Digital training centers for elderly
SHANGHAI launched the first group of training centers to help the elderly adapt to the digital era at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference 2021 on Saturday.
Digital Training Bases for Seniors have been opened at the Shanghai University for the Elderly in Pudong Library as well as the service halls of the local branches of China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom.
Alipay and the Oriental Pearl Group Co also won the title of digital training base for the elderly from the city’s economy and information technology, education and civil affairs authorities.
Shanghai has officially launched the “digital company plan” to help senior citizens catch up with the overwhelming digital transformation trend, said Zhang Ying, deputy director of the Shanghai Economy and Information Technology Commission.
“‘Never leave a senior behind in the digital era’ has become the promise of Shanghai during its construction of a people-oriented city,” Zhang told a forum at the conference.
“It is also important for the city to enhance its soft power and showcase the charm of an international digital capital.”
Smart technologies like artificial intelligence and 5G are being developed across the city to boost digital urban management and cap Shanghai’s digital transformation strategy.
However, seniors face a number of obstacles when it comes to using common digital tools and services, such as health QR codes, taxi-hailing apps and self-service checkouts at supermarkets.
The forum “To Bridge the Digital Divide,” jointly hosted by the Shanghai Smart City Development Institute and Alipay was held at the WAIC on Saturday to seek solutions for the elderly.
As one of the major campaigns, a “blue vest” volunteer project was launched at the forum to host 1,000 digital training sessions for the elderly across local communities. Volunteers wearing blue vests will give lessons at neighborhoods, supermarkets and other popular sites for seniors.
They will teach the elderly to use mobile payment and taxi-hailing apps, and make appointments with doctors on mobile phones along with antifinancial fraud knowledge.
Such lessons will be given again in case the elderly forget what they’ve learnt, said a blue vest volunteer.
Digital life experiencing stations have been opened at the Shanghai University for the Elderly. Some artificial intelligence facilities have been brought to the stations for the seniors to learn how to operate.
“Through a single lesson, five seniors can use Wi-Fi independently, three can use online payments, while another two are able to call a taxi via mobile app,” said Chen Li, who initiated the blue vest project.