Senior citizens can learn to make voice-calls over the Internet, meet friends online and play computer games at senior-friendly learning hubs, with the launch of a S$2.5 million programme to set up eight Silver Infocomm Junctions (SIJ) in the heartlands over the next three years.
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| Dr Balakrishnan (centre) at the opening of the first Silver Infocomm Junction. |
The SIJ is a conveniently-located facility catering to senior citizens who are comfortable in different languages, be it English, Malay, Chinese or Tamil, with their peers. It is part of the Silver Infocomm Initiative under the Intelligent Nation 2015 masterplan to equip 30,000 senior citizens with digital lifestyle skills and knowledge over the next three years. The first such hub was launched at the Retired & Senior Volunteer Programme (Singapore) centre in Bishan last month.
The SIJ is part of a slew of programmes by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore aimed at leveling the digital field for senior citizens and disadvantaged Singaporeans. Speaking at the launch of the SIJ at RSVP Singapore, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) and Second Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan said, “We all know that IT is very important for transforming the economy and for social interaction, but there are some groups of society that are at risk of being left behind – the older citizens, the disabled and families who are less well of. As part of the government, IDA will make sure that there is no digital divide, no one left behind because of lack of opportunity.”
Noting that only 25 per cent of Singaporeans above the age of 55 are using the Internet, he said he hopes the setting up of SIJs will have a cascading effect in getting senior citizens to understand and appreciate the importance of infocomm. For senior citizens, it presents an opportunity to stay connected through cost effective means, such as email, videoconferencing and Skype, he said.
In a separate initiative to level the digital playing field, IDA has announced an innovative twist to its existing NEU PC Plus programme to allow students from less well-off families to exchange community service credits for PCs and Internet access. The NEU PC Plus programme offers students from low-income households and disabled people a brand new computer bundled with three years of free broadband access and software for S$285.
For NEU PC Plus applicants who are unable to make this co-payment, the iNSPIRE Fund will allow them to render community service in order to receive a fully-paid desktop PC. The programme will assist some 4,000 students from needy households over the next four years. The iNSPIRE Fund will be administered by the Singapore Children’s Society, with support from Singapore Infocomm Technology Federation, National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre and Maybank.
A third area that IDA is addressing is the need to empower the disabled through infocomm. By mid 2008, an Infocomm Accessibility Centre (IA Centre), housed within the premise of the Society for the Physically Disabled (SPD), will be fully operational. Its facilities will include an Infocomm Assistive Technology library and vocational training services. Co-funded by IDA and the MCYS, with support from the industry, the IA Centre aims to train some 4,000 people with disabilities over the next three years to help increase their self-independence and job prospects.