S’pore to help everyone cross the digital divide

SINGAPORE: Imagine applying for financial help from the government via an app that can “speak” to an applicant in Chinese, Malay, Tamil or English.

This future is not too far away as plans are underway to develop digital government services in Singapore’s four official languages, and explore the use of machine translation technologies until every last man is helped to cross the digital divide.

One-on-one assistance is also being planned to prepare every Singaporean, especially the elderly, to get ready for a digital future controlled by sensors and where cashless payments rule. It will be piloted at some community centres in the latter half of the year.

These are two of 10 recommendations in a Digital Readiness Blueprint launched on Saturday at the Infocomm Media Development Authority’s Tech carnival held at Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Speaking at the launch, Minister for Communications and Information (MCI) S. Iswaran said: “Digitalisation will have a profound impact on our quality of life – it will affect our access to opportunities, services, and social networks. And we want to ensure that no one is left behind in this digital transition.”

The Digital Readiness Blueprint, created by an MCI-led workgroup, hopes to improve citizens’ access to digital technology and equip them with the skills to use digital technology safely and confidently.

Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information Janil Puthucheary chairs the workgroup comprising 14 other members from the public and private sectors.

The panel also recommended widespread access to “basic digital enablers”, such as mobile devices and bank accounts. —