[Economic Observation] The elderly need more "digital green channels"
"Our attitude towards the elderly should be like a highway toll station, with a green channel." On December 3, at the first Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Coordinative Development of the Elderly Business Symposium, Nankai University School of Economics, Aging Social Governance Strategy Research Base Director Yuanxin said in an interview with a reporter from the Workers’ Daily, “The whole society is developing very fast, but the elderly cannot keep up with this pace. We have to design policies and technologies to adapt to the slow pace of the elderly.”
With the acceleration of the digitization of the entire society, many elderly people encounter many inconveniences in daily life such as shopping, traveling, medical treatment, and consumption because they do not know the Internet or use smart phones.
How to help the elderly to bridge the "digital divide" so that "smart elderly care" can benefit more elderly people has become a topic of much concern recently.
In this regard, Yuan Xin said that situations like rejection of RMB should be dealt with from a legal perspective, while problems such as elderly people’s inability to scan codes require technology to "take one step more."
Since the beginning of this year, affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the "digital divide" problem faced by the elderly has become more prominent.
Some elderly people are blocked everywhere because they don't have a health code.
In response to this situation, some places have opened up "green channels without health codes."
Zuo Meiyun, director of the Institute of Smart Pension at Renmin University of China, said that in fact, this green channel relies on volunteers to help.
While strengthening services, technology should also follow up.
"Can you develop a handheld inspection device that is connected to a database platform. The green code and red code can be displayed immediately by the elderly as long as they swipe their ID card." Zuo Meiyun suggested that the government should purchase some similar equipment to make it more convenient for the elderly people.
“Not only should pay attention to the elderly, but also help the elderly, especially in the era of informatization, digitization, and intelligence. Don’t exclude the elderly. For example, when charging in hospitals, supermarkets and other places, leave a cash channel for the elderly. ; Many places have to scan the health code to provide technical convenience for the elderly.” Yuan Xin said that in today's aging society, the entire society must be "adapted to ageing."
At present, the reality facing our country is that the degree of population aging is further deepening.
Experts predict that there are 250 million elderly people over 60, 300 million in 2025, 400 million in 2033, and the highest peak in 2053, close to 500 million.
Yuanxin believes that our families are constantly shrinking, and the labor and old-age care resources we need are constantly shrinking. In this case, we must rely on technology for benefits.
Artificial intelligence and smart products must intervene in the supply of aging services and aging products. "The digital, intelligent, and technological gap must be narrowed and shallowed as much as possible."
A few days ago, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Implementation Plan on Effectively Solving the Difficulties of the Elderly in Using Intelligent Technology", requiring that in various daily life scenarios, the traditional service methods familiar to the elderly must be retained to fully ensure that they encounter difficulties in the use of intelligent technology The basic needs of the elderly; follow the characteristics of the needs of the elderly, strengthen technological innovation, provide more intelligent products and services for the elderly, and promote the effective promotion and application of intelligent technologies, so that the elderly can use, know, dare to use, and want to use .
The new plan depicts a blueprint for an information barrier-free society, where the elderly can have more sense of gain, happiness, and security in the development of informatization.
To achieve this goal, it is necessary to enhance the awareness of service, follow-up of technology research and development, and require the government, enterprises and other parties to form a joint effort to create more "digital green channels."
Jiang Han