Editorial: Of digitally savvy seniors and safety

Of digitally savvy seniors and safety

https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/st-editorial/of-digitally-savvy-seniors-and-safety

2023-11-08

The findings of the Infocomm Media Development Authority’s (IMDA) inaugural Singapore Digital Society Report augur well for the future of digitalisation in Singapore. The just-published report measures the state of digital society across three crucial dimensions: digital access, essential digital skills for daily living, and attitudes towards digital technologies. Digital access means having access to the Internet and to digital devices such as smartphones and computers. Digital skills necessary for daily life are self-explanatory. Attitudes and perceptions reflect willingness and enthusiasm to embrace and use digital technologies.

Taken together, these dimensions show how digitally advanced a country is. Singapore does very well in this regard, given the way in which citizens are keen on staying plugged in to global technological developments that enhance economic productivity and promote ease of living. The Republic has one of the highest Internet penetration rates in the world, with 99 per cent of resident households connected to the Internet. Also, 98 per cent of households with school-going children have access to computers, and 97 per cent of residents own smartphones.

The elderly constitute a demographic of particular importance to a digital society. The young anywhere embrace technology naturally because that is all they know. Children take to computer screens today with the same instinctive ease with which their predecessors took to chalk and pencil once. By contrast, the old inhabit two worlds: the one in which they learnt to think, and the one in which they must think to live today. Technophobia comes naturally to those to whom digitalisation represents a possibly perilous unknown. Even in that regard, however, the IMDA report throws up the reassuring discovery that digital literacy skills among seniors have improved sharply, with more Singapore residents aged 60 and above owning smartphones and embracing digital tools to communicate, seek information and make payments. Seniors are becoming comfortable with online transactions, with 78 per cent using e-payments in 2022, up from 33 per cent in 2020.

Meanwhile, increasingly sophisticated scams infect the digital ecosystem. Here, the IMDA report throws up an irony. It shows that while seniors are taking to digital tools, only 44 per cent are at least moderately confident of identifying scams on messaging platforms. For those aged 15 and above, the figure is 52 per cent. The report points out correctly that seniors’ lower confidence in spotting scams may be the reason that they are less likely to fall prey to such crimes since they are more vigilant. This is good. However, the report warns that concerns over being scammed may deter seniors from going online and thus enjoying the benefits of digital technology. Seniors must be encouraged to keep moving up the digital ladder while being wary of the pitfalls below.