Session
Internet Society of China
Rui ZHONG, Internet Society of China, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Region Jing MA, CICCST/CAST, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Region
Ms. LU ShiYu,
Senior Researcher, Tencent
Ms. LI DuoDuo,
PhD candidate in School of Journalism and Communication，Xiamen University
WU PING, Internet Society of China
ZHONG Rui, Internet Society of China
Presentation plus Q&A
English
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development sets out a universal plan of action to achieve sustainable development in a balanced manner. It calls for leaving no one behind and for ensuring that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are met for all segments of society, at all ages, including the ageing population. How to leverage the ICTs to empowering the an ageing population is vital to the achievement of the integrated 2030 Agenda.
As the Internet has penetrated into all aspects of the daily live, it has become the new normal for people to use the Internet for work and life. However, there are some certern groups could not or meet difficulties to fully enjoy the benefit of the new technologies, due to the lack of knowledge, or some inconvenience of using the tools, for example, the complicated interface or functions of APP. Thus, how to connect the unconnected in the mobile digital world, especial for the elderly population, still needs more efforts.
Aiming at the problem of the elderly's difficulty in using Internet and smart devices, clarifying the daily needs of Internet use, it is becoming the consensus of the whole community to raise the awareness to promote the adaptable ageing services under the scope of information accessibility.
Focus on the area of "Economic and social inclusion and human rights", the speakers will be invited to share their insights on the issue related to promoting ageing services and construction of an inclusive digital information society, from best practice to policy discussion, including but no limit to topics as: how to balance the market and social equality, how to call for the attention of policy-maker, how to improve the service from the beginning of product planning stage, how to enhance the digital infrastructure development, and how to improve the user experience for the ageing population etc.
After the speakers' presentation, Q&A session will be encouraged between the speakers and audience both from onsite and online. If the speakers and organizers both online, audience will be encouraged to raise hand to ask questions on the meeting system or text the question into the chat room, or send email to the speakers' mailbox, which would be open to everyone. We will use the IGF official tools or platforms to promote the communication.
Report
Barrier-free environment needs a systematic construction and effect evaluation, in particular with further policy support from the government sectors and technical innovation from private sectors.
The government sector is called upon to gradually legislate to encourage the development of industry technology and the formulation of industry standards for the information accessibility environment.
The private sector, especially the Internet company, is encouraged to attach the attention to the needs of vulnerable groups from the initial top-level design by using new technologies.
Co-organized by the Internet Society of China and the CICCST under China Association for Science and Technology, the session “Accelerating Information Accessibility for the Ageing Population” mainly discussed how to empower the ageing group and improve the capacity building of using new technology in nowadays digital and smart era.
Ms. LU ShiYu, Senior Researcher of Tencent Inc. and Ms. LI DuoDuo, PhD candidate in School of Journalism and Communication of Xiamen University were invited to share their insights and observations on the current status of ageing group-related digital divide and challenges faced.
Ms. LU suggested that the science and technology industry should move from ICT adapting to aging to actively helping the elderly, by actively expand the application of science and technology in living communities, homes and related scenes, fully leveraging the energy of scientific and technological innovation.
Ms. LI stressed that technology is the decisive factor of information accessibility development. At the same time, industry standards and national standards are the important prerequisites for the sustainable development of science and technology.
The two speakers agreed that the barrier-free/information accessibility environment needs a systematic construction and joint efforts from all stakeholders, in particular with further policy support from the government sectors and technical innovation from private sectors.
The moderator also introduced some best practice carried out in China. Regrading the Internet infrastructure, the Chinese telecom operators built the world's largest 4G network for easy access to the Internet everywhere. In terms of policy support, the governments release a series of industry guidance, for example, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China had ever released two documents, one called Guidance on Promoting Information Accessibility, another named Implementation Plan to Help the Elderly Solve Problems in Using Smart Technologies, targeting to eliminate the obstacles for the vulnerable groups by reducing the cost, improving the terminal devices, services and application. To response the call, the Internet companies had actively conducted the re-build the the websites or APPs to support more functions to realize information accessibility standards, which set by industry associations or standard organizations.