Yeonggwang-gun Promotes 'Smart Gyeongrodang Construction Project'

Published 07 Jan.2022 14:01(KST)

[Yeonggwang=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Jeonseong] Yeonggwang-gun, Jeollanam-do announced on the 7th that it will newly promote the ‘Intelligent (Smart) Senior Center Construction Project,’ which establishes non-face-to-face video conferencing infrastructure in senior centers and welfare halls, the main hubs of elderly welfare, and pilot applies intelligent information services.

This project was planned as a response to the unprecedented closure of most senior centers due to COVID-19 since 2020, aiming to provide uninterrupted elderly leisure and welfare services by incorporating information and communication technology (ICT) into senior centers to establish non-face-to-face infrastructure and expand various program contents.

Until last year, the county dispatched instructors directly to senior centers to operate the ‘Senior Classroom for the 100-Year Era,’ but this project is expected to complement the limitations of simple program operation, upgrade the quality of elderly leisure and welfare services to a higher level, create a new concept of care market, and take the lead in realizing customized welfare.

Additionally, by enabling seniors to use intelligent (smart) devices and intelligent information technology routinely in the familiar space of senior centers, it is expected to significantly contribute to reducing the digital divide among the elderly.

To this end, the county applied for the ‘2022 Smart Senior Center Construction Project’ under the Korean Digital New Deal project led by the Ministry of Science and ICT.

The main contents of this public contest project include ▲providing customized non-face-to-face leisure welfare programs by analyzing seniors’ participation rates and responses through big data in cooperation with senior welfare centers ▲smart health management services for seniors linked with public health centers ▲planning to provide living information services such as county news and weather using electronic billboards, with a total project cost of 1.5 billion KRW.

A county official said, “We will establish a leading case through the construction of smart senior centers and strive to ensure that all residents, regardless of age or gender, can consistently experience the digital new deal achievements of the 4th Industrial Revolution that the county has been preparing.”