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On 29 October 2021, The Permanent Mission of Chile in its capacity of Presidency of the Group of Friends of Older Persons, UNESCO, WHO and ITU co-organized a virtual event titled “The Contribution of Digital Literacy for Older Persons to the Decade of Healthy Aging”.

The event was held as part of the annual Global Media and Information Literacy Week, which serves as a platform for progress review towards the achievement of “Media and Information Literacy for All”. The event brought together key stakeholders to explore two global trends that are bringing important socioeconomic changes worldwide: the emergence of digital technologies, and aging populations. It is critical to ensure the development of digitally inclusive communities that could contribute to the wellbeing of all in all stages of life. The event was set out to explore ways in which digital advancement can contribute to the implementation of the “”.

Following the high-level opening segment, an interactive panel discussion was set out to explore how digital advancement can foster progress towards implementing the targets set in the Decade of Healthy Aging. Moderated by Mr. Werner Obermeyer, Director of the World Health Organization Office at the United Nations, the panel featured the participation of Ms. Roxana Widmer-Iliescu, Senior Coordinator for Digital Inclusion at International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Ms. Alana Officer, Unit Head, Demographic Change and Healthy Ageing at the WHO, Ms. Cathy Holloway, Professor of Interaction Design & Innovation at University College London’s Interaction Centre and a co-founder and Academic Director of the Global Disability Innovation Hub, Ms. Alison Bryant, Senior Vice President AARP Research and asks question Panelist from NGO Committee on Ageing, and Mr. Michael Hodin, CEO of the Global Coalition on Ageing. Panelists discussed the intersection of digital inclusion and aging from the perspective of their specific fields of work. 

In particular, Ms. Widmer-Iliescu presented ITU’s three main building blocks to achieve digital inclusion; access, affordability and ICT accessibility. Moreover, she stressed an important consideration; to make privacy and security awareness part of digital skills of the elderly. Ms. Officer highlighted four key action areas that are essential to the achievement of the targets of the Decade; tackling ageism, building communities that are more age-friendly, ensuring integrated care for older people, and providing long-term care to those who need it. She added that ICT designed with the needs of older people in mind can help foster cross-sectoral collaboration, amplify the voices of older people, and contribute to training and capacity building efforts.

 

Mr. Hodin emphasized a few angles from the perspective of the private sector, such as the importance of collaboration and co-design, as well as the fact that aging strategies using technology benefit societies, while also providing a positive development for the revenue streams of stakeholder companies.

As a co-sponsor of the resolution that proclaimed 2021-2030 the UN Decade of Health Aging, H.E. Mr. Andrejs Pildegovičs, Permanent Representative of Latvia to the United Nations, delivered brief concluding remarks at the event. He underscored that digital transformation, which was accelerated by the pandemic, brought numerous benefits while also highlighted digital divides. H.E. Mr. Pildegovičs shared his appreciation for panelists’ efforts to address this challenge through collaboration, as well as for their various key recommendations shared today. “Digital transformation must be human-centric and serve to improve the lives of all”, he concluded.