Kim Tae-jin, Gwangju Seo-gu Council Member, Proposes 'Senior Citizens' Digital Life Education Support Ordinance'

The Seo-gu Council of Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 13th that the "Ordinance on Supporting Digital Life Education for the Elderly in Seo-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City" (hereinafter referred to as the ordinance), which was proposed by Councilor Kim Tae-jin (Progressive Party) during the 321st extraordinary session, has passed the relevant standing committee.

According to the "2023 Digital Information Gap Survey," when the general population is set at 100, those aged 60 and over scored 78.6, and those aged 70 and over scored 51.5, confirming that the level of digital informatization significantly decreases with aging. In particular, among the categories of comprehensiveness, accessibility, competency, and utilization, the "competency" category was the lowest.

Accordingly, the ordinance aims to actively support digital life education for the elderly aged 65 and over to bridge the competency gap in information for the elderly, marking the first such initiative in Gwangju.

According to the ordinance, free digital life education will be provided only to Seo-gu residents aged 65 and over who apply for the courses. It also stipulates that the relevant department must actively plan and implement digital life education for the elderly every three years so that this education is not perceived as a subordinate course of general informatization classes but promoted as specialized social informatization education.

Furthermore, the ordinance provides for the support of education fees and costs necessary for practical training based on the ordinance, which is expected to greatly contribute to closing the digital information gap among the elderly. It also allows for awards or commendations to be given to businesses or organizations that actively cooperate in the education, thereby encouraging broad participation from the local community.

Councilor Kim said, "With the recent rapid increase in the use of digital life devices such as kiosks, the inconveniences felt by the elderly in daily life are growing," adding, "I hope this ordinance will help the elderly in Seo-gu adapt to the rapidly changing digital environment."

Shin Dong-ho, Honam Reporting Headquarters, Asia Economy bless4ya@asiae.co.kr

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.