Side Event - CSocD61: Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and Older Persons: Healthy Ageing in a Digital World
Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations, New York · International Telecommunication Union (ITU) · World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) · United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) · World Health Organization (WHO)
Session 132
Ageing has become an increasingly important topic on the global agenda, as the number of older persons is growing at a fastest rate than ever. People are living longer lives, and both the share and the number of older persons in the total population are growing rapidly. There are currently more than 1 billion people aged 60 years or older, with most living in low-and middle-income countries and this number is projected to more than double by the middle of this century.
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have a fundamental role in creating environments that are suitable to promote healthy conditions and tackle the challenges that come with ageing by empowering older generations. ICTs can become a powerful enabler to achieving healthier ageing, combating age-based discrimination in the workplace, and ensuring digital financial inclusion.
The UN has designated 2021-2030 as the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing: a global collaboration that buids on the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA) and aligns with the last ten years of the Sustainable Development Goals that brings together governments, civil society, international agencies, professionals, academia, the media, and the private sector to improve the lives of older people, their families, and the communities in which they live. The UN Decade of Healthy Ageing defines ‘healthy ageing’ not as the absence of disease, but more holistically as the creation of environments and opportunities that enable people to be and do what they value throughout their lives. Access and inclusivity are vital to realize key goals for the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing.
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum through its special track on ICTs and Older Persons, which since its establishment in 2020, has provided an opportunity to discuss digital issues of concern to older persons. This special track addresses the role and use of ICTs in several areas, including healthy ageing through remote care and artificial intelligence, age-friendly environments, digital skills for older adults, digital financing, and protection of older persons online. In 2021 and 2022, the WSIS Special Prize on Healthy Ageing Innovation was organized as a tool to recognize excellence in supporting innovation that brings sustainable solutions for older persons. These activities will be continued at the forthcoming WSIS Forum 2023. Ensuring digital inclusion for older persons is important in building the inclusive information and knowledge societies.
This session will discuss stakeholders' contributions towards healthy ageing and strengthen collaborations to the creation of age-friendly digital environments for all.
This session seeks to stimulate discussions around the following topics:
· In facing the megatrends of ageing and digitalisation, how can we ensure digital inclusion for older persons?
· How can ICTs support healthy ageing, improve the quality of life, help older persons to ensure their full participation in information and knowledge societies?
· How could the implementation of the WSIS Action Lines contribute to the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing and the achievement of the SDGs?
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C3. Access to information and knowledge
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C7. ICT applications: benefits in all aspects of life — E-health
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C10. Ethical dimensions of the Information Society
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C11. International and regional cooperation
While this session relates to all WSIS action lines, the action lines that are particularly important are C3, C7, C10, and C11. The first action line, C3, promotes action to information and knowledge, and this session deals with this topic in particular. By creating better access for seniors to ICTs, they will be able to inform themselves and gather knowledge from the internet, which will make it easier for them to participate in society. Next, action line C7 states that E-Health is a major part of using ICTs for development. In order to allow for a wide deployment of e-health applications (with an initial focus on telemedicine applications), in particular in developing countries, it is important to achieve interoperability among systems and to reduce the cost of devices through economies of scale. This leads directly to action line C11, which advocates for global cooperation through the development of global international standards with the involvement of the major players (such as governments, inter-governmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, medical institutions and medical doctors). Finally, the ethical dimensions of the information society, which action line C11 deals with, are also a crucial component of this session, as creating better opportunities for older persons to access ICTs creates more equality.
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Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all
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Goal 8: Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all
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Goal 17: Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development
SDG 3, which promotes healthier lives and well-being for all, is an important component of this session, as seniors are oftentimes neglected when discussing and implementing solutions related to digital technologies. By sharing best practices about how seniors can achieve improved health outcomes through the use of ICTs, the discussions in this session contribute to achieving this goal. Next, by discussing the integration of seniors into the digital economy, leading to the creation of more jobs in the IT, as well as the healthcare sector, this session also touches upon SDG 8. Moreover, if older persons have better knowledge about ICTs and access to the internet, they will be able to contribute to economic growth as well. Finally, SDG 17, which advocates for more global collaboration to solve sustainability-related issues, is also being discussed at the forum, as the exchange between the participants could lead to new projects or initiatives being created or more cooperation to make ICTs more accessible to the elderly.
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