Essay Draft Four

Information and communication technology (ICT), particularly the internet, has become increasingly ubiquitous in the social context in recent decades. Singapore has emerged among the leading countries that has outstanding ICT infrastructure (World Economic Forum, 2014). However, the utilization of internet among the elderly is relatively low. According to the figures in year 2012 provided by Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) (n.d.a), only 16% of the elderly aged 60 years and above had used internet in the previous 12 months compared to 98% of the individuals aged 7 to 34 years. This difference reflects a digital divide in Singapore between the younger and older generations. As elderly who do not access to internet are likely to encounter isolation in the community and at home, the IDA should provide infocomm training to these elderly and create an extensive digital awareness among the elderly to encourage them to engage on internet.

Internet provides individuals an avenue for continuing education, personal growth, hobbies and leisure pursuit, and redefining careers. Elderly who do not engage in internet are therefore deprived from these benefits. Moreover, internet allows elderly to form online social networks which can prevent them from getting isolated in the community. Engaging in internet can also help to stimulate mental alertness and thereby alleviate the possible psychological illness such as depression. A recent research by Cotton, Ford, Ford and Hale (2014) indicates that internet use can reduce the incidence of depression among the elderly by about 33%. In addition, relationships within the family would be jeopardized as there could be a conflicting communication between the younger and the older generations due to the different knowledge capacities in Information Technology (IT) (Lim and Tan, 2003).

To bridge the age digital divide in Singapore, the IDA launched Silver Infocomm Initiative programmes in 2007 to help senior citizens aged 50 years and beyond to engage in internet (Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, n.d.b). 100 Silver Infocomm Hotspots have been established at various locations such as Community Clubs and Senior Citizen Connect areas to provide the elderly with free access to computer and internet service. There are also 9 IT learning hubs termed as the Silver Infocomm Junctions established across the island to provide infocomm training and customised course for the elderly. Through the training, senior citizens are taught the basic skills in using a computer and surfing the internet. They also acquire intermediate digital lifestyle skills such as performing online transactions, editing digital photos, and creating social networking.

Since 2007, the Silver Infocomm Initiative has helped many senior citizens embrace a digital lifestyle (Chan, 2011). One of the senior citizens is 56-year-old Mr Abdul who has benefited from the IT course and uses social media interfaces such as Facebook and Skype to keep in touch with his children and grandchildren living abroad. Another senior citizen cited by Chan is Madam Cheow Chin Wang, aged 60, who enjoys a better bond with her grandchildren because she has understood and is able to speak the similar IT language as them after having attended the IT course.

Despite the increasing number of elderly adopting ICT, the proportion of elderly accessing to internet remains comparatively low. The proportion of elderly aged 60 and above who accessed to internet in year 2007 was 12% (National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre, 2009). From year 2007 to 2012, the proportion of elderly accessing to internet merely increased from 12% to 16%. The majority of the elderly remained offline and their main reasons for not using internet were “lack of knowledge” and “no interest” (Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, 2012). This finding suggests that there is a need for extensive publicity to promote the potential benefits and usefulness of surfing internet as well as the available IT classes in the neighbourhood to the senior citizens. The IDA should organize outreach activities such as exhibitions and practical workshops at void decks across the island. It should also seek traditional digital media such as television and radio to reach out to the senior citizens and convince them to participate in cyberspace. In addition, school should encourage children to share their computer knowledge and skills that they have acquired in school to their grandparents.

Participation in the internet age is an essential factor in the full social inclusion of the elderly, particularly as more public services are delivered via online. With the substantial efforts by the IDA and the community to expand internet utility among the elderly, the digital disparity would then be diminished and the possibility of elderly experiencing exclusion in the community and at home would be greatly minimized.

 

References

Chan, C. S. (2011, September 17). Silver Infocomm Initiative to benefit senior citizens. Retrived October 1, 2014, from http://www.mci.gov.sg/content/mci_corp/web/mci/pressroom/categories/speeches/2011/speech_by_mr_chan_chun_sing_at_the_silver_infocomm_day_2011.mnews.infocomm.html

Cotton, S. R., Ford, G., Ford, S., & Hale, T. M. (2014). Internet use and depression among retired older adults in the United States: a longitudinal analysis. Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 69(5), 763–771.

Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore. (2012). Annual survey on infocomm usage in households and individuals for 2012. Retrieved October 1, 2014, from http://www.ida.gov.sg/~/media/Files/Infocomm%20Landscape/Facts%20and%20Figures/SurveyReport/2011/2011%20HH%20mgt%20rpt%20public%20final.pdf

Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore. (n.d.a). Infocomm usage – Households and individuals. Retrieved October 1, 2014, from http://www.ida.gov.sg/Infocomm-Landscape/Facts-and-Figures/Infocomm-Usage-Households-and-Individuals#3

Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore. (n.d.b). Silver infocomm junctions and hotspots. Retrieved October 1, 2014, from http://www.ida.gov.sg/Individuals-and-Community/Community-Development/Silver-Infocomm-Initiative/Silver-Infocomm-Junctions-and-Hotspots

Lim, S. S. and Tan, Y. L. (2003). Old people and new media in wired societies: exploring the socio-digital divide in Singapore, Media Asia, 30(2), 95–102.

National Volunteer & Philanthropy Center. (2009, October 7). Fundraising: Research on “donation friendly” website. Retrieved October 1, 2014, from http://booksreader.net/ppt/salt-survey-2009-nvpc-49557300.html

World Economic Forum. (2014). The global information technology report 2014: The networked readiness index rankings. Retrieved October 1, 2014, from http://www.weforum.org/reports/global-information-technology-report-2014