently unclear who will be the primary stakeholder for organizing this. Scientific disciplines of gerontology and technology3,6,7 (headings) and concepts (cells) for education software, user interfaces, social organization, and massive introduction are indicated in the matrix of Table 1.
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