United Nations Public Service Awards Case Studies

[212 words]

In Singapore, seniors aged 65 and above form 296,900 (8.4%) of our total resident population (Source: Committee on Ageing Issues, Report on the Ageing Population, Feb 2006), which translates to 1 senior citizen for every 12 people. By 2030, this consumer group is expected to treble to 873,300 (19%), where 1 in every 5 Singapore residents will be above 65-years old.

Although the majority of young Singaporeans are Internet-savvy users today, infocomm adoption by the senior citizens segment is still relatively low. Based on the 2006 Infocomm Usage in Households and by Individuals Survey, only 25% out of 650,000 senior citizens aged above 55 indicated that they have used the Internet in the last 12 months, in comparison to the 84% online among those aged 15 to 19 and 60% online among those aged 40 to 44.

The 2006 survey findings showed that this digital divide is caused mainly by a lack of knowledge (cited by 40% of survey respondents as their reason for not being Internet users), followed by a lack of interest (cited by 35% of survey respondents). Other hindrances faced by seniors, according to feedback by community organizations, include the lack proficiency in English (language gap) as well as the cost of Infocomm access, training and equipment (financial gap).

What is the initiative about? (the solution)
[337 words] Pervasive infocomm usage by young and old alike is strategic to Singapore’s progress into an Intelligent Nation. Aligned to IDA’s goal of creating an inclusive digital society, the Silver Infocomm Initiative (SII) includes comprehensive programmes to (a) deepen senior citizens’ awareness of infocomm and encourage them to adopt an infocomm-enabled lifestyle through educational and experiential activities; (b) equip community organisations with infocomm literacy curriculum which they can use to conduct training in basic and lifestyle-based infocomm skills; (c) develop a network of training venues where courses and computer facilities are made easily accessible, affordable as well as senior-friendly and; (d) nurture senior citizens into confident and savvy infocomm ambassadors so that they, in turn, can convert their peers who are non-users. Since the launch of the SII in November 2007, IDA has been actively reaching out to the senior citizens. Annual mass IT training events (Silver Infocomm Day) which combines exhibition, bilingual talks and hands-on training in digital lifestyle skills have been held. Ten IT learning Hubs (named Silver Infocomm Junctions) situated island-wide have been set up to provide IT training to the senior citizens. More than 30 Silver Infocomm Hotspots offer senior citizens free access to computer and internet have also been set up islandwide. Annual Silver Infocomm Champion Award has been presented to role model who embraces infocomm and actively helps their peers in infocomm adoption. More than 28,000 senior citizens have been trained to-date. The achievements also include the latest Silver Gen PC Specials and Silver PC Incentive Programme designed to further encourage IT learning and to spur PC ownership among senior citizens. This new programme, launched in August 2010, offers PC bundles at special prices, and a further S$100 discount for PCs as training incentive when senior citizens complete stipulated hours of IT training. Senior citizens have found SII beneficial and useful in helping them embrace infocomm. This is evident from the feedback collected from various sources such as senior citizens focus group discussions, partners meetings, training evaluation forms and event feedback forms.

Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
[428 words] IDA’s Intelligent Nation 2015’s (iN2015’s) vision includes building a digitally inclusive society where the elderly can embrace infocomm to enrich their lives. SII was mooted and is well supported by the Minister (Information, Communications and the Arts), evident from his acceptance to grace several events of SII and also by community partners who were willing to incorporate infocomm into their senior programmes. Additional budget has been given for SII to do even more to connect the senior citizens. While IDA plays a catalyst and lead role, the SII is designed to support the national effort in promoting active aging driven by the Council for Third Age (C3A) and the Ministry of Community, Youth and Sports (MCYS). Community organisations such as RSVP Singapore – An organisation for senior volunteers, Centre of Activity and Recreation for the Elders, Community Clubs and Active Aging groups are partners who provide resources conduct IT training, aggregate senior citizen participants for mass training and seminars, or operate computer access points for senior citizens. Industry players such as Microsoft, Pluto Technology, AddOn System, SPRING Publishing, Healthcare agencies, Banks support SII by providing resources in cash or kind. Silver Infocomm Junctions and Silver Infocomm Hotspots (to provide infocomm training and access to infocomm): • IDA provides funding for IT setup • Community organisations manage and operate the facilities and provide operational costs Exhibition, seminars and Mass IT training (to heighten awareness and increase adeptness of infocomm skills): • IDA provides funding and manages the events • Community partners offer resources and expertise as speakers, trainers and cyberguides • Industry partners provide resources and expertise as exhibitors, speakers, trainers and sponsor lucky draw prizes Thematic Workshops and Intergenerational IT Bootcamps (to provide IT workshops and build intergenerational bonding): • IDA funds and manages the workshops and bootcamps • Supporting Polytechnics provide lab facilities and students as cyberguides for the Thematic Workshops • Participating secondary and primary schools provide lab facilities and recruit students & their grandparents as cyberguides and trainees respectively Silver Gen PC Specials and Silver PC Incentive Programme (to promote IT learning and spur PC ownership): • Industry partners offer cheaper PC bundles to senior citizens • IDA ‘rewards’ seniors who complete stipulated hours of IT training with $100 to further defray the cost of the PC bundle Active Agers Award - Silver Infocomm Champion (to recognise senior role models): • MCYS funds the Active Agers Award (AAA) and Ceremony • C3A executes AAA nomination and organise the award ceremony • IDA leverages on the annual Active Agers Award and created a category for Infocomm Champion

Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
a. What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
[500 words] The key objectives are • Raising awareness of infocomm and its benefits; • Increasing adoption of digital lifestyle skills and promoting sophistication of infocomm usage among senior citizens. As our target audience have different educational backgrounds, language and infocomm competencies, a multi-pronged strategy is adopted. 1. Awareness of infocomm benefits and applications – This aims to spark curiosity and interest among the late adopters as well as educate those who know how to but hardly use the Internet to maximise their online experience. Besides consumer education materials, “show and tell” efforts that demonstrate the usefulness and relevance of infocomm and event platforms that encourage experiment among new users are implemented to help senior citizens overcome their fear or inertia towards technology. iKnow Programme a. Exhibitions, roadshows and seminars are organised to raise awareness of infocomm and to provide update on new technologies such as mobile applications and smart devices. b. IDA annually organises Silver Infocomm Day (SID) where senior citizens are provided with the opportunity to learn about the benefits and possibilities infocomm could bring into their lives. For the last 3 years, its 3-in-1 platform comprised bilingual (English & Mandarin) educational seminars; hands-on training on various IT topics; and exhibition on infocomm products and services. Training was also conducted in Malay and Tamil upon request. 2. Adeptness in infocomm skills through tailored training and courseware – This involves developing a multi-lingual, easy-to-understand syllabus that is lifestyle-based. Community organisations are able to use the training resources to benefit the senior citizens they serve. iLearn Programme a. Training syllabus customised to meet lifestyle needs of senior citizens eg. how to pay bills online, communicate via social network platform, etc. b. In view that tours are well-received by senior citizens, a series of Thematic Tour-cum-Workshops are packaged into themes that relate to how infocomm can be used to enrich personal interests or hobbies. One example is the eHealth workshop, where seniors visit health exhibition, followed by a tutorial on how to access and make use of health information online. c. Grandparents attend infocomm workshops together with their grandchildren via Intergenerational IT Bootcamps which achieve twin objectives of enhancing infocomm literacy among senior citizens while strengthening inter-generational bonding. 3. Availability of infocomm resources and access points – To encourage infocomm usage among interested seniors, IDA funds the setup of public access areas where seniors can learn together and share experiences. iAccess Programme a. Silver Infocomm Junctions (SIJs) operated by community partners, offer IT training using IDA’s developed course curriculum. b. IDA had setup 30 Silver Infocomm Hotspots (SIHs) island-wide to provide senior citizens with free access to computers and Internet services. Another 70 (ie total 100) would be setup by March 2013. 4. Advocacy through word-of-mouth and peers – This entails grooming a pool of digital-savvy role models and peer trainers who act as role models to motivate others towards adoption. iShare Programme a. Active Agers Award - Silver Infocomm Champion is presented annually to a senior who embraces infocomm and help his/her peers in infocomm adoption.

b. What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
[411 words] July – December 2007 • Conceptualised SII and obtained funding in October 2007. • Set up first SIJ in November 2007 in conjunction with the SID2007 which was attended by 350 senior citizens. • Organised the “Travel Bug” Thematic Tour-cum-Workshop for 35 senior citizens who attended a half-day workshop on how to plan a trip, search for destinations and booking hotel and flight online; followed by a visit to Changi Airport and learnt how infocomm enabled applications were used in airport. January – December 2008 • Promoted infocomm using smarthome showcase at the inaugural Silver Industry Convention & Exhibition from 10 to 11 January 2008. • Organised a series of roadshows and participated in Active Aging Carnival to drive signups of IT training. • Established 2 more SIJs to serve the training needs of senior citizens. • Developed and launched the series of basic and lifestyle infocomm training curriculum. • Expanded SID2008 (held at campus with bigger facility) and achieved 4-fold increase in participation from 2007. January – December 2009 • Participated in major silver convention “50PLUS Expo” by setting up a SIJ pavilion to drive training. • Created new themes for Thematic Workshops. They are “Introduction to the World of Macintosh” with product demo at Apple iShop, “e-Transaction & Internet Security” that included a visit to AXS Infocomm Pte Ltd to let seniors try out kiosk payment transactions and “Chinese Handwriting Input” cum tour to the Chinese Heritage Centre. • Set up 2 more SIJs. • Launched another 3 lifestyle course modules (eEntertainment, Social Networking and Blogging). • Organised SID2009 and attracted attendance of 3,600. January – December 2010 • Reviewed and enhanced SII (scope extended and additional funding obtained) to facilitate ease of infocomm access (Silver Infocomm Hotspot, PC Incentive); more engaging infocomm experience (new lifestyle course modules); more infocomm training opportunities (Intergenerational IT Bootcamps, increase number of SIJs). • Launched Silver Infocomm Hotspot in March 2010. • Created 4 additional themes for Thematic Workshops. Some examples are “Better Health, the e-way” with a visit to HealthZone and learn how to use online health tools, and “eEntertainment” that included a visit to a recording studio and find out how one can enjoy videos and music online. • Launched Silver Gen PC Specials & Silver PC Incentive in August 2010. • Set up 5 more SIJs. • Organised SID2010 over at 2 polytechnics. A record-high attendance of 5,000 was achieved. • Achievements to date included 10 SIJs, 33 SIHs, more than 28,000 seniors trained.

c. What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
[185 words] Limited budget was one of the main obstacles and senior citizens are required to pay for the training they attend. It was resolved by developing a win-win formula with partners so that they were confident to invest their manpower & financial resources. It was challenging to ensure consistent quality and delivery of training when the training is offered by our community partners who use volunteers. Therefore the team developed standardised training syllabus comprising trainees’ course booklets and trainers guide. Senior citizen cyberguides assisted at training sessions to encourage and to allay fears by fellow senior citizens learning new infocomm skills. Regular SIJ meetings have been conducted to facilitate experience and knowledge sharing among the volunteer trainers. When the training attendance was not met, the team would identify and adopt new channels and tactical solutions. Ie. Work with the Active Aging Council who can provide multiple community active aging groups as conduit that brings in large participation. Another example of solution was to find out the interest of seniors through focus group discussions so that relevant activities and content can be incorporated into the course curriculum.

d. What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
[99 words] The SII was given S$2,500,000 initially and topped up to S$4,200,000 in September 2010. The budget allocation for various programmes are: • iKnow (Awareness) – S$700,000 • iLearn (Adeptness) – S$2,050,000 • iAccess (Availability) – S$1,250,000 • iShare (Advocacy) – S$200,000 The project team consists of a programme lead and 3 team members who project manage the above programmes. The SIJ and SIH partners fund the operating budget and manpower (employees and volunteers) to run the daily operations. The schools and Institutes of Higher Learning support the initiative by providing training and seminar facilities for the SID, Thematic Workshops and Intergenerational IT Bootcamps.

Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
[159 words] IDA’s approach to creating a digitally inclusive society is based on a combination of sound government policies and proactive community and industry efforts. The government plays a critical role through providing funding to jumpstart the setup of IT learning hubs and access points as well as creating awareness to generate demand of infocomm among senior citizens. This will sustain the supply of infocomm learning resources by the community organisations. Infocomm players also stand to gain from new business opportunities that will arise from the expected growth in demand for products and services catering to the ageing population. In Singapore, we have seen other voluntary welfare organisations and societies started the similar journey in setting up IT Hub to offer IT training to their elderly members at nominal fee. In silver industry development aspect, more companies started piloting or developing new products for the elderly. Today, this notion of government, community and industry partnership has cascaded throughout the public service.

What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
[226 words] Creative content programming is one of the key success factors. Senior citizens buy into IT learning because these course modules are hobby-based and they can associate what they learn with their existing recreational activities. Combining a tour or excursion with a hands-on workshop motivates the techno-phobia to make their first step in learning infocomm. Ease of access to infocomm training and resources motivates senior citizens learn and use infocomm. It is also important to address language gap of the senior citizens in Singapore and hence the development of bilingual course curriculum. Another novel approach is the introduction of Intergenerational IT Bootcamps where we use family ties as the approach to help non-PC users overcome inertia of learning IT and interest them to go for further training at SIJ. We have learnt that students aged between 10 to 13 years are more willing to involve their grandparents in joint activities and hand-hold them along the path of infocomm adoption. We have also learnt that People-Public-Private partnership approach is effective. It enables optimal use of resources and leverage of expertise and experience of partners. The SII is a collaboration between public, people and private sectors. IDA’s contribution is a vital boost to this concerted effort to address the needs of senior citizens and demonstrate the political will to ensure no one is left behind in Singapore’s digital future.


Institution Name:		Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore
Institution Type:		Government Agency
Contact Person:		Shiow Pyng Wong
Title:		Assistant Director, Digital Inclusion
Telephone/ Fax:		(65) 62110935
Institution's / Project's Website:		(65) 62112207
E-mail:		wong_shiow_pyng@ida.gov.sg
Address:		8 Temasek Boulevard, #14-00 Suntec Tower Three
Postal Code:		038988
City:
State/Province:
Country:		Singapore

The Problem

Solution and Key Benefits

Actors and Stakeholders

(a) Strategies

(b) Implementation

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

(d) Use of Resources

Sustainability and Transferability

Lessons Learned

Contact Information